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Player Ratings
| Player | Rating |
|---|---|
| Jordan Davies | 6.9 |
| Callum Storr | 6.5 |
| Doug Tharme | 6.5 |
| Harvey Cribb | 6.5 |
| Cameron McJannet | 6.3 |
| Henry Brown | 6.2 |
| Donovan Wilson | 5.9 |
| George McEachran | 5.9 |
| Evan Khouri | 5.9 |
| Luca Barrington | 5.8 |
| Jake Eastwood | 5.8 |
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| Destiny at Cardiff |
Cheltenham Preview
By: Richards Hubbert & Lord
Date: 26/05/2006
JUST one game stands between Grimsby Town and League One! A 3-1 aggregate win over local rivals Lincoln City in the play-off semi final sees the Mariners travel to the Millennium Stadium this Sunday, where they will face Cheltenham Town.
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Home > 2005-2006 Season > Previews > Cheltenham (n) |
Thousands of Town fans will make the long trip to the Welsh capital this weekend hoping that the Mariners will make a return to the third tier of English football. The importance of the game cannot be underestimated. The winner of this match will travel to the likes of Nottingham Forest, Millwall, Brighton and Huddersfield next season. However, the loser will have to make do with trips to Accrington, Barnet, Boston and Hereford instead.
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The Robins - managed by former Town player John Ward - finished in fifth place, six points behind the Mariners. But league positions will count for nothing in the League 2 play-off final in Cardiff. It’s a cup final, as the cliché goes - but with more at stake. Interestingly, a fourth-placed finish and 78 points were good enough to win promotion for Cheltenham back in May 2002 when they beat Rushden & Diamonds in the Division 3 play-off final. Four years on, they find themselves back at the Millennium Stadium but this time as underdogs.
Since winning promotion to the Football League under Steve Cotterill (left) in 1999, the Robins continued to improve. Their first season in Division 3 saw them finish just two points outside the play-offs. The following campaign was equally as frustrating when they ended up in ninth place. But at the third time of asking they did achieve a play-off finish - and they made it count, when they beat Rushden and won promotion to Division 2. After winning 118 of his 255 games in charge, Cotterill departed for Stoke. Graham Allner was appointed the new manager at Whaddon Road but he was replaced by Bobby Gould half way through the season following a poor start to the campaign. The former Wales manager nearly kept the Robins up, but it was Chesterfield who ultimately survived - and the Spirites did so again the following season, this time at the expense of Grimsby Town.
A consolidation period has seen the Robins finish the past two seasons in 14th place, with a promotion push long overdue. John Ward(left) - who managed Bristol City to promotion the last time the Mariners were involved in a play-off campaign - has done a tremendous job at Whaddon Road since he was appointed in November 2003. Ward started his managerial career at York City in 1991 and he has also had the pleasure of managing both Bristol sides in the 1990s, enjoying relative success with both Rovers and City. Indeed, his success has not gone unnoticed - he is the early favourite to replace Keith Alexander at Lincoln City.
This will be Cheltenham’s 61st competitive game of the season due to a couple of cup runs. Although they beat League 1 Brentford 5-0 in the first round of the League Cup, they went out in the next round 1-0 at Sunderland - not before taking the Black Cats into extra time. The Robins reached the fourth round of the FA Cup (left), but it took five matches to get there. John Ward’s side beat Carlisle 1-0 at home before they were taken to a replay at Oxford in the second round. A 2-1 win at the Kassam Stadium paired them with Chester in round three, and again it went to a replay - once more away from home - before they secured their passage into round four. Like the Mariners in the League Cup, they were paired with Newcastle United. The Magpies won 2-0 in a game screened live on the BBC, but not without a few scares. Cheltenham also enjoyed success in the Football League Trophy - recently re-named as the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. Victories at Shrewsbury (2-0) and Woking (5-1) were followed by a home success over Oxford (2-1). They finally came undone in the semi-final at home to League 1 runners-up Colchester (0-1).
Evidence of Cheltenham’s consistency can be seen in a 17-match run, of which they lost just one - at home to Oxford (a team they played five times this season). The run began with that FA Cup first round win over Carlisle on November 5 and ended on January 14 with their last home league defeat of the campaign against Bristol Rovers. The start of that sequence of results also yielded five straight victories (Carlisle (h) 1-0, Notts County (a) 3-2, Lincoln (h) 4-1, Bury (a) 1-0 and Woking (a) 5-1). Contrastingly, their worst run of results was six games without a win (from August 27 to September 20), but they have finished the season strongly - just one defeat in their last eight - and that came at Blundell Park when the Mariners won 1-0!
The Robins have prided themselves on the quality of youth making its way into the squad this season. There are also some older members of the team who have provided experience to help the youngsters on their way. In goal is the dependable Shane Higgs. Since joining the Robins in 1999 for £10,000 from Worcester City he has made over 150 appearances. Cheltenham's defence includes the experience of full-back Jerry Gill and former Town loan man Craig Armstrong. Their captain John Finnigan played in their 2002 play-off success and earlier this week, challenged the Mariners to beat the Robins for the third time this season. Fellow midfielders Brian Wilson and JJ Melligan have been consistent performers for John Ward's side, and one time Town trialist Grant McCann is the one to watch for the Robins. The Northern Irish midfielder has notched 11 goals from the left of midfield this season. In attack they have top scorer Kayode Odejayi (left), cousin of Sheffield United frontman Ade Akinbiyi. Odejayi was snapped up in 2003 by then manager Bobby Gould for a small fee of £5,000 from Forest Green. Steve Guinan has netted nine goals this season including one in the first leg of the play-off semi final with Wycombe. Guinan has played for 12 football league clubs, including Scunthorpe, Cambridge and Burnley.
Grant McCann. Having scored 11 goals from midfield and creating countless others, Gary Croft will have his hands full down Cheltenham’s left hand side. McCann is a firm fans favourite who has one of the sweetest left foots in the division. If he can be nullified, service to the likes of Guinan and Odejayi will be reduced.
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Head to Head | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The two teams have met on just four occasions, yet the Mariners have the upper edge having not lost to the Robins yet. The first game was in October 2004 where Cheltenham pinched a goal in the last five minutes to deny Town victory and make the score 1-1. The Mariners got revenge at Whaddon Road the next January with a thrilling 3-2 victory. Goals from Terry Fleming and a brace from Michael Reddy gave Town the win. Town scored three goals at Whaddon Road again earlier this season when strikes from Cohen, Bolland and Reddy secured a 3-0 victory. The last game between the sides was of course a month ago at Blundell Park. A solitary Gary Jones goal in the second half gave Town another victory against the Robins. P 4 W 3 D 1 L 0 F 8 A 3 Cheltenham Head-to-Head (Not on The Opposition Ladder)
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Last Meeting | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Grimsby Team: Mildenhall, Cohen, Whittle, Robert Jones, Croft, Mendes, Bolland, Woodhouse, Goodfellow (Toner, 85), Reddy (Parkinson, 78), Gary Jones Subs (not used): Futcher, Kamudimba, Downey
Cheltenham Team: Higgs, Gill, Duff, Caines, Armstrong, Melligan (Bird, 70), Finnigan, McCann, Wilson (Vincent, 82), Odejayi, Guinan (Spencer, 63)
Attendance: 5,863Â Â Report
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