Although road closures and contraflows contrived to try and f*ck me over.

Town were on top in the first half without really getting out of second gear. Dover offered nothing. Very basic and very route one. You felt we could easily have scored a few more without really creating many clear cut chances. Second half they dragged us down to their level and had a lot more possession. We ended up being quite deep and survived a number of close things. Jimmy tipped one over, just turned another around/over, they thought they'd scored another and then with about 20 seconds to go one went just wide. On that basis Dover probably thought they deserved a draw. I'm not sure as we had a couple of chances too, especially a Toto header (think it was Toto - was getting a burger). There was not a great deal of skill on show, it was all a hundred miles an hour and attritional. Their centre halves being particularly physical. Town though fought hard and competed manfully for everything - you couldn't fault their resolve and as a result we held on (Clay was out on his feet near the end). I couldn't really think of any stand out performers for us, everyone gave it their all.

Next stop Welling...........

PS About 250 Mariners there, that never stopped singing and beating that f*cking drum!

Gutsy performance in what was not really a pulsating game in rain, hail, and what looked like a flutter of snow.

Well set-up and taken early goal.  Lenny just kept going one-on-one with the keeper after he initially seemed to push a great pass a little too far.  We looked to be on top the first half, and then under a fair bit of pressure the second half.

Oddly for a home-side, Dover were set up to frustrate - it looked like their formation was pretty much 5 - 5 (!!) so there was a congested midfield clogging up the works for both teams.

Good to see Brown get a run out.  

Great Town support.  Appalling roads!!  2 and a half hours to get there just from South London.  Then on way back -- M2 closed, M20 almost closed, M25 1 lane only open: Mariners going home to Grimsby will have a very long night.

UTM

Agree with most of that. Ollie looked on fire first half. Faded out of it second half. Magnay looked pooped too as well as Clay.

Thought although routine saves, McKeown was handtastic towards the end.

First half we were much the better side. Great ball from Arnold for the goal. They played very direct despite not having particularly tall forwards but they did have effort and pace.
By and large we dealt with it at the back but when we got it we tried taking them on at their game and we ain't very good at it.

Don't want to be critical after 19points from 21 but some of our 'go to' men didn't shine tonight. I expected Diz to use his experience, get it down and pass it we he seemed to keep lobbing the ball in the air to nobody in particular. Brown looked like an under11 in mens football when he came on. I will get my tin hat on now and say Magnay, whilst ok, had probably the poorest game I have seen him have in a Town shirt.

Toto man of the match for me but Pearson and steady Gregor did well too. Clay tried to use the ball more than most and Arnold was our only real threat

Only thing that matters is the points, rest up and go again Saturday. UTM

Agree with whats been said, after a good first half where we were on top we retreated a bit deep at times in the second and struggled to impose ourselves on the game, I can only really think of one chance we had in the second half when Arnold ran through.  

Dover then came at us more and we needed some good saves and a bad miss to keep it as a Town victory.  In many ways Dover deserved something but delighted we held on through a very long and nervous second half of football.

Thought a lot of players looked tired tonight.  Agree with you Chris about Magnay which is no big critcisim as he has been superb for us every time I have seen him but along with our central midfield pair and Palmer he deffo showed signs of fatigue tonight.  Still they all kept fighting for Town and that was great to see, hopefully they can be refreshed and ready to go again on Saturday.

Agree that Magnay showed fatigue but still thought he was fantastic. A crucial slide tackle in the box and running down strikers who got behind the central defenders coming to mind. Overall, poor performance but once again the team spirit came through in the end. These lads are busting a nut every game for each other and it's so enjoyable being able to see that from Town players.

Only thing that matters is the three points, but... Palmer was greedy as fcuk last night, Jolley was urine poor again, and their full backs excrement themselves every time someone attacked them and crossed the ball which usually caused panic in the centre backs.  

Then halftime arrive and we never attacked their defence again, other than to hoof it Neweyesque down the flanks.  Should of at least drawn, but play excrement and win, I'll take that

Hopefully have Makreth back soon to provide more options up front.  Sounds like Jolley is one for next season.

