Grimsby 1-2 Shrewsbury: Mariners Get Shrewd Awakening

Grimsby Town were one of the pre-season promotion favourites in League Two, and they came into this weekend with an unbeaten home record, boasting 3 wins from their opening 4 games at Blundell Park. They welcomed a struggling Shrewsbury side, who many had tipped to be floundering around the bottom end of the table this season, and who hadn’t won a game away from home since the 7th of March. This was always going to happen. 

Dave Artell’s Mariners had only lost once in their opening 8 league games before the arrival of Shrewsbury, and that was in their previous weekend’s trip to Newport. Back-to-back defeats against significantly weaker opposition is a bitter enough pill to swallow for the Grimsby fans, before you even begin to take into account that both were played across an international break that saw some of their perceived promotion rivals’ fixtures cancelled. What was a great opportunity to get some points on the board and leapfrog the competition over the break has now devolved into a messy two weeks that every other top side has looked upon with glee. They’re now a point behind both York and Walsall, who have played a game fewer than Grimsby, and two points behind Barnet, who have missed a further game on top of that.

The solace is, of course, that it’s early days. Had they won just one of those games they’d have been in second, and four or more points would’ve seen them top the table. They’re lucky nobody else seems to be able to put a half decent run together either. The league table doesn’t matter at all at this early stage, but Grimsby’s opening run of fixtures has been kinder than most, and to have only won 3 from their first 9 games has to be a concern. The games simply have to get more difficult, and with a run-in over Christmas and New Year that sees them play Chesterfield, Salford, and both games against Barnet in the space of four weeks, their have to be question marks about wether this Mariners side have the minerals to go the distance. Once their talismanic midfielder Geza David Turi returns from international duty with the Faroese team, things are expected to pick back up again. But you can’t pin all your hopes on one Geza. 

While the mood around Grimsby is turning a bit, well, grim, Shrewsbury are having a serious uptick in their fortunes as of late. Four unbeaten in the league, well clear of the relegation picture, and finally it looks like their ownership situation is being sorted with Brad Friedel, yes that one, and his consortium set to take charge of the club in the imminent future. It is, for once, a great time to be a Shrews fan, and you can’t help but be pleased for them. Fans of any club that have been through a period of turmoil around ownership know how emotionally exhausting it can be, and it’s nice that they seem to have rectified the situation with someone who actually knows about football forming part of the new group. That always helps.

To celebrate the new dawn at the club, George Lloyd netted his second goal of the season to open the scoring after nineteen minutes. Defender Will Boyle got his head on an out-swinging corner, but couldn’t get enough power on it to trouble the ‘keeper. Fortunately for Boyle, his limp effort transformed into a masterful deft assist as the ball dropped perfectly in front of Lloyd to finish first-time from a few yards out. It feels like I’m talking about this every week these days, but it just keeps happening, George Lloyd also had a spell as a Grimsby player a few seasons ago on loan from Cheltenham. Thankfully, his 21 games in black and white didn’t have such a profound emotional effect on him as to stop him hitting a beautifully executed knee-slide into forward-roll combo celebration. That’s how you do it. There were a few suggestions of offside, especially from the embarrassed Grimsby defenders and one particularly bitter commenter online, but as far as I can see from the officially sanctioned EFL highlights package, he’s pretty comfortably onside. Veteran striker Andy Cook just completely switches off and is caught ball watching, allowing Lloyd to ghost in front of him unchallenged and score. I know he’s not a proper defender, but you’d think he should be the best placed man on the pitch to sniff out a dangerous run from an attacker. 

The hosts tried their best to hit back, taking a total of 21 shots across the entirety of the game. Unfortunately, if you’re only going to get 5 of them on target, and if most of those are going to be straight at the ‘keeper, it’s significantly more difficult to score goals. It’s all about efficiency and taking your chances, as Shrewsbury proved by taking a 2-0 lead with just their second shot on target of the game. Creative mastermind Will Boyle was at it again, utilising his superior footballing brain to fashion a chance for 18 year-old Kian McMahon-Brown on this occasion. A cross was swung in from the left-hand side, and Boyle once again tried to stick his big head on it. He totally misjudged the flight of the ball, ricocheting it behind him and towards young McMahon-Brown on the edge of the area. The teenager took a touch to set himself before driving a low shot into the bottom corner and well beyond the reach of Christy Pym in the Grimsby goal. This was just the latest in a run of strong performances from the Irish youngster, who left the Ireland U21 camp to play in this game and flew back out to meet up with the team in time for their win against England. Now that’s commitment. Putting in strong performances in League Two and being called up to your nation’s U21 side after only just turning 18 is a fantastic achievement, and it looks like Burnley could have a serious player on their hands. With how they’re going, they might be regretting loaning him out. 

Grimsby did eventually get rewarded for their incessant badgering of the Shrewsbury goal, halving the deficit with 15 minutes left to play through a Finlay Cartwright header. Former Shrewsbury man (obviously) Iwan Morgan bent in a free kick from deep, which was completely misjudged by Shrews ‘keeper Will Brook. Brook came, didn’t quite get there, and Cartwright headed home his first goal in professional football. A great moment for the young lad on loan from Middlesbrough, and it set up a grandstand finish at Blundell Park. The away side were leading 2-1, but the momentum was all with Grimsby. The hosts had had all of the ball, the majority of the shots, and had dominated their opposition in every measurable metric. This was it. Except, well, it wasn’t. Grimsby didn’t manage a single shot on target in the remainder of the game as Gavin Cowan’s side masterfully closed out that long-awaited away win they’d been chasing for 7 months. The waiting makes it all the sweeter, I’m sure.

This result topped off what has been one of the great weeks in modern Shrewsbury Town history, and the grass is looking a little greener over on the Welsh border these days. As for Grimsby on the east coast, a troubling storm seems to be brewing out at sea. They’re not in full-blown panic yet, but if they can’t start turning over the teams they need to be beating then Dave Artell’s position could suddenly look precarious. Good news lads! It looks like Ian Holloway might be back on the market soon enough…