Grimblesby

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By Pete H

Grimsby indoors, eh? It’s much like a slap in the belly with a wet fish; sounds entertaining at first, but then a harsh reality soon sets in. It hurts, don’t it? In taking to the field this weekend, Boro’ get the huge honour of being first (probably) to complete the Bottom Four Boxset too. Morecambe, Macclesfield, Notts County and now the Mariners; if it had Andrew Lincoln and zombies in it, you’d bang on about it all the feckin’ time.

We’d very much like a home win here. That said, when do we ever not want a home win. It’d be good to give those new faces on the terraces the idea that we’re picking up points for fun. And a guest limbering up for a relegation battle doesn’t half give you a chance to make that impression. At least on our own current run, it’s almost expected we’ll see some goals. Just as long as more of ’em go in their net. Not ours.

 

Stevenage v Grimsby Town: The Lowdown

The Referee

PW2 DLF13 A14; last result: Stevenage 1-2 Forest Green Rovers, 21/10/2017

Lee Collins hasn’t been the busiest man in the middle so far this season; in fact, this is only the second time he’s taken charge of a match. The ‘Surrey Sensation’ as no-one is yet to call him isn’t much of a pal to us; our rock ‘n’ roll 4-3 win over Morecambe under Teddy Sheringham (remember him?) is the last time we left with three points on his watch. We’ve only drawn a blank once in those last seven, though. So, expect goals then?

 

The Opposition

PW2 DLFA6; last result: Grimsby Town 0-0 Stevenage, 30/03/2018

It was less ‘Good Friday’, more ‘Meh-That’ll-Do Friday’ the last time we met the Mariners. Ever since our first meeting at Blunder Park in August 2016 in which our defence was more open than the Irish border, matters have been (more or less) grand enough for us. Indoors, it’s two wins out of two and both by two goals. We’d guess that Dino doesn’t want to be the first gaffer to balls that up. We got a good thing going here…

 

The Form

Look at the League Two form guide. The Mariners may as well walk out onto our hallowed Lamex turf with a sign reading “help yourself”. A 2-0 win at Macclesfield two games into term is their only highlight so far. The last four, though, are ones we’re interested in; four straight losses, all without tickling the scorekeeper’s notepad. Mind you, their defensive record overall is on a par with Cambridge. And, er, well yeah – that.

It’s often said by someone we’ve never met that patience is a virtue. And it may well be to get this win. Just three of Grimsby’s 15 goals against have come in the first half; a woeful 10 have gone in after the hour. And what about us? Well, goals in the second half are not quite our forte this campaign, so far at least. There’s nothing wrong with getting in there with the goals early, but it’d go against the Grimsby grain if we did so.

If our words are hurting your eyes, kickoff.co.uk will soothe them with the form in pictures:

Stevenage v Grimsby Town: September 2018 Stats

Stevenage v Grimsby Town

 

• MORE ABOUT ‘EM: Grimsby Town club profile