Just Back

... At Concorde hotel near the ground

Great win.

Excellent first half, should've been out of sight by half time.  No bad performances, though Jolley not match fit in my opinion. Not sure about bringing Parslow on to protect what we had, as it invited pressure, but hey, I guess it worked.

Brilliant support again, you could see the players smiling at some of the banter.
This squad certainly play for the shirt, and credit due to them for all coming over to the fans at the end

Palmer never stops, great goal, sign him up to the end of the season if possible.

Magnay, he's what the crowd love, no lack of skill, but hard as nails. Seeing him close up making challenges (and enjoying them) almost reminds me of a slightly cleaner Bobby Cumming

Well done to all at GTFC, onward and upwards  

Game sounded great on the radio - first half sounded like it was almost all town with no shortage of play and opportunities!

Comment from an Eastleigh fan today:

"This should be a cracker of a game, the first 30 minutes is important tonight - 1 game in 17 days, we won't be quick out the blocks but Grimsby should tire towards the end you would expect with 3 games in 7 days and a fair bit of travelling".

Well, we were quick out of the blocks, and dominated the first-half.  

And a sensible substitution when we tired and looked in danger of being overrun in midfield?

As comfortable a win as it is possible to be 1-0

Solid display from everybody by the sounds of things!

How many hearts in mouths moments did Toto have tonight? Tondeur made it sound like there was at least 4 or 5!

I also had reservations about Parslow coming on - I think everyone had an onslaught of abuse ready regards tactics if we would've then conceded!

Also - was Pearson's a clear handball? Only touched upon by Tondeur but said it looked pretty stonewall!

After seeing Martin Butler and Gary Jones together at Stockport away in December 2007, I never thought a 'Lump' and 'Lump' partnership would work but Ollie and The Shop seem to be proving that theory wrong!

Useless fact - looking at the fixtures, after next midweek at Dover we have no more midweek games for the rest of the season (weather permitting). Just constant Saturday, Saturday, Saturday until the rest of the season (with the exception of Easter Monday). We must be one of the only teams in the league with this schedule and should be (I hope) a massive advantage! Makes a change from a congested Trophy timetable!

UTM (I actually had the Pisces song come on shuffle today aswell!!! Lucky Omen)

Fantastic win. Only down side was we should have won by a few more!

The goal was a result of a defensive howler but very well finished by Ollie. Shame he and others didn't have the same composure when the plethora of chances came our way.

Don't know if that is a 'normal' Eastleigh performance but they didn't have an effort on goal until about the 88th minute. Much heralded Constable and Midson spent all game trying to win free kicks, embarrassingly so most of the time.

Thought Nathan Arnold had his best game in a town shirt, Zlatan, like Saturday, seems to get stronger as the game progresses and Toto was very strong along with Maggers. Robertson was strong and very steady.

Nobody had a poor game.

A much better performance than 0-1 sounds

UTM

Some comments from the Eastleigh forum :-


"Thought Grimsby looked a class above us tonight. The first time I've thought that all season in watching the home games. We huffed and puffed but really never imposed ourselves on them. It could have been that we were rusty from not having played for so long, but they looked well drilled, strong, quick and incisive and I thought deserved their victory. Especially given it was their third game in a week."

"No complaints about the result tonight, Grimsby probably the best team we have seen at the Silverlake this season. They were strong but not dirty, quick, played good football & their defence was marginally just too good for us"

"Agree with that- decent side Grimsby. Looked like we could nick a draw late on but the better team won."

McKeown - decent game, some good catches and a good save and collect from a header late on, still wish he was more commanding in the 6 yard box

Robertson - looks useful, took up good defensive positions, solid in the tackle, decent in the air, and tried to get forward. Not had chance to judge his pace as no one tried to "run" him

Magnay - great game, it's all been said before

Pearson - solid and reliable if not spectacular, usual stupid booking when he got wrong side of his man and pulled him down

Toto - good game, won most things in the air and on the floor, carried the ball out well and hit a few good long diagonal passes

Arnold - excellent first half, good pace, lots of effort, and tackling too. Faded second half and gave the ball away a few times in the last 15 mins

Jolley - a few decent touches, but a bit off the pace (perhaps not match fit, looked to be breathing heavily from early doors)

Clay - excellent energy first half, closing down really quickly, shame he hit a great chance straight at the keeper just before half time

Diz - quietly effective, a few nice touches, great attempt in second half (at least he forced the keeper to make a good save)

LJL - good game, strong as ever, could've had a couple of goals (but only half chances), should've had a pen (but the ref bottled it and gave a corner as the easy option)

Palmer - lead the line well, great pace and skill for a big guy, never stops running. Made his opportunity for the goal by pressing their defender, and an excellent finish. I worry if he keeps playing like this then surely Mansfield will recall him.

