Player Ratings: The Curse of Half Time

By: Jake Olley
Date: 18/03/2006

THE Mariners went into the game with an unchanged team with Rob Jones still suspended and Paul Bolland and Michael Reddy surprisingly passing late fitness tests. Jake Olley looks into the Mariners' win and gives his views on each player's performance.

GK	Mildenhall	Town's very own Mr. Consistent again. He looked solid despite being beaten by a brilliant finish from Bury's John Daly, which even had the Pontoon clapping! He made a number of decent saves as he was tested more and more often in the second half were he showed calmness and a real passion to win. In my opinion Town should not only give Mildy a new contract for his goalkeeping abilities but for his leadership qualities which leaves me thinking 'could he be a great replacement to take over the captain armband when Macca calls it a day?' I'll leave it for you to decide.	8
LB	Newey	Despite rumours of a new deal, it seems to have no effect on Newey who looked like a player who can only give you average performances at best. Despite looking like he can always pick out a great pass he seems to dwell on the ball and let the team down. His marking though is also a growing concern as when the ball seems to go on the right side Newey seems to ball watch in the centre and potentially put the team's efforts at risk. I really do feel that a fit Gary Croft is a better defender and without doubt I believe Newey is a winger.	6.5
RB	McDermott	Always looks good and solid in the flat back four despite his obvious lack of pace. Wasn't his best game today but I still feel this was down to most of the play being on the left side. A big concern though for me is the when Macca does decide to hang his boots up, can you buy a solid, loyal and passionate right back these days as we don't seem to have any potential John McDermott's coming through the youth team, do we?	7
CB	Futcher	Good performance for Ben who controlled the Bury front two and him and Justin limited the Shakers to very few chances and seem to have set up a good partnership with Whitts. But it still remains to see whether Russell will be willing to keep out big Rob Jones in favour of this new and solid partnership. My advice to Russell would be to keep faith in a solid back four despite the temptation to drop one of the two (Whittle or Futcher).	7.5
CB	Whittle	Very similar player to Futcher and has set up a good partnership. Justin looked good and astute throughout and offers Town great leadership qualities as well as good old fashioned defending. Though something that is a big worry is that Justin's lack of goals and authority in the opposing box. If that was to change I'd love to see Justin stay on (despite my earlier comments in the Who to Retain article.)	7
LW	Toner	Wasn't his best performance in a Mariners' shirt but he linked up well with other players and again tried his hardest. He nearly nailed the goal of the season competition for the Mariners when he hammered a 35 yard volley just inches over the impressive Kasper Schmeichel's bar to deny what would have been a goal to remember for the Town fans. The Irishman was brought off in the second half for what looked like a small knock which he will hope doesn't rule him out of his return to Sincil Bank.	7
CM	Woodhouse	Another player who has impressed me and is a class above the one-hit-wonder Jean Paul Kalala based purely on his fantastic ball to set up Gary Jones' first goal and has made very similar fantastic assists since he joined us from 'the team across the bridge'. He is also fantastic at carving balls out wide for the 'turbo' like Gary Cohen. If Curtis had joined us at the start of the season, I believe he would be being talked about in the same breath as players like Michael Reddy and Rob Jones in the key to Grimsby's success but saying that if he did we probably wouldn't have a dodgy 'Grimsby 1-0 Spurs' DVD.	8
CM	Bolland	Again wasn't fantastic but dug in when the Mariners most needed him in the second half to keep possession well and link up play with the pacy wingers. He is again one of many players who has this will to win and wants to put a smile on the face of the supporters. Something that has also really impressed me about the ex Notts-County man is how little he gives the ball away. Also when he does have you ever seem him just put his hands by his hips and look clueless (like the late Terry Fleming and Thomas Pinault)? So next time you say automatically that Michael Reddy is definitely player of the season, spare a thought and think about the job Paul Bolland gives in midfield week in week out!	8
RM	Cohen	Arguably one of Town's players of the season, his passion and will to win attitude really was impressive today as he made several cracking balls into the box which were sometimes wasted as nobody got on the end of them. Also his crunching and perfectly good tackle on Fitzgerald was amazing and really underlined why Russell signed him. He offers a constant threat with his blistering pace and never say die attitude towards winning the ball is why I've made him my Man of the Match. Well done Gary keep it up!	9
FC	G Jones	Very similar performance to the Barnet game, he only really played for six minutes and bagged two goals to kill the opposition. The first was a fantastically well taken finish after a great ball from Woodhouse left the Liverpudlian with a finish from eight yards out and the second was a well anticipated flick which was converted from five yards after a Whittle header (I think) made its way to make it two. Thereafter he didn't have much more to feed on and ultimately failed in his quest to get the hat-trick he promised in the Grimsby Telegraph after the Barnet game. I also believe Jones is the main reason why Michael Reddy has hit a purple patch this season as his flick-ons and donkey work combined with Reddy's flare and pace make it one of the best partnerships in League Two. Would have been my MOM but didn't do a lot after his goals.	8
FC	Reddy	Wasn't at his best today and was well managed by a Bury defence who had only one real game plan: to stop Michael Reddy which in itself was a blessing in disguise as our other decent striker (Yes Grimsby have two decent strikers) killed off a Bury team in the space of 6 minutes. Despite not looking his best on another day 'Redds' may have had a goal or two as firstly a foul was given before he had chance to bundle home a goalmouth scramble and he also tested the woodwork as his clinical finish that looked destined for the top corner hit the bar.	7
Sub	Parkinson	Didn't do a lot but didn't really look up for it either.	7

Assessment: What on earth does Russell say at the break? In my opinion a two goal lead isn't enough to sit back on and defend and when we did this we made a Bury look decent and us like a bottom of the table club. Looking on the bright side it was a fantastic win and I was really impressed by our start which made us look like the Mariners of old who used to come out of the blocks like a team possessed. A good display and the score was made even better by the fantastic results in League Two. Come on Boys we're nearly there!

League Two promotion results (round-up to follow tomorrow)

Grimsby 2-1 Bury
Darlington 0-5 Carlisle
Wycombe 0-1 Torquay
Rushden 1-0 Leyton Orient
Mansfield 1-0 Northampton

League Table

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