ROSE SEALS SWEETEST REVENGE...
GRIMSBY fans must have been dreading the visit of Crewe to Blundell Park, as when the sides last met back in February the Mariners were on the end of 5-0 drubbing.
But yesterday proved to be a lot more pleasant for the Grimsby faithful, as they watched their side pick up their first win since the opening day of the season.
Mitch Rose scored the game’s only goal ten minutes before halftime when he headed home Siriki Dembele’s cross to condemn the visitors to their first defeat in the league this season.
With yesterday’s game being the first since the summer transfer window shut on Thursday night, both sets of fans were no doubt excited to see their sides’ new recruits in action.
Crewe snapped up Conor Grant on loan from Everton deep into deadline day and he was thrown straight into David Artell’s starting eleven.
But his debut only lasted 12 minutes after he was knocked unconscious following a collision with a Grimsby defender and left the field on a stretcher.
Grimsby signed Martyn Woolford on deadline day but it was one of their early summer acquisitions that caught the eye – centre-back Karleigh Osborne was making his full debut for the Mariners and really staked a claim for a regular starting spot in the heart of the defence.
“I’m delighted for him (Osborne), he’s a great pro and a great person, so I’m really happy for him,” said Grimsby boss Russell Slade.
“It was nice to get over the line, we’ve not quite transferred what we’ve been doing on the training ground into results on the pitch.
“Against a very good Crewe side, that hadn’t been defeated, I thought we were worthy winners.
“What we’ve got to learn to do once we’re in the driving seat like that is manage the game competently.”
There were few chances that followed Rose’s strike, though Chris Porter had a fantastic opportunity to equalise for the visitors ten minutes from time.
After a long ball from Eddie Nolan, Porter’s first effort was blocked but fell back to the forward whose second effort was brilliantly cleared off the line by Osborne. Crewe manager Artell said: “We were second best, that’s the disappointing thing because we’ve not been second best in any of our games this season. “We’ve got to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and go again. “Like in every goal there are those four or five little errors, there was three or four of our lads in the wrong place and lo and behold they score. “It’s the first game we’ve lost in the league but that’s of small comfort, I don’t want to lose games.”