Are Grimsby Town on the way up?

After a difficult run through September with six consecutive defeats and a small poor run of three losses in late October and early November Michael Jolley seems have got his players playing how he wants them to and in an effective manner.

We have won four of the last five games (if you include the FA Cup) and scored 13 goals in the process and we have reached the 3^rd round of the FA Cup which has given us £90,000 in prize money alone so far. Added to that, the side is now playing attractive, high energy football that is producing results. Optimism is the primary feeling around Blundell Park for the first time since we dismantled Plymouth in November 2016.

An FA Cup run always tends to breathe some life and optimism into a lower league club. It is unsurprising that our mini-resurgence began in the second half at home to MK Dons when we were 1-0 down and turned it around to win 3-1 and were good value for our victory ending the game in cruise control after scoring the third and never looked in any real trouble of surrendering our lead. This was a seismic shift in our season as prior to this game (if you exclude the Checkatrade trophy) we hadn’t scored a goal when the opposition scored first all season and our record in the second-half of games was dire. So much so we would have been rooted to the bottom of a hypothetical table with games starting after half-time.

I questioned a multiplicity of decisions made by the management. Jolley’s substitutions had the effect of changing the game against us. I thought our fitness was poor as the players always looked exhausted towards the end of games. I wondered if Jolley and the staff were cramming the players’ heads full of information that was confusing them. Something clicked in the second-half of the MK Dons game and we suddenly looked like a side capable of both competing and avoiding relegation with relative ease. Elliot Embleton, a genuinely two-footed midfielder on loan from Sunderland, looks every bit a player of quality much higher than League Two. He has fantastic energy, a great touch, he can pass and he’s got a goal in him. He scored a superb goal against MK Dons, curling the ball into the top right-hand corner from just left of the ‘D’. Since then he has scored again against Tranmere and generally looked a class above in our midfield. Whether we are able to keep hold of him post-January remains to be seen but everyone is desperate for him to stay.

The following Saturday was another impressive result (although for different reasons). If we won pretty against MK Dons then we won ugly against Crawley. The game was turgid throughout, with footballing quality at a premium. In all honesty, they looked more likely to score, they had a lot more athleticism in the midfield particularly and generally looked quicker in thought and foot. As the game wore on, we grew into it. This was encouraging given the way we had previously faded in games. Then, the prodigious talent of Akheem Rose comes off the bench earlier than he ever had done previously and finished with great conviction eight minutes from time. I had suggested that Jolley brings him on earlier in games so he can use his raw strength and pace to punish tired defences and Jolley brought him on with 15 minutes to go with the desired effect. We changed our face to a certain extent because we were coming on stronger at the end of games. Jolley had addressed the issue. We won ugly for the first time all season which showed Jolley’s plan was working but still very much a work in progress.

Following on, we were dreadful for half an hour at Northampton. We were 1-0 down and it looked as if we had reverted to type. Jolley made the inspired decision to switch Charles Vernam over to the right of a front three and almost immediately we scored from a breakaway goal, which is something we have very rarely done. For the first time in the league, we had scored after going behind. James McKeown had pulled off his customary world-class save to keep us in the game when it was 1-0 and it merely epitomised our dependency on him to this day. He thoroughly deserved to win ‘League Two Player of the Month’ for October. He was superb. We then fell behind again to a well-executed free kick early on in the second-half but you could see a new belief in the side, we didn’t look defeated as we had done previously. We kept plugging away and it culminated in Harry Cardwell getting his first goal for the club towards the end of the match. We probably should’ve won the game as Ahkeem Rose headed over from six yards unmarked in stoppage time but I would happily have taken a point after half an hour when we looked dreadful. Again, we showed an ability to dig deep and Ben Pringle’s added guile and Embleton’s quality and energy were paying dividends. We badly lacked both of these things last season. I genuinely thought that we didn’t look like a relegation side after that performance.

Then came the pinnacle of this mini-run. An emphatic 5-2 win over Tranmere. A bitterly cold and wet night at Blundell Park looked to be heading to be one of those games featured on fans’ ‘worst ever games’ lists after 15 minutes when we fell behind to a James Norwood goal. For the next half hour, they looked fitter and more composed in possession than us. They looked like a side at the top of the table. However, we then grew into the game and Harry Clifton got his first professional goal with a wonderfully guided header after a pin-point cross by Elliot Embleton. Then we finally got the bit of luck that has deserted us all season when Charles Vernam’s cross was parried to Wes Thomas who clearly put the ball into the net using his arm. The ‘Hand of Cod’ had returned! We then never really looked back. Harry Davis scored after a goalmouth scramble early on in the second-half and then Tranmere pulled one back courtesy of a rocket from Paul Mullin. Mitch Rose converted a penalty with ferocity and conviction before substitute John Welsh’s wonderful through ball was finished by the ever-impressive Elliot Embleton. There was a sense of joy leaving the ground that night. We looked very good and felt optimistic about the future.

If truth be told, the Chesterfield cup game was a bit of a non-event. A game lacking in quality was punctuated by two Town goals either side of half time from the ever-improving Charles Vernam and Harry Clifton respectively. Nevertheless, it was an excellent day out for Town fans, as over 1600 fans went to the Proact Stadium to see us progress to the 3^rd round for the first time since the 2013-14 season. We now have a potentially lucrative 3^rd round tie at Selhurst Park to look forward to.

Town are on the way up for the first time in over 2 years and I am quite excited about the remainder of the season. Given this is Grimsby Town though, we will probably lose at Cheltenham on Saturday and be back to square one. A lot of our success will depend on whether we can keep Elliot Embleton on loan until the end of the season, which all of us have our doubts about.

words Shaun Bennett, D3D4 Grimsby Town correspondent