Iron sink Mariners
Updated: Oct 13
Grimsby Town 0 Braintree Town 1
Davis (53, pen)
5,271 (Braintree 82)
OK, this wasn't technically a '92' ground. I completed the 2015/2016 92 a few weeks ago at Southend, but of course, come August, the composition of the 92 will change. I suppose you could say I was gambling with this one; gambling that Grimsby would win through to League 2 in the play-offs. If they don't manage it, then nothing is lost; I'd never been to Blundell Park, and at least it knocks off another of the '116' (that's the 92 plus tier 5, the National League).
The prospect of another play-off game was too enticing for me; they are always special occasions, whatever the level, so off I went to Grimsby for their semi-final first-leg game in the Vanarama National League.
It was a long trip! Blundell Park is actually in Cleethorpes, not Grimsby, contrary to expectation, although that didn't make a difference to the 140-mile trip. It is what we would call a traditional ground, set among the houses with four huge floodlight towers at each corner, meaning you can see it for miles around. I parked alongside Stanley Park and walked the few hundred yards to the ground from there.
Walking around the ground, it is a mixture of old and not so old. Those floodlight towers are very rusty and look like a good sea breeze could easily bring them down, while the one on the East touchline is a modern-looking affair with a row of glass-fronted hospitality boxes running along its length, between a small lower tier and a much larger upper tier. The TV gantry sits in the roof of that stand, sponsored appropriately by Findus, the fish people! Low, covered seating areas sit at each end, and a very old main stand runs along the other touchline. I am told parts of the old "Main Stand" date back to 1901, which would make it one of the oldest surviving grandstands in the country. Looking at the rotting wood cladding on the seaward side of that stand, I could believe it! The Mariners were formed in 1878 and have played at Blundell Park since 1898.
I was in the home end, the Pontoon Stand, named after the fish docks in Grimsby where fishermen would work on pontoon decking. It is an all-seated area, as is the whole stadium, and for this game at least it was nearly full, with an assortment of black-and-white striped shirts and inflatable fish. They were a noisy lot these Mariners and not slow to get on the backs of their side when things went wrong on the pitch!
Braintree Town are one of the new boys in English football, having only come into being under their current name in the early 80s. The club changed its name from the even less glamorous Braintree and Crittall Athletic in 1981, and it has risen through the ranks since then to reach its highest-ever finish this season, third in the National League. Braintree are still a team of part-time professionals who fit their football around day jobs, while Grimsby are fully professional, having been in the football league as recently as 2010. They have reached the play-offs every season since but have lost out each time.
It was a good game. Grimsby dominated possession throughout with a mammoth 75% of the ball, but sadly they did little with it, and a succession of half-chances went begging with poor finishing and tidy keeping from Braintree's Tom King, who was, bizarrely, missed off the squad listings on the back of the programme! Braintree's part-timers seemed content to watch and wait. Then, just eight minutes into the second half, Josh Gowling crashed into Simeon Akinola, and the ref pointed to the spot. Kenny Davis put the kick away, and that was that. For the rest of the game, Grimsby attacked but seldom got close to scoring. The home crowd got increasingly frustrated both with the referee, who turned down a good shout for a penalty for the home side, and with their own players. I