Parslow - I'm not sure of the tactic of "protecting what we have", but to be fair he kept it simple with some nice neat short passes and ball retention

Quoted from mariner chopper

Solid display from everybody by the sounds of things!

How many hearts in mouths moments did Toto have tonight? Tondeur made it sound like there was at least 4 or 5!

I also had reservations about Parslow coming on - I think everyone had an onslaught of abuse ready regards tactics if we would've then conceded!

Also - was Pearson's a clear handball? Only touched upon by Tondeur but said it looked pretty stonewall!

After seeing Martin Butler and Gary Jones together at Stockport away in December 2007, I never thought a 'Lump' and 'Lump' partnership would work but Ollie and The Shop seem to be proving that theory wrong!

Useless fact - looking at the fixtures, after next midweek at Dover we have no more midweek games for the rest of the season (weather permitting). Just constant Saturday, Saturday, Saturday until the rest of the season (with the exception of Easter Monday). We must be one of the only teams in the league with this schedule and should be (I hope) a massive advantage! Makes a change from a congested Trophy timetable!

UTM (I actually had the Pisces song come on shuffle today aswell!!! Lucky Omen)

Definitely seen Pearson's handball given, one of those 50/50 ones...., we would've shouted for it, and couldn't have complained if ref had pointed to the spot

Sorry, shouldn't have tried yellow highlighter  

Quoted from lee65

Sorry, shouldn't have tried yellow highlighter  

What did you say?

I was just trying to highlight the quote on the
Pearson handball, which I then suggested could easily have been given, and we would certainly have appealed for it if it had been an opposition player

Quoted from lee65

I was just trying to highlight the quote on the
Pearson handball, which I then suggested could easily have been given, and we would certainly have appealed for it if it had been an opposition player

Yes I know.

I was joking

You got me ☺️, struggled to read the above yellow bit!!😃

Long day, great 3 points and an enjoyable game. Pearson made one mistake all night and took a yellow for it, some may moan but if he had not pulled the guy down he would have been through, one for the team me thinks. Clay had his best game for a while making some good midfield challenges as did Disley, LJL & Ollie chased everything and this led to Ollie's goal as he robbed the defender near the corner and then slid it past the keeper and in off the post. Robertson fitted in like he had been here all season whilst Jolley looked to have a lot in his locker but clearly not match fit though he still did some good stuff, especially the cross fro LJL to put wide of the post earlie doors second half. Macca seems to be improving with his catching/punching of crosses and made 1 decent save. All in all well worth the trip, even to see the biggest Homer of a Referee this season.
UTMM

The referee sounded just that on the commentary too... at one stage when he gave a free kick to
Eastleigh , Tondeur said he couldn't wait to get the whistle in his mouth and blow.... having said that..

he didn't stop play for a boot coming off when we were attacking..... that was shocking !!!!

Respect to all who made the trip because Eastligh is a long round trip, Especially on a Tuesday night.

Great to read a positive performance, and listening to their managers comments he was impressed with us.  

Still am sceptical we can push for automatic, but feels like Hurst is proving me wrong when I said that he cannot take us up.  Please keep proving me wrong Paul, Really hope this run of form can go on through Rovers at Home and Barnet away!

Long drive but well worth it, can`t believe some of the football we played considering we were the team that could have tired easily which shows the match fitness and endevour we have, at first I thought that bringing Parslow on was a backward thinking move but it turned out to be a sensible sub that calmed and strenghened the defence in the last five minutes, well done PH.
Only downbeat of the night to be a bit picky was the score, should have been 4-0 easily.
MOM would be unfair to choose, so many, I would have just edged Pearson even though he took one for the team

I admit I never went and relied on JT and Big Chris' commentary (very well done too BTW!) but bringing on Parslow made no sense to me either.

Especially as we were squandering SO MANY chances (again I reiterate I wasn't there and relied on JT's commentary) but the substitution that would have made sense to me was to bring Hamish on?!

If we were missing loads of chances, keep them coming but put on the guy that has been heralded as "he can certainly finish" by PH!!

Am I being too gung ho or was the defensive aspect of our game requiring a boost?

