No Doubting Thomas

By: Rob Sedgwick
Date: 24/10/2018

GRIMSBY continued their unbeaten run and kept their fourth consecutive clean sheet thanks to a narrow 1-0 win over Colchester. It was a match of relatively few chances but Wes Thomas scored the game's only goal with a well-taken second-half strike.

Michael Jolley stuck with the same side which had secured a point against Exeter at the weekend. After a quiet start, Colchester almost took the lead when a terrible back pass by Hall-Johnson by intercepted by Norris, but McKeown saved Town keeping himself big and blocking Norris's attempt.

Vernam's industry was causing the Colchester problems and Hooper should have done better when a mazy run by Vernam led to a cross which Hooper shot straight at the 'keeper. Embleton started to threaten more as the first half progressed, and Hooper once again failed to make the most of a good cross, this time from the on-loan Sunderland winger.

After the break, Colchester missed a golden chance. Vincent-Young brushed past Hall-Johnson on Town's right before picking out Courtney Senior's head for what effectively was an open goal. However, Town's luck held when the ball came crashing off the bar.

Town though made no mistakes from one of their own chances. The impressive Rose intercepted a loose ball in midfield, before finding Thomas on the edge of the box. There was still plenty to do, and Thomas wrong-footed one defender, dinked past another, and slotted the ball low past the 'keeper to give Town a precious goal.

Town gradually started to become more defensive as they held on to their lead, which led to a tense finale. Senior again had a chance from a cross but headed narrowly wide when a shot on target would probably have gone in.

Grimsby brought on Welsh for Vernam with 5 minutes to go as they tried to kill the game, and the Mariners managed to survive 5 minutes of injury time relatively unscathed.

It was a fine win and Colchester are the biggest scalp of the season so far, with the other triumphs all coming against sides in the bottom half of the table. It leaves Town definitely looking upwards after 10 points from the last 4 games. The Mariners are far from the finished product though as they are not creating enough chances and had to rely on luck to keep another clean sheet, but the all-important ingredient of confidence is starting to creep back after the poor start to the campaign.

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