Cod Almighty | Match Stats

Tuesday 26 February 2008

League Trophy (NF1)

Morecambe 0

Grimsby Town 1 Bolland (69)

Attendance: 3207

In the first half, at least, Tom Newey was the only defender who lived up to the demands of the day. Any hoofs upfield were demanded by Morecambe's domination, and he was only able to make those hoofs because he was standing in the right places, making the tackles and getting in the blocks. Peter Till was our only consistent attacking weapon, his pace, control and unselfishness growing from a minor irritant to a genuine danger as the match progressed. However, to name anyone other than Phil Barnes as our man of the match would be to give a misleading impression to the game. Our improvement in the second half was just worth a goal. Without Barnes it would have been no more than consolation.

"It's a fantastic result for us. Phil Barnes pulled off some world-class saves. I thought we were a bit fortunate to be level at half time because Morecambe could have had a couple of goals but we kept going and we got a very well worked goal. I'm looking forward to next Tuesday night and we will do all we can to get through."

"We had loads of chances but we missed a few from good positions and their keeper made some great saves. But it's only half-time and we've got a long way to go and we are still in with a fighting chance and we will be giving it our all."

In the first half, Morecambe weren't afraid to play the ball in the air, but they weren't aimless: they consistently picked out their own players. They played more on the ground in the second half, and again created several chances. Ultimately, they were let down by poor finishing, and unlucky to come up against a goalkeeper giving the performance of his career. We should not count on our luck holding.

Nigel Miller (Co Durham)
Nigel Miller got on our nerves quickly with his tolerance for a certain degree of jostling, but can we really blame him for Town players looking physically weaker that the Shrimpers? He was consistent, and he judged well two potentially tricky moments for us: Blinkhorn's dive and the clash of heads involving Jones. The reporter may be in a minority of one here, but Miller deserves 6.5.

Anyone who gets on Phil Barnes's back ever again needs shooting. Peter Till has found his niche. We are 1-0 up on aggregate.