Opinions please...

Quoted from Biccys

I admit I never went and relied on JT and Big Chris' commentary (very well done too BTW!) but bringing on Parslow made no sense to me either.

Especially as we were squandering SO MANY chances (again I reiterate I wasn't there and relied on JT's commentary) but the substitution that would have made sense to me was to bring Hamish on?!

If we were missing loads of chances, keep them coming but put on the guy that has been heralded as "he can certainly finish" by PH!!
Am I being too gung ho or was the defensive aspect of our game requiring a boost?
Opinions please...

The changes Eastleigh made packed their midfield and they started to over run us in the last 5 minutes, we only really had Clay n Disley in there so IMO  we certainly need to strengthen and close the gaps in midfield, and by dropping Parslow in there did the trick so credit to PH
UTMM

Quoted from gobby

The changes Eastleigh made packed their midfield and they started to over run us in the last 5 minutes, we only really had Clay n Disley in there so IMO  we certainly need to strengthen and close the gaps in midfield, and by dropping Parslow in there did the trick so credit to PH
UTMM

Couldn't agree more with this. Parslow came on for the last fifteen minutes. It is my opinion that had he not come on those last 15 minutes would have been far more nerve wracking than they were for those listening on the radio. Hurst's 4-5-1 formation has paid dividends on the road this season and whatever (alleged) faults there are with his abilities to manage forwards into a credible force he certainly knows how to set a team up defensively.

Our defensive record this season is excellent. The only blip we've had came in those home games against Lincoln and Macclesfield when Toto was suspended. I know he picks up yellows regularly and gives us hearts-in-mouths moments, but our record when he plays is very decent.

Bringing Parslow on was a piece of good defensive management, they brought on two fresh subs to try to over run our( three matches in a week midfield) I`m not normally a Parslow admirer especially at full back but he was needed to protect the back four last night and it was a great substitution by Hurst, well done PH

Excellent trip down courtesy of Terry's Battle Bus. Welcomed into their supporters club bar where, as already reported, their Chairman thanked us for coming and bought drinks. Met some very knowledgeable locals one of whom had been to 1700+ grounds to watch football!
The game itself was all Town certainly for the first hour. The back four (with Mags restored to his favoured position) were rarely troubled. Pearson must have really big pockets because he now has Constable in there alongside Akinde. Robertson looks like the unflustered, no-nonsense defender that Aswad wasn't although it's early days to say whether he can make the same impact going forward.
Arnold had far and away his best 45 minutes in a Town shirt. He has a lot of skill, quick feet and the ability to pick out a pass. I'd love to see the stats for the amount of moves in Town's first 30 minutes he fashioned or contributed to.
Palmer continued where he left off on Saturday-willing to run, and run, and run...His goal was as much about his persistence as any skill factor. For a defender at this level it must be a pretty scary prospect to see LJL and Palmer bearing down on you
The only down-side was the profligacy in front of goal but the defence were so on top that strangely it almost seemed not to matter.
Second half they gave it more of a go. Fortunately Hurst was alert to the warning signs of being overrun in midfield as three games in 7 days began to take a toll on Clay in particular.
The old failing of giving away free kicks in dangerous areas came back to haunt us making the last 10 minutes a bit more nervy than they deserved to be on the balance of play.
I was surprised to see Jolley start and feel it is too early to make statements about what he will be like. I think I read somewhere that he is a confidence player. His head went down a wee bit after he blazed the ball over the bar from a very good position in front of goal but he saw plenty of the ball and made some useful runs/passes before being substituted.
No-one played badly but if I had to nominate a MOM it would just be Palmer from Pearson.
Back on the bus and away by 9:50 with our box of pies and sausage rolls which, thankfully, due to Big Mick's absence actually did make it past the first row of seats...

Robertson was that good that he was a complete shoe in within the back four, Toto and Pearson were outstanding and Magnay well just his normal game 3 divs above plus I thought Macca commanded his area from corners well and only had one real shot to save all match, a champions defence

Anothe great comment from the Eastleighfans:

"Grimsby were by far the best side i have seen this season and not only the best, but the best team to watch aswell, with their fast exciting brand of football, where they looked to attack as quickly as they possibly could everytime one of our forward moves broke down. The blatantly obvious tactic & one that made me painfully jealous of their talented team, was that i enjoyed how they got the ball wide and then moved it with pace down the flanks."

