Hanson strikes for Town but another defeat leaves them in major danger
BLEAK OUTLOOK AS THE GAP TO SAFETY GROWS
GRIMSBY Town fell further into trouble at the foot of League Two as they fell to a 2-1 defeat at home to Forest Green Rovers.
Ebou Adams’ second half goal saw the visitors deny the Mariners a share of the points after James Hanson had responded to Jamille Matt’s opener from the penalty spot.
And with Barrow and Southend picking up more points at the same time, Town now find themselves five points from safety as their quest to stay in the EFL becomes increasingly difficult.
After the disappointment of Tuesday night, Paul Hurst elected to ring the changes, including a shake-up of his defence as Elliott Hewitt moved into the centre, with Luke Waterfall dropping out of the side as Luke Hendrie returned.
Joe Bunney also made way as Sam Habergham was named at left-back, Giles Coke came in for Danny Rose, and Lenell John-Lewis made his first start since returning to the club – and took on the captain’s armband – as he partnered Hanson up front. The front two got themselves involved in the game straight away, but there was no way through for them as Forest Green took the lead in controversial circumstances.
After the visitors won a corner, Matt went down from the slightest of touches from John-Lewis, with more than a question mark over the validity of the frontman’s tumble. Nevertheless, referee Seb Stockbridge pointed to the spot, and the former Mariner sent Jake Eastwood the wrong way to put Rovers ahead against his old side. Stockbridge wasn’t doing much to endear himself to the locals as continually punished Town for the slightest infringements, while remaining lenient with the visitors.
The Mariners huffed and puffed as they tried to find a way back into the game, but continually found themselves frustrated by the Rovers defence and a whistle-happy referee.
They’ll have felt justice was served though seven minutes before the break though as Hanson pounced for his first goal of the season.
Udoka Godwin-Malife looked to let the ball run through to his goalkeeper, but had no idea the former Bradford man was lurking behind him as Hanson nipped in to strike beyond the helpless Luke McGee, and bring Town level before the break.
A hectic start to the second half saw both sides go close to taking the lead, with John-Lewis just unable to bring the ball under control with the goal at his mercy from a corner, before Josh Davison struck the post at the other end, with Rollin Menayese supplying a vital challenge to prevent Matt from following up on the rebound.
The woodwork would prove to be a mere respite for the Mariners though, with the visitors retaking the lead just after the hour-mark. The ball was worked to Adams on the edge of the area, and his shot took a deflection on the way past Eastwood’s outstretched hand as Town were once again left with it all to do. The Mariners huffed and puffed to try and find another equaliser, but in truth never looked like getting it, with Joe Bunney coming as close as anyone as he sent his strike wide from the edge of the box.
With results elsewhere going against them, the gap to safety grows further, with the situation looking more and more bleak for Town.
PAUL Hurst has urged his Grimsby Town players not to give up in their relegation battle despite falling further into trouble.
The Mariners find themselves five points from safety at the bottom of League Two following their 2-1 defeat to Forest Green Rovers on Saturday.
Results went against Town at the weekend as Barrow pulled themselves out of the relegation zone with a 2-0 win over Mansfield, while Southend put themselves slightly further out of reach with a goalless draw at Oldham.
With 15 games of the season remaining, and their form not improving, things are looking bleak for the Mariners - but, having seen an improvement in his side’s performance on Saturday, Hurst isn’t giving up the fight just yet.
“I’m sure in certain quarters we’ll be getting written off,” Hurst said. “That’s people’s opinions, I’d understand that, but we’ll keep going. We have to keep going, and that’s the message to the players. “I think if we get that sort of performance, that will win certain games. I’m not saying we created a hatful of chances, we didn’t, but there were enough situations. Defensively, I thought we were a lot better. That’s got to continue.
“I’m looking again at other teams getting results and clean sheets, and that’s obviously been a struggle. “You keep going. Sometimes it might be that one result, we hoped it might have been the Crawley game, it wasn’t.
“But as we get towards the end of the season, there’ll be some strange results. We have to try and make sure some of those strange results involve ourselves, and try and keep ourselves within distance with the teams above, and keep putting pressure on. “They’ll still be edgy, and there’s a couple of teams above that at this moment in time. I’m not saying for us, but I’m sure they’ll be getting a little edgy as well.
“We have to keep going, keep battling away, and hope we can get the results, so if that nervousness sets in for others and they struggle to get the points, we can take advantage.”