Did sound extremely backs to the wall in the final few minutes last night - I wonder why it always seems to go like that for us. I suppose on the plus side it didn't end up a draw (or even worse a defeat) and we held on for all three so maybe that's a positive?

Quoted from LondonMariner43

Hopefully have Makreth back soon to provide more options up front.  Sounds like Jolley is one for next season.

I very much doubt Jolley will be here next season, even he said when we first enquired about him he didn't want to come.

Considering his performances so far have been way below anything we saw of him a couple of seasons ago I cannot see PH or whoever we have in charge (if we fail to go up) signing him permanently.

Thanks for all the above comments. A long way for many fans midweek.

The issue of "tiredness and fatigue" identified above might impact on the team over the busy Easter and the many key games that we need to win.

Our standards have to be higher that all other teams if we are to be champions.  This brings its own pressures.  We have a week to recover between games after Easter.  Maybe the squad need some light-hearted distractions away from football to refresh and relax them?

Quoted from TownSNAFU5

Thanks for all the above comments. A long way for many fans midweek.

The issue of "tiredness and fatigue" identified above might impact one the team over the busy Easter and the many key games that we need to win.

Our standards have to be higher that all other teams if we are to be champions.  This brings its own pressures.  We have a week to recover between games after Easter.  Maybe the squad need some light-hearted distractions away from football to refresh and relax them?

That's when our larger squad will come in handy! We have gateshead on the bank holiday Saturday followed by alfreton on Monday which worries me!

Is Hurst due praise ?

he gets stick when it doesn't work, but when you have won 6, drew 1 in last 7 games, he should be getting some praise

The tiredness and fatigue thing always makes me chuckle. They are professional sportsmen and the opposition have to play just as many games don't they? Sometimes after a days work in the case of the part time teams. I would suspect it was a poor game because Dover are a little agricultural to say the least. We would have drawn or lost that game at one time, so a great three points and thanks to the just backers for the reports.

Well whatever happens this season, Hurst has built a squad capable of winning this division and I appreciate the fact that we've been able to support a winning side. He's done really well but he'll ultimately be judged on whether we win promotion.

Six wins from seven games is a fantastic run of form - the like of which we haven't had very often (if at all) - even in this division! Sadly it counts for little if we don't go up, but considering it was only a few seasons ago that we were made to go through six months without a win, it's great to be able to support a squad of players that look like they give a sh1t. That matters too.

Six games to go and we're in with a shout of the title. The players believe they can do it, we believe they can do it, the mood is good... come on Town!

PS. Shout out for all the fans who made it to Dover last night. Incredible support once again.

Quoted from ginnywings

The tiredness and fatigue thing always makes me chuckle. They are professional sportsmen and the opposition have to play just as many games don't they? Sometimes after a days work in the case of the part time teams. I would suspect it was a poor game because Dover are a little agricultural to say the least. We would have drawn or lost that game at one time, so a great three points and thanks to the just backers for the reports.

but imagine sitting on a coach for nearly 6 hours cramped up and then have to play footy against a team that are just there to try bully us

Quoted from Jarmo.Is.God

but imagine sitting on a coach for nearly 6 hours cramped up and then have to play footy against a team that are just there to try bully us

Yeah, must be hell.

Quoted from Jarmo.Is.God

Is Hurst due praise ?

he gets stick when it doesn't work, but when you have won 6, drew 1 in last 7 games, he should be getting some praise

although had it not been for him it would be 7 wins out of 7

Quoted from wycombemariner

although had it not been for him it would be 7 wins out of 7

True, but if you give him all the blame for the draw you have to give him some credit for the wins. I'm still bitter about Chester like everyone else but let's give Hurst his due. If it doesn't come off at the end of the season lets talk, until then we should at least credit a manager who we may win the league under

Quoted from wycombemariner

although had it not been for him it would be 7 wins out of 7

But surely he played a part in all the other wins!

Quoted from wycombemariner

although had it not been for him it would be 7 wins out of 7

but we could of also lost in them 7 games

The point about it "could have been 7" is not that 6 wins out of 7 is not good enough, but throwing a win away is not good enough.

