Grimsby 3 Vale 0

Vale make a poor start, then create a few chances but deserve to lose again.

Glover made changes, most surprisingly to the defence. He went with Martin (goal), Stockley (right-back), McCombe, Owen, Edwards (left-back), Howland (right), Collins, Marshall, Dodds, Taylor (left), with Perry starting as the lone striker. On the bench were Lloyd-Weston, Richman, Lawrie, Glover, Thompson.

On 3 mins McCombe conceded a corner on the Vale right. The ball came across and Vale failed to clear the header from Conlon who followed it up with a shot which entered the Vale net. 1-0 to Grimsby.

On 6 mins Proudlock crossed from the Grimsby right but Conlon's shot was half-hit and saved with ease by Martin.

On 7 mins Marshall hit a free-kick just wide.

On 12 mins a cross from Jarman was met with a header from Boshell but it went over the bar.

On 16 mins Marshall hit a free-kick wide.

On 20 mins Collins gave away a corner. It was taken by Sweeney, headed away initially by Perry but never fully-cleared. The ball went out to Jarman on the Vale left who hit a shot into the far corner of the Vale net. 2-0 to Grimsby. Vale then switched from 4-5-1 to 4-4-2 with Dodds alongside Perry.

On 25 mins Vale gained a corner from which Taylor ended up with hitting a shot over the bar.

On 28 mins Vale gained another corner which was cleared.

On 31 mins Proudlock dived in the Vale area and was booked by ref Scott. Even BBC Radio Humberside said the decision was correct.

On 34 mins Sweeney hit an effort just wide of the Vale goal.

On 35 mins Martin made a good save at the feet of Proudlock.

On 38 mins Dodds had a shot which brought a good save out of keeper Henderson.

On 39 mins Proudlock hit a shot wide of the Vale goal.

On 40 mins Marshall came very close to a goal when his shot hit the bar.

On 42 mins Vale gained a corner which was cleared.

1 min was added.

Grimsby 2 Vale 0 HT

Vale brought on Richman for Taylor for the start of the second half.

On 47 mins a cross from Proudlock was met with a header by Conlon which was saved.

On 48 mins the ball was crossed from the Grimsby right into the Vale goalmouth. Martin went down but mishandled it and Conlon hit the ball into the Vale net. 3-0 to Grimsby.

On 60 mins Dodds was replaced by Thompson.

On 65 mins Thompson had a shot saved.

On 65 mins Grimsby gained a corner but from it Vale gained a free-kick for a foul.

On 66 mins Proudlock was replaced by Forbes.

On 67 mins Thompson hit an effort over the bar.

On 68 mins Perry was replaced by Danny Glover.

On 68 mins a cross from Forbes was headed clear by McCombe.

On 70 mins Richman had a fine cross-shot which brought a great save out of keeper Henderson at the expense of a corner. When the corner came over it caused chaos in the home defence. Glover failed to accept a great scoring opportunity but the ball reached McCombe who netted but was flagged offside.

On 73 mins a Stockley cross was punched clear by Henderson.

On 74 mins a Marshall effort was deflected wide for a Vale corner. The ball came back to Marshall from the corner but his poor cross went for a goal-kick to the home side.

On 76 mins a shot by Thompson went wide.

On 80 mins Howland's shot was blocked and came back to Marshall who then shot over the bar.

On 83 mins Glover went on a good run before being fouled. Marshall's free-kick landed on top of the net.

On 86 mins the ball was worked from right to left by Grimsby before Sweeney hit a shot over the bar.

On 86 mins Llewellyn replaced Hegarty for the Mariners.

On 88 mins Forbes was booked for a foul.

3 mins were added.

Grimsby 3 Vale 0 FT

Vale had 38% of the possession, 8 on-target efforts to their 7, 6 off-target efforts to their 4 and 5 corners to their 3. On this occasion don't judge the game by the misleading stats as Vale deserved to lose. Proudlock and Forbes were booked for Grimsby. Ref Scott was fine and we did not lose because of him. The attendance was 6511 including 149 Vale fans. The ground looked packed, an advantage of having a small capacity ground filled rather than a big ground half-empty.

Vale were desperately slow out of the blocks and were soon chasing the game. The donkeys on nearby Cleethorpes beach could hardly have been more cumbersome than the Vale at this early stage. Vale seemed confused in defence, which begs the question "why did Glover change what was not broken?" The Vale team has had many deficiences this season but in recent times the team has conceded few goals so why change things around in that area? Glover must have been keen to bring back Owen and he did so by moving Collins away from his partnership with McCombe which had been forged last season with great success at Hereford. Collins was given the holding job (at least I assume that is why he was there) in midfield instead of Griffith. Was the latter injured? Owen is not a bad player but looked to have been brought back prematurely and the team suffered as a consequence. When Taylor was replaced Edwards moved to left side of midfield with Collins at left-back. Vale had corners in the first half but until the 38th minute Vale did not make their possession count. By the 48th minute Grimsby had the game won as they made it 3-0 and were content to sit on that, allowing Vale to get forward more than previously and there were several close calls for the home defence but Vale could not get a goal.

As regards individuals, Martin did better than most, only being culpable for the third goal. Stockley showed the enthusiasm some lacked and tried to help the attack when he could. McCombe and Owen did not look as safe a central defensive pairing as McCombe and Collins and the uncertainty contributed to the goals. Howland was busy down the right but Collins had a poor game in midfield, an unfamiliar position for him. Dodds, sometimes in defence and sometimes in attack, was rarely noticeable but did have one decent effort on goal. Marshall was often in evidence with crosses and free-kicks and hit the bar in the first-half. Taylor had a largely anonymous game and was replaced at the interval. Too much was being asked of Perry up front on his own before the scoreline forced the change to 4-4-2. He never looked like scoring. Richman had the second half to make a difference and did a few good things, including bringing a fine save out of the keeper.

