Disputed goal makes it grim at Grimsby

Hereford United fell to a single late goal at Blundell Park this afternoon and slip to second bottom in League 2.

With Ryan Green failing to recover from his midweek bout of flu, Keith Lowe was drafted in to fill the right-back position. Trewick opted for the two Bristol loan players, Plummer and Jackson, up front with Sam Gwynne getting a start in his preferred centre midfield role at the expense of Jamie Tolley who was joined on the bench by Lee Morris.

Both teams went into the game following poor runs of form and the standard of football on display showed why they are floundering towards the foot of the table. However, it was The Bulls who started the brighter with Glen Southam looking particularly threatening from the right. An early Grimsby corner was cleared upfield by Pugh before Kenny Lunt lifted a free kick into the Grimsby box which was headed clear but the industrious Gwynne chased back to enable Richard Rose to feed Southam who cut in towards the penalty area and forced a decent save out of Lillis in The Mariners goal. Up front for Grimsby, Forbes was proving a handful with his pulling and pushing which seemed to avoid the eye of the referee while at the other end, Southam again tested the home defence with an effort that was deflected for a corner. Grimsby countered, winning a throw which was quickly taken to release North in the box but Bartlett was off his line to collect. Rose conceded a free kick on the Grimsby right and was harshly booked by the referee for retuning the ball to the position of the offence. Presumably, it was delaying the taking of the kick from the wrong place! Another free kick from a similar position at the other end was touched to Southam by Lunt and the former Dagenham player brought a fine diving save from Lillis. AS the half drew to a close, Valentine released Pugh who won a corner, which came to nothing. The first period had produced plenty of end-to-end play with The Bulls having the lion’s share of shots including four or five decent on target efforts.

HT Grimsby 0 HUFC 0

Early in the second half, Plummer picked up the ball on the edge of the Grimsby box and worked his way wide and then into the area before firing just a foot outside the foot of the post. Marc Pugh then created an opportunity for himself when he dispossessed a Grimsby midfielder and set off towards the goal before hitting a shot just wide from 18 yards. Tolley, on for Southam, found Jackson on the edge of the box and he fed Pugh wide on the left. The winger cut into the box and cured an effort just beyond the far post. Hereford continued to press and when a Lunt free kick was met with a poor punch by Lillis, Jackson was on hand to smash an on target shot goal-ward. However, Lillis quickly recovered to palm the shot the shot away for a corner while at the other end, Bartlett had to react to take a Bennett header low to his right. With fifteen minutes remaining The Mariners started to build the momentum and North forced a fine block from Bartlett when clear on goal. Lunt’s 18-yard effort was deflected for a corner but with time running out, Grimsby scored their hotly disputed winner. North collected the ball looking clearly offside and while Bartlett charged down his first attempt, North was on hand to nod the rebound over the line from close range. The enraged Bulls’ defenders protested to the assistant referee, the referee himself and the great fishmonger in the sky but it was all in vane and The Mariners saw ought the final couple of minutes to secure all three points in front of 3173 with around 100 in the visitors end.

FT Grimsby 1 HUFC 0

This was no footballing spectacle, but it was heartening to see a decent amount of goal attempts from The Bulls including over half a dozen on target. The team will be disappointed to come away empty handed despite shading the greater share of possession and shots.

Grimsby: - Lillis, Stockdale, Linwood, Atkinson, Widdowson, Fuller, Bennett, Sweeney, Jones, Forbes (Clarke 64), North, Unused Subs, Overton, Heywood, Bird, Normington, Leary, Wood.

HUFC: - Bartlett, Lowe, Rose, Jones D, Valentine, Southam (Tolley 55), Gwynne, Lunt, Pugh, Plummer, Jackson (Morris 76). Unused Subs, Adamson, Done, McCallum, Constantine.

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