WE’VE GOT TO FIND OUR SHARP EDGE
ARTELL WANTS TOWN TO CONVERT MORE GOAL CHANCES
BOSS David Artell wants Grimsby Town to “keeping churning out the performances” after beating Newport County 1-0 at Blundell Park. With the other results in the relegation battle going their way, the Mariners moved five points clear of Colchester United who sit secondbottom in League Two.
The focus has always been on what the Mariners can control, as their destiny has always been in their hands, even more so now after yet another 1-0 victory at home. This win felt the most comfortable of the three in the last five at Blundell Park, and Town should have been out of sight with the chances they created in the second half. *
Finishing off those opportunities is certainly a point of focus for the team in this final stretch, but Artell’s confidence in the group to get the job done will have only risen after this performance.
They took the learnings from the late disappointment in the previous weekend against Bradford City and applied it here to seal the victory. “They’re all big at this stage of the season, no matter where you are in the table,” said Artell.
“We know we had an opportunity here [to win], and we didn’t quite get over the line against Bradford when we probably deserved to.
“If we keep performing like we have done, then we’ll win games. “The only criticism I would have of this performance is that it was only 1-0 with the chances we had. I don’t think you can ever relax in football, as it usually comes back to bite you, but the lads are working their socks off, and we’ve got three 1-0 wins at home in the last five as a result.
“We know that we’re going okay, we’ve just got to keep churning out those performances and results until the end of the season.
“I can’t remember [Newport] having many chances, so I thought it was as comfortable as a 1-0 win in League Two can be.”
It was a typical Danny Rose goal that earned the three points at the end on Saturday – an opportunistic bit of play to nip in as the Newport goalkeeper came to collect the loose ball.
Artell hopes his side can be more ruthless moving forward and score some more team goals, but he could not help but applaud the efforts of his captain once again to seize the opportunity.
He added: “That was a Danny Rose goal – he never gives up on a chance.
“It was a poacher’s effort, he snuck in, and suddenly, it was in the back of the net. He epitomises everything this team is about at the minute, and that is all credit to him.
“It was a really good finish, but we’ve got to focus now on being more ruthless and not just having to rely on that sort of opportunism. We had numerous chances to kill the game today and that is what we’ve got to do moving forwards.”