We’ve won the battle, on with the war: Imps 1-0 Grimsby

I did wonder at half time what could change the game. We’d looked great for fifteen minutes, but by the time they went in for the break I thought the visitors had edged the balance of play. The stats didn’t back that up, but sometimes they don’t tell the full picture.

The visitors lacked that killer instinct, but approaching the box and in the middle third they looked alright. I didn’t rate the full back Ring one bit, but he did provide Dave and I some light relief as we thought up a series of derogatory one-liners around his surname. The two centre halves dealt well with Akinde and on the whole they gave a good account of themselves all afternoon.

Whatever was said at half time certainly fired us up and we came out looking more likely to double the lead. Michael Bostwick flashed a header over whilst at the other end, Bolger and Bozzy were both in fine form. I felt after ten minutes of the half as though they wouldn’t score and leaned over to tell Dave as much. I thought better of it, tempting fate and all that.

We did have the ball in the net after ten minutes of the second period and we were all off our feet celebrating McCartan’s ‘goal’, but Mike Dean had other ideas. He felt Akinde had fouled their lad in the build up, but it looked weak to me. If it were the other way I’d be delighted of course, but on second view I’m not sure there was a foul. The second goal might have settled a few nerves, but as the half wore on the visitors just retreated.

Akinde came out a different player in the second half and his work rate began to cause real problems. He might be a big man, but when the ball goes into feet or into the channels he comes alive and one run in particular stood out. He bundled their lad off the ball on the flank, strode inside and was smartly denied by McKeown. It’s funny how different people saw the incident, I thought he’d done well to create himself a chance out of nothing, others were asking why he can’t hit the target. It’s all about perception I guess.

On the hour mark we sewed up the game, not with a goal but with a change. Shay McCartan had worked hard with little joy, but as soon as we brought Danny Rowe on it all changed. The train of thought around me was that we’d put Rowe out wide and bring Pett in the middle, but Rowe took up the hole behind Akinde. His energy almost immediately swung the balance in our favour and for the last 30 minutes we were by far the more dangerous side.

We were always going to retreat as the game wore on, meaning legs up from were important. For a player with four sub appearances to his name this season, Rowe looked incredibly lively. It took him five minutes or so to get up to speed but as soon as he did I think we got a glimpse of the next few weeks unfolding in front of us. His first real involvement came from our well worked free kick routine, using him as the outlet in the channel. It didn’t bring a goal, but it was another chance for us to extend the lead.

That leads us to the inevitable Mike Dean red card. I went for a toilet break and as I emerged from under the stand I saw them have a free kick from the left hand side. I walked up the stairs with my back to goal and as I turned, we were breaking. It happened so quick, defence into attack thanks to a long ball, but Rowe’s pace caught McKeown out. He came to meet the ball, met the player and Dean flashed the red card after a brief hesitation.

Was it a red? In real-time I thought yes, but a second glance has me wondering. McKeown got to the ball, unlike Scott Brown when he pole-axed Freck against Port Vale, or the Carlisle keeper when he did the same to Akinde a week or two later. Of the three incidents, it was by far the weakest. If it had been the other way around I might have accepted it at the time, but watching back I’d feel aggrieved. Of course, going down to ten men blunted their threat even further. I guess when people said after the Carlisle game that these things even themsevles out, this is what they meant.

The only way they were going to score was an Imps’ mistake or a late set piece. Bolger had settled in quickly and formed a strong partnership with Bozzy, whilst Rowe was now offering the sort of support John Akinde has wanted all season. On the 84 minute mark I thought the was a better shout for a red card as Akinde was hauled down inside the area, but the offence had started outside and all we got was a free kick. Not even a yellow card for the offender. The dead ball was wasted and we still had to nip our bum cheeks for the final ten minutes.

Grimsby had nothing left in the tank though and smart game management by Pett, Rhead and Danny led to us closing the game down. When the whistle went I think it was a feeling of relief as much as anything, not because we’d been under the cosh but at keeping the lead for so long. Whenever you bag an early goal in such a high-profile game there’s always a chance that you’ll end up conceding, but aside from the half hour period after we scored, It thought we were in control and kept ourselves in check.

We also did well to keep players on the pitch given the number of cards shown. It wasn’t even a dirty game, but somehow there were eight yellows and one red. It was disproportionate to the balance of the play, but in the end it didn’t affect the outcome.

Filtering out of the ground was interesting, with a number of players being put forward for Man of the Match. I thought Harry Toffolo deserved it, not for his goal alone but his wide play as well. He linked well with Pett, dealt strongly with threats at the back and fought for every ball. Some felt Bolger and Bozzy could have won it for commanding displays, Neal Eardley got mentioned as allegedly ‘he does what he always does’, but both central midfielders got big shouts too. 

Not one of those players will be bothered too much about a bottle of champagne, because whatever they drank last night will have tasted twice as sweet. We’ve only lost once to Grimsby in five years now, even that came from having ten men for an hour. With Scunthorpe in League One we’re not the Pride of Lincolnshire just yet but rest assured, if we keep fighting for each other and get Danny Rowe fit and firing, I’m pretty sure we’ll get a chance to claim that crown next season, having won not only this battle, but also the war of 2018/19.