Grimsby 2 Leyton Orient 0

By: Rob Sedgwick
Date: 18/09/2004

A battling performance at Blundell Park this afternoon saw Town triumph 2-0 over an Orient side who came to defend in depth and made life very difficult for the Mariners. For once this season Town's finishing did not left them down and they got the three points their overall performance deserved.

After the unsuccessful change of formation used in last week's poor performance at Macclesfield, Russell Slade returned to his front trio of Parkinson, Reddy and Sestanovich, with loanees Robinson and Chris Williams starting on the bench. New signing Terrell Forbes made his debut in the back three in place of Greg Young.

Town started brightly and for the first twenty minutes of the first half they had nearly all of the possession, but with few clear-cut chances on goal to show for it. The best chance of the first half fell to Michael Reddy whose one-on-one with the Orient 'keeper, saw him round Lee Harrison but went too wide in the process, and Reddy's shot was cleared.

The last 25 minutes of the first half was dire, with no chances of note for either side. Leyton Orient were playing very deep, with often eight men behind the ball, and proving difficult to break down. Winger Wayne Carlisle looked the danger man for the O's on the break.

With 10 minutes gone of the second half, Town finally broke the deadlock. A Pinault free kick fell to Jason Crowe, whose near post header was the former Pompey's defender's third goal in as many games.

Town's goal saw Orient come out of their defensive shell and Grimsby had to work hard to protect their lead. A Lee Steele shot went just over the bar, and John McDermott had to clear the ball off the line.

As the game progressed and Orient committed men forward it was Town's turn to look threatening on the break and Sestanovich failed to make the most of one opportunity when he could have put Reddy clean through.

In the final minute of normal time Reddy made amends when he was brought down in the box on another break and the referee pointed to the spot. After some debate who should take the spot kick up stepped Thomas Pinault to score Town's first successful penalty of the campaign, after three successive misses, and ensure three valuable points for the Mariners.

The win lifts Town to a mid-table position. After the big cup game against Charlton on Tuesday, the Mariners then head to Cambridge on Saturday to see if they can bring to an end their 18-match-run without a win on the road.

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