The frustrating thing is when we don't perform as well as we can.

Quoted from wycombemariner

although had it not been for him it would be 7 wins out of 7

Specious Logic of the Week award.  

Did PH have NOTHING to do with the other 19 points picked up by his players in his team from his squad?

notice that the gasheads still have to go to dover. lets hope they get an equally difficult game coz it did sound like we were lucky to get away with the win

We need to move on from Chester.  It happened.  End of.

We could win the next six games and still not go up, that'll be despite picking up 37 from the last 39 available points.  Are we really going to pinpoint two dropped points?

We've dropped many more needless points throughout the season, especially in our early home form.

I'm not Hurst's biggest fan, far from it.  But the guy deserves massive credit for steering a side towards 19 points from the last 21.  Especially on the back of two potentially confidence draining defeats against Forest Green and Bristol Rovers.

Hang on a minute. Surely Chester's performance had something to do with that result?

Even though Hurst's defensive substitution failed to work out, it is incredibly arrogant to say that the opposition's performance had no bearing on the result.

Anyway, that's just nitpicking. Complaints about our current remarkable run of good form are a bit daft.

Quoted from diehardmariner

We need to move on from Chester.  It happened.  End of.

We could win the next six games and still not go up, that'll be despite picking up 37 from the last 39 available points.  Are we really going to pinpoint two dropped points?

We've dropped many more needless points throughout the season, especially in our early home form.

I'm not Hurst's biggest fan, far from it.  But the guy deserves massive credit for steering a side towards 19 points from the last 21.  Especially on the back of two potentially confidence draining defeats against Forest Green and Bristol Rovers.

Exactly!

Agreed. I've had my doubts multiple times about PH this season but the reality is that right now 4 points would put us at the top of the table. We're in the best position we've ever been right now and even though it's been a bumpy ride this season we have a lot to be excited about.

He has to get some credit for getting us this far.

I have not been 100% sure about Paul Hurst,

BUT

He is still learning and he has and will make mistakes,

In the last couple of games it looks that he has learnt from his mistake at Chester,

He could turn out to be one of Towns legends if he takes us back into the league and then has further success,

Keep it up Paul and with Doigy you could be  the real deal.

Onwards and upwards.

Quoted from Maringer

Hang on a minute. Surely Chester's performance had something to do with that result?

Even though Hurst's defensive substitution failed to work out, it is incredibly arrogant to say that the opposition's performance had no bearing on the result.

Anyway, that's just nitpicking. Complaints about our current remarkable run of good form are a bit daft.

Excellent....Another recruit to the Barralad bandwagon. Chester were forcing Town deeper from well before the dreaded substitution. Our second goal could almost be described as "against the run of play"...

We are now so close to the top 2 teams, that their must have dropped about the same number of point as us over the season to date.

That, or they are both punching above their weight.

......................

On tiredness:
Doig mentioned the long trip down to Dover yesterday.  Another angle is maybe the stress caused in the last 5-10 mins of most matches recently.  It exhausts me (and others) and must take its toll on the players.    

Remember Buckley saying when you are on a good run games cannot come fast enough and it's true the momentum is there we have to take these games by the scruff of the neck do that and you can't ask any more time for rest is in the close season.

Bet them lads can't wait for the next game which is how it should be. UTM.

Do not worry about the fans either we will back them all the way back into the league been waiting so long for a squad of players with passion and ambition.

Almost feel like this should be a new topic on Paul Hurst.  

For what it was worth as someone who was incredibly critical of Hurst after Chester I have to say I thought he made good choices last night.  When we needed extra men in the middle he left Arnold and Pittman on so they could support LJL up front but also give us 3 men in the middle of the park.  Still could of conceded but I felt this was a good move as opposed to the simple removal of striker for defender method.

At the end of the season we will all have out say on Hurst and the team, and after each game that is left I think we can come on here and discuss the tactics and express our dissapointments.  But no need to drag up poor performances every time.

Plus right now have to give Hurst tremendous credit for our run of form, and hope he can continue to prove me wrong.  

