Cod Almighty | Match Report

by Adam Pannell

22 November 2015

Eastleigh 0 Grimsby Town 1

 

So, there I was, Saturday morning, at home in West Sussex, looking forward to my first Town match of the season just 50 miles down the road at Eastleigh, when I responded to a request on Twitter for a match reporter. It seemed like a great idea at the time, then I read the report from the Welling game last week, saw what was expected and worried that I might look a bit inept in the face of previous greatness – a bit like Adam Buckley trying to fill the boots of Ryan Giggs or suchlike.

I'd been looking forward to the game all week – in fact, come to think of it, since the fixtures came out, for it was to be a major first in my supporting career: my son's very first game – a magic moment for any football-following parent. I took him to look inside Blundell Park in the summer and persuaded him this was a good thing by the purchase of a small and perfectly formed teddy bear wearing a Town T-shirt. Mariners Bear, as he became, has been a favourite ever since and an everlasting connection had been made. The arrival of a Harry Haddock in October just added to the excitement and now all that was missing was a game and the right result.

I even managed to persuade my 15-year-old stepson to come along to Eastleigh too. He's not a football fan but thought he'd give it another go after last seeing Town lose in the paint pot trophy at Wembley many moons ago.

During two trips to Eastleigh last year I was impressed by the atmosphere around the club. Not the volume of the calls of "Spitfires" but their whole approach to how a club should welcome supporters. Friendly, fairly priced entry and refreshments, and even their chairman bought those on the official coach a drink each in the club bar. Nice touch, especially giving us six points last year to boot, and some great memories.

Well, would it be the same this season? One thing is for sure: November is definitely colder than late April and hats, scarves and gloves were a genuine necessity – unless you want to prove your 'manliness' and go shirtless, of course.

Town lined up with McKeown in goal; a back four of Tait and Townsend with Toto and Gowling in the middle; Arnold, Monkhouse, Disley and Clay in midfield; and the free-scoring Amond and loanee Jones up top.

First half

The game started well for Town, who dominated the early exchanges. The strong away support was buoyed by a couple of early corners from Townsend (at Town's end) which resulted in flashes of excitement but no glory as a succession of Eastleigh legs denied Town. Josh Gowling provided Eastleigh's only moment of slight excitement as he headed a back-pass to McKeown quite hard at close range, but that really is clutching at straws and barely caused a murmur.

The Mariners continued to dominate and on 12 minutes Jones received a lofty pass in a central position and looked to race clear but was quickly tackled by the last defender. At the other end, a free kick near the corner flag was whipped in, headed on to the top of the bar and over. It seemed to me to come off an Eastleigh player but it was down the other end so I couldn't really argue when the ref awarded a corner. The Town players did, on the other hand, confirming that we always get poor refs.

In a dodgy few minutes for Craig Disley, the captain he was penalised for a high foot in the centre circle, which he was somewhat aggrieved with. Still narked, he performed a somewhat agricultural tackle on the left wing just moments later. The ref gave him a stern word, but that was all, surprisingly.

Then, the moment my son, even if he didn't realise it, had been waiting for: after yet more world-class build-up play between Town's front players the first goal of a lifelong love affair was scored by Podge. Lovely interplay between Arnold and Jones led to the ball being slotted across the six-yard area to an unmarked Amond, who coolly slotted home. Cue wild celebrations and… crying! "Daddy, you just shouted in my ear and it really hurt!" Oops.

The feet of my two fellow travellers began to twitch in time to the continually brilliant vocal support of the 465 other Town fans there. Maybe this would be the day that I hoped it would be after all?

The half ended in the very warm gents loo and queue for the solitary burger van. Having heard young hands were getting cold I'd decided to get down to the hot-ish food early. What a good job I did. 'Underprepared' was the word that sprung to mind when the lady looked at the building mass of hungry fans and simply said: "Oh my God."

'Underprepared' was the word that sprung to mind when the lady looked at the building mass of hungry fans and simply said: "Oh my God"

Second half

The second half became something of a battle. Eastleigh had obviously had a good set-to at half time and pressed up the field more, looking to get an early leveller and exert some sort of pressure. Town had much less possession and sat back but it never felt like we'd concede – not something that's often been said this season.

There were few openings at either end, with Town trying to counter with pace when the opportunity arose. Gowling, Clay and Townsend all took bookings 'for the team'. Gowling's tackle was my personal favourite – a real, no-nonsense, thou-shalt-not-pass haul to the ground.

Strevens went into the book for the home side. Amond got the ball on halfway and was looking to run into a dangerous area (no doubt to score a cheeky chip over the keeper or something similar) before being unceremoniously dumped to the ground.

It was good to see JP return to action on 78 minutes and it wasn't long before he was felled in the box. The referee appeared to be about to blow but Pittman got back to his feet and played on, making it look like the ref might have been about to give a free kick for simulation. Either way, I'm saying we were unlucky with that one but we always get poor refs.

As time went on, the fans grew more confident of the win and the whole stand shook with the sound of expectant Town chanting. The smiles on my kids' faces grew wider as they got more into the whole experience. Despite a late bit of drama in the four added-on minutes, with the home side awarded a free kick on the left edge of the area, that was that.

A great away performance – one goal for, none against, three points in the bag. Add to that the draw between the top two and at almost halfway in the season, we're only five points off the pace.

The biggest thing for me today – despite the obvious happy father and stepdad thing, and Mariners Bear being teddy of choice at bedtime – was that at the end, the celebrations from the fans, the players and the fist-pumping manager all seemed a bit turning-point-esque. Have we reached that point in the season where it all changes, a bit earlier this time round? It's so tight at the top right now that this league is anyone's for the taking. Let's hope, this time, that it's us who take it.

Thanks for yet another great away day, GTFC – you have two new fans today! And to finish, in the words of a neutral fan I spoke to after the match, "By, that's some support you've got!"

He's not wrong. 

Up the Mariners.