Mariners fish out a goal from open play
JAMES BERRETT notched Grimsby’s first goal from open play since September to bring Cambridge’s fourgame unbeaten run in League Two to an end.
Berrett headed in from eight yards in the 26th minute to score the only goal of a drab match.
Mariners boss Paul Hurst set up his team in a 4-5-1 formation, with Berrett tasked with aiding lone frontman Omar Bogle, so he was pleased to see the former York City midfielder get on the end of Dominic Vose’s flighted cross.
“We can sometimes get too hung up on systems,” said Hurst. “You can look at it as 4-5-1, 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, but the idea was for James to get up in support of Omar and the goal in particular emphasised that.
“We’ve got the goal from open play which everyone’s been worrying about, so I’m delighted with that, and overall I’m very pleased.
“We were great in the first half, and in the second we looked composed. We defended well, particularly from set plays where they’re a threat, but it wasn’t just a rearguard action and we had a couple of good chances ourselves.”
Grimsby dominated for long periods of the first half, making the most of their extra man in midfield, and could have gone further in front after Berrett’s goal when the dangerous Bogle saw a curling free-kick strike the angle of post and bar.
Cambridge struggled to make an impact in the final third, but should have equalised in first-half stoppage time when Harrison Dunk’s header hit the post and James Dunne completely missed his kick when he looked set to slot in the rebound.
Adam McGurk spurned a great chance to level matters in the 64th minute when Dunk’s knock down from a Piero Mingoia cross found him unmarked six yards out, but he could only scoop his shot over. The U’s created little else, and were grateful to keeper David Gregory for parrying Bogle’s curling effort. Cambridge boss Shaun Derry said: “There’s no point trying to talk up the performance, we were poor. It’s frustrating because we’ve had a good week.
“It was a messy afternoon but we still created four or five decent opportunities. On days like this you have to be ruthless and find a way to get something, but we haven’t been able to do that.
“Our good run has come to an end, we didn’t want it to end in the way it has, but we need to go away and come back next Saturday in a good place.”