Incidentally I thought Craig Disley was exceptional for Grimsby last night and gave us no room whatsoever when we tried to play through the middle. His performance in the centre of their midfield did highlight the limitations of CK Jr.    taken from the dover forum!

Quoted from Mrs Doyle

Remember Buckley saying when you are on a good run games cannot come fast enough and it's true the momentum is there we have to take these games by the scruff of the neck do that and you can't ask any more time for rest is in the close season.

Bet them lads can't wait for the next game which is how it should be. UTM.

Do not worry about the fans either we will back them all the way back into the league been waiting so long for a squad of players with passion and ambition.

If the state they were all in when they traipsed off the pitch last night was anything to go by I reckon they'd all vote for some serious feet-up time - they look f*cked!! They definitely left it all on the pitch, no half measures!

Hopefully, a day off today to help them recharge their batteries and only very light training tomorrow.

Another (relatively) long journey for Welling on Saturday and lots of travelling can certainly take it out of you.

I think we've got good options among the forwards and wingers to freshen things up a bit as required, but less so in the central midfield area, especially with Brown looking so far below par at the moment. Hopefully we won't run out of steam at the weekend!

Quoted from diehardmariner

We need to move on from Chester.  It happened.  End of.

We could win the next six games and still not go up, that'll be despite picking up 37 from the last 39 available points.  Are we really going to pinpoint two dropped points?

We've dropped many more needless points throughout the season, especially in our early home form.

I'm not Hurst's biggest fan, far from it.  But the guy deserves massive credit for steering a side towards 19 points from the last 21.  Especially on the back of two potentially confidence draining defeats against Forest Green and Bristol Rovers.

the other point is that we picked up 3 points last night when it sounds like they probably deserved a draw. dover and chester have now evened things out

No need for serious physical training this time of the season, just practise set pieces we are weak in that area

I like to remember how we turned one point at Barnet into three.

If we had drawn 1-1 that day, this is what the table would look like:

Barnet     79 (+43)
Rovers    77 (+23)
Grimsby  73 (+27)

Six points behind - effectively seven with their goal difference - so you could say everything changed with that Disley goal and let's not talk about Chester again.

We all pick our moments. I'm still angry about that late equaliser we conceded at home to Dover in August! But hey ho, these things happen many times throughout one season. We are where we are, we can't affect the past, only the future... let's get down to Welling and cheer the lads onto another victory!

Just remember that last minute penalty save and think of it as a point gained ;)

(And forget about that Scott Brown miss from 3cm out)

Quoted from forza ivano

notice that the gasheads still have to go to dover. lets hope they get an equally difficult game coz it did sound like we were lucky to get away with the win

Last game I think. It could be packed down there if they're still in for the title.

Quoted from TownSNAFU5

Thanks for all the above comments. A long way for many fans midweek.

The issue of "tiredness and fatigue" identified above might impact on the team over the busy Easter and the many key games that we need to win.

Our standards have to be higher that all other teams if we are to be champions.  This brings its own pressures.  We have a week to recover between games after Easter.  Maybe the squad need some light-hearted distractions away from football to refresh and relax them?

I'm also concerned about this affecting our excellent support!

Quoted from Maringer

Hang on a minute. Surely Chester's performance had something to do with that result?

Even though Hurst's defensive substitution failed to work out, it is incredibly arrogant to say that the opposition's performance had no bearing on the result.

Anyway, that's just nitpicking. Complaints about our current remarkable run of good form are a bit daft. .

.... but sadly not unexpected.

Christ... 6 wins out of 7, but let's not focus on the 19 points gained, let's focus on the 2 dropped... Hurst deserves no credit for the 19 points, but Christ, what a numputee for that Chester decision that dropped us the two!

You couldn't flipping make it up sometimes.

Quoted from MarinerWY

Christ... 6 wins out of 7, but let's not focus on the 19 points gained, let's focus on the 2 dropped... Hurst deserves no credit for the 19 points, but Christ, what a numputee for that Chester decision that dropped us the two!

You couldn't flipping make it up sometimes.

Collins English Dictionary definition:
A numputee = someone who has had numbers removed, for example Paul Hurst lost two points
at Chester ;-)