Match Report V’s – Grimsby Town – Saturday 7th Feb

After our impressive 5-0 victory over Scunthorpe United last week, we welcomed Grimsby Town to Rawdon Meadows this Saturday. After a 1-1 draw over at Grimsby earlier on in the season we knew that it wasn’t going to be easy.

Reece Webb-Foster looked a threat in the opening minutes but his and Ross Kershaw’s crosses were well dealt with by the Grimsby defence.

Our first attempt on goal came from Callum Chippendale’s corner in the 11th minute.  The ball found Jimmy Pollard, who’s pass bounced off Luca Mellor’s knee and in to the goalkeeper’s arms.

It was Grimsby took the lead against the run of play in the 20th minute,catching us on the counter attack. After a swift move, our defenders failed to stop the resulting cross and their striker met the ball and found the back of the net.

Luca Mellor came close in the 35th minute, he beat two defenders but his shot just missed the target. Webb-Foster also had a chance minutes later but he failed to reach Callum Chippendale’s long ball and the goalkeeper managed to scramble it clear.

Despite being behind, we continued to attack but failed to break Grimsby’s defence and the visitors lead 1-0 at the break.

We continued to apply pressure in the second half .After good build up play between Sumali Cissa and Dylan Mottley-Henry which allowed Rhys Jenkinson to cross a high ball into the box. The deflection found Luca Mellor but his shot was put behind for a corner.

Minutes later, Callum Chippendale provided the perfect cross for Reece Webb-Foster ,but he could not make contact with the ball.

Despite our positive play it was Grimsby who doubled their lead on 63 minutes. Although we cleared the initial cross, their player had the time to control the ball and fire it into the back of the net from 25 yards. Shortly after, the visitors went 3-0 up as slack defending allowed Grimsby to score from a free header.

Although Grimsby had extended their lead, we did not sit back and continued to attack. Callum Chippendale’s long range effort went just over the bar in the 73rd minute and minutes later we managed to pull a goal back through James’ Pollard’s header from a Callum Chippendale corner.

Sumali Cissa’s shot crept over the line with 9 minutes to go to make it 3-2 and we had several chances to equalise in the closing stages. Danny Devine’s header was cleared off the line, Webb-Foster’s shot was saved and Zander McBurnie’s looping effort was palmed behind for a corner, but our visitors managed to hold on to take the three points.

Although a disappointing result, there were plenty of positives to take from the game, especially with the number of chances we created . We know that this coming Saturday we will have to defend better as a team against top of the table Doncaster Rovers down at Rawdon Meadows.

Watch match highlights below: