Grimsby Town fell to a second straight league defeat on Tuesday night when a late Oli Hawkins header condemned the Lincolnshire-based outfit to a late 2-1 defeat away at in-form Gillingham at the Priestfield Stadium.
The Mariners came crashing back down to earth following their 3-0 home victory over Championship high-flyers Luton Town last week with a 1-0 home defeat to Colchester United in their next game, in which former Lincoln City striker Tom Hopper scored the only goal of the game to give his side all three points.
Grimsby needed a response when they travelled to Gillingham on a long Tuesday night, with a victory releasing some pressure on the club’s recent league form despite their successes in the FA Cup, with a trip to Premier League Southampton on the horizon.
Following a goalless first 45 minutes in Kent, Neil Harris’ Gills came out right on the front foot and deservedly took the lead on 56 minutes, with George Lapslie tapping home Dom Jefferies’ cross across goal to score on his first start for the club after signing from Mansfield Town in January.
Paul Hurst’s men did find an equalising goal with 15 minutes to play however, with a cross from the left-hand side from Anthony Glennon finding the head of midfielder Gavan Holohan to head home at a tight angle to level the scores, despite Glenn Morris’ best efforts.
With the game heading for a draw, Gillingham found the winner on 87th minutes as a deep cross from Cheye Alexander on the right-hand side found the head of Hawkins, with his looping header beating Max Crocombe at the far post to give Neil Harris’ side all three points.
https://twitter.com/TheGillsFC/status/1625608566026412048?s=20&t=RQSvf22C4UcVNt5YXtsj9g
The victory for Gillingham moves the club outside of the relegation zone and up to 21st in the table following a run of four wins and a draw in their last six league games, picking up 13 points out of a possible 18 in the process.
As for Grimsby, Paul Hurst’s men have now picked up 11 points out of a possible 42 in the league, in which they have only picked up three victories in their last 14 league games which sees the club drop to 19th in the league table, with the club playing considerably less games than others because of previous postponed fixtures as well as their run in the FA Cup.
After the game, Mariners boss Paul Hurst told Grimsby Live that he was disappointed with his sides late game mentality and that he believed his side deserved something from the game as a whole.
Hurst said: “I’m disappointed because I thought we should’ve taken something from the game based in the overall play. No doubt that they had spells and the first goal came from some prolonged pressure and from my point of view that is where we have to be stronger.
“We have to deal with that and we can’t just go under if we feel a bit of pressure because you felt the goal was coming. You’re looking for some leadership and for something to change on the pitch to take back some momentum which we didn’t do initially.
“First half we were fine, went behind early in the second half but then we started to play and we’re the better team for a while before the equaliser. Once we scored we went on the back foot though.
“We talked about the mentality side of the game, and what [Gillingham] have brought in with Oli Hawkins and Tom Nichols is goals. hey had to pay money for them but the dynamic and mentality has changed for them and they’ve got the rewards from that so far.”
Following the game, several Grimsby supporters took to social media to vent their frustrations about the club’s league form in recent months, with some suggesting that the club could be dragged into a relegation scrap if they are not careful.
Twitter Reaction
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