Quoted from Mighty_Mariner

Anothe great comment from the Eastleighfans:

"Grimsby were by far the best side i have seen this season and not only the best, but the best team to watch aswell, with their fast exciting brand of football, where they looked to attack as quickly as they possibly could everytime one of our forward moves broke down. The blatantly obvious tactic & one that made me painfully jealous of their talented team, was that i enjoyed how they got the ball wide and then moved it with pace down the flanks."

Well If the new signings have really given us this much desired approach I must applaud PH who I have to say has not enjoyed much support from me over the past 12 months. One ( or two) swallows do not make a summer but heres hoping.

Great result and by all accounts a great performance. Well done to all especially those fans who made the long journey as it these fans who deserve success the most.

I have to say I found Eastleigh to be welcoming and friendly with a good playing surface too.

The 'big' stand behind one goal was a bit like a box but overall a decent non league ground with friendly and hospitable people.

Great turn out from Mariners fans and the majority are people from NE lincs as opposed to London Mariners

Quoted from BIGChris

I have to say I found Eastleigh to be welcoming and friendly with a good playing surface too.

The 'big' stand behind one goal was a bit like a box but overall a decent non league ground with friendly and hospitable people.

Great turn out from Mariners fans and the majority are people from NE lincs as opposed to London Mariners

This:-

A lot of faces from our neck of the woods.

We must be barking!

Quoted from BIGChris

I have to say I found Eastleigh to be welcoming and friendly with a good playing surface too.

The 'big' stand behind one goal was a bit like a box but overall a decent non league ground with friendly and hospitable people.

Great turn out from Mariners fans and the majority are people from NE lincs as opposed to London Mariners

Think that is a good point and was mentioned by Hurst last night.

It seems we are at our best on a decent surface against sides who want to come out and play. Poor pitches and bus parkers, or a combination of the two is where we struggle.

There have been different thoughts on the strength and depth of our squad this season. Encouragingly, for the run-in, the squad is certainly stronger now with the new additions:

The starting 11 at Eastleigh did NOT include:

• Mackreth or Neilson, who are regarded by some as 2 of the trickiest wingers in the League;
  Brown and Mclaughlin who played in the York City double team;
  Pittman, who has played up front when fit and scored;
  "goal machine" Hannah; and
  "the best left-back in the League" (?) Thomas.  
  

Quoted from TownSNAFU5

There have been different thoughts on the strength and depth of our squad this season. Encouragingly, for the run-in, the squad is certainly stronger now with the new additions:

The starting 11 at Eastleigh did NOT include:

• Mackreth or Neilson, who are regarded by some as 2 of the trickiest wingers in the League;
  Brown and Mclaughlin who played in the York City double team;
  Pittman, who has played up front when fit and scored;
  "goal machine" Hannah; and
  "the best left-back in the League" (?) Thomas.  
  

Think that lot would would be first choice in most sides in this division.

Quote from BC,

[b]The 'big' stand behind one goal was a bit like a box
[

Prefabricated I believe, nut,bolt and panel job, the sort that would dismantle move and erect in no time, wonder where they got it from decent stand

Quoted from Garth

Quote from BC,

[b]The 'big' stand behind one goal was a bit like a box
[

Prefabricated I believe, nut,bolt and panel job, the sort that would dismantle move and erect in no time, wonder where they got it from decent stand

Someone said they got it from a rugby club but not sure if that is true?

Fantastic result. Can't wait to get there Saturday. time to get fully behind Paul hurst and john Fenty for the run in.

Bet you are Richard - LOL

Quoted from DickBarton

Fantastic result. Can't wait to get there Saturday. time to get fully behind Paul hurst and john Fenty for the run in.

I'm sure johnny boy boy Denni and bruce are all saying here here and will be giving you ticks!

Quoted from forza ivano

I'm sure johnny boy boy Denni and bruce are all saying here here and will be giving you ticks!

Not seen them around for a few days, maybe they holiday together...

Quoted from LongEatonMariner

Not seen them around for a few days, maybe they holiday together...

They've gone for a winter break to Codger's Caribbean island...

Quoted from LongEatonMariner

Not seen them around for a few days, maybe they holiday together...

HMMM - posters disappearing, other posters not being released from the forum by moderators. methinks the conspiracy theorists have a point

Quoted from forza ivano

HMMM - posters disappearing, other posters not being released from the forum by moderators. methinks the conspiracy theorists have a point

I think its time MaccaBilk was released,

He must have served his time by now.