Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Wednesday 28 December 2011

28 December 2011

Grimsby fans were given the perfect Christmas present when they beat 'old foes' Lincoln at Sincil Bank on Boxing Day. In a pretty shit first half, Town played a four-man midfield with strict instructions not to place one foot inside the centre circle at any time, or to even attempt to tackle the opposition. But the Mariners came out second half looking like the team the fans expected to see from the first whistle. And, to our collective relief, the Imps didn't do the damage that their general first half play deserved, allowing us to snatch victory from what looked at the break like a drab defeat from an over-hyped fixture.

I was told after the game that we hadn't won a Boxing Day fixture since the 3-1 at Derby in 2002, when John Oster scored a couple and young David 'Digger' Soames got a third in injury time. Town youngster Iain Ward played in midfield alongside Paul Groves to man-mark Georgi Kinkladze in the second half.

Now is not the time to consider how Monday's victory - or even another on New Year's Day at Blundell Park - will fail to make one iota of difference on our inevitable mid-table finish. Now is the time to celebrate the victory and go into the home fixture full of confidence and optimism that we can make it six points out of six and climb into the top half of the table for the first time this season. Full-time club captain Craig Disley thinks we've turned the corner. Town fans, with their naturally negative disposition, now think he's jinxed it.

Town have defensive problems ahead of the home game on New Year's Day, with Pearson suspended, I'Anson injured and Antwi out of the equation - for now. Forgotten man Garner is the last man standing. Luckily, Lincoln's defence will be equally decimated so we shouldn't concern ourselves with how we're going to keep them out. We can't seem to keep many other buggers out, so if we all just accept that we'll probably concede, and concentrate instead on getting Hearn and Elding banging the goals in at the other end, then we'll have nothing to worry about.

It's been a long time since a central defender caught the eye of your West Yorkshire Diary through being so inept, but the Imps' Josh Gowling did just that on Monday. I couldn't help thinking that if that had been a home game, and if the midfield had supported the Town strikers from the very start, then we could have had a hatful. Handily, then, we have the home game just around the corner and current form suggests we're not that bad at scoring goals at Blundell Park - not that I want to build up too many hopes, you understand. Disley has already jinxed it anyway, so I feel free to say what I want. Gowling did one thing right on Boxing Day and that was to get himself booked and suspended so he won't have to play against Hearn on New Year's Day.

There are many things that I dislike about my football club being in the Conference, but this local derby double-header thing is one of the benefits. God knows who the fixture generator would have sent us to play on Boxing Day had we been in the Football League. The fans have already been challenged to come out and support the Mariners in this return fixture by ticket expert Steve Wraith - and that was before the win two days ago. Shorty has challenged the players to beat Lincoln again, which is nice.

Merry Christmas to you all!