It was hard to understand why Glover went for such a cautious approach from the start against a struggling team, the plans being undone very early in the game. Vale were on the back foot for the first twenty minutes though improved thereafter. Grimsby were not a particularly good team, their record suggests that, but were really up for this one. Vale were just the sort of team they would have relished for a game which mattered to them. The Vale fans resorted to "We want Glover out" as soon as the second goal went in but were probably too apathetic to continue with this for much longer. They even applauded the arrival of Danny Glover.

Afterwards Glover said "We weren't at the races and that's disappointing. We've been keeping it tight at the back and injuries led us to play the 4-5-1 formation that has worked for us away from home. But their front line dominated our defenders too much". I assume he means Griffith was unfit and he felt the need to put someone with defensive capabilty in midfield but by shifting Collins he lost the improved defensive stabilty we have shown in recent games.

I was sitting next to a Vale fan who said he had not seen the team for a while as he was in the RAF and had been in the desert for the past five weeks. I have heard of people joining the Foreign Legion in order to forget but hiding in the desert for five weeks to avoid the Vale seemed somewhat excessive.

The result apart, the main concern was the disappearance of Hobsons Fish Restaurant from the road close to the stadium. It has changed very much in character and name to a place called Mariners, selling food of a slightly different kind from what we used to associate with Hobsons. We made use of another fine establishment called Barneys - good food and very cheap!

One point about the weather. I was expecting warmer weather than we actually had. We arrived in Grimsby at 12pm and went past one of those machines which shows time and temperature. The temperature at 12pm was only 7 degrees. As a result it was thick clothing again. The guy next to me really noticed the difference from his weeks in the desert! That is the North Sea in Cleethorpes for you!

I have been looking at the various possibilities for promotion and relegation in terms of the likely make-up of League Two next season. With travelling to away games the more of the relatively local teams we face the better as far as I'm concerned and it ought to mean more visitors to Vale Park if they do not have far to come to our place. The ideal scenario for relegation from League One would be Hereford, Cheltenham, Northampton and Crewe and that could happen. I do not want Brighton, Yeovil or even Carlisle. Up from League Two could be the current top three of Brentford, Exeter and Wycombe all of them involving a fair bit of travelling. It would be wonderful if Gillingham could also disappear through the play-offs, getting rid of an awful ground (for away fans) and a long distance. That would leave the likes of Rochdale, Bury, Shrewsbury and Chesterfield in League Two, all short trips from the Potteries. Out are Luton (great - no more lousy views, no more intimate body-searching by over-zealous stewards fresh from their G20 policing role, no more looking into people's kitchens, no more expensive refreshments, no more medieval toilets and no more odd smells from the onion capital of the Western World) ) and most likely Chester, which is a pity. Vale could have helped to keep Chester and lose the distant Grimsby had they turned up yesterday. Up from the Blue Square Prem would ideally be Burton but they are demonstrating the importance of a good Manager, having gone into freefall since replacing Nigel Clough with the less effective Roy McFarland. I hope Burton can still just do it. I fear that if Burton end in the play-offs they will enter them in such poor form they will not get through.With Burton (ideally) I would like Kidderminster as the nearest of the play-off hopefuls or, if not, I like visiting Torquay in spite of the distance. If neither Kidderminster nor Torquay then Oxford would not be too bad. Let us see what happens.

Nothing to do with the Vale but I was interested to read something from ex-ref Graham Poll in yesterday's Daily Mail. He says that in last week's game against Newcastle Rory Delap used up 10 mins and 14 seconds with throw-ins. He says that "for over 11 per cent of the match fans were waiting for Delap to take a long throw - surely nearly 25 seconds per throw is too long". I wonder how Stoke fans would have felt if the 4th Official had held up the board at the end saying "15 minutes" of added time! Delap was "wasting" time with a towel - all very well if you are winning but I bet he would speed up if Stoke were losing

Next week we have the final home game of this momentous season. Wycombe visit Vale Park with realistic hopes of promotion. Depending on midweek results they could arrive at Vale Park with the opportunity of winning to clinch promotion.They may well bring a decent following to Vale Park and will, like Grimsby, feel Vale are just the sort of team they wish to face : one which is of poor quality and safe in the league. Don't expect Vale to finish on a high note. Just two games left Glover - if you're lucky but don't count on it! He must not be allowed to deal with the retained list even if he still here by the time we play Barnet.

Eddie

I'm amazed that you still have the energy and desire to pen reports after this season's heartaches and woes!
I still don't know how you manage to travel the length and breadth of the country watching us put in abject displays week after week. It gets me down just attending home games!

Surely we have got to do better against a team like Grimsby who might still be relegated to non league circles. I think it was all fairly preditable after seeing the line-up. One man up front. A different defence. Too many left footers in the team. The usual tactic I imagine of trying to stifle the opposition and get a 0-0 or sneak a goal on the break. Well Plan A lasted abouted 3 minutes and after that it was goodnight Vienna. We don't seem able to score goals any more and if we go one down invariably that's that. Yet another embarrassing defeat to one of the poorest teams in the League but is anyone suprised any more?

I dread to think what the atmosphere will be like next week when we lose to Wycombe. I think Glover should go before it turns nasty and frustration boils over.

I am very pessimistic about next year. I'm sure several players (who are not good enough) are still contracted to stay and unless we sign 7-8 better quality, more expensive players, we are in for a nightmare 12 months. You aint seen nothing yet!

PortValeOnline: Grimsby 3 Vale 0 - PortValeOnline

Grimsby 3 Vale 0 After Match Comments

#1 Eddie

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#4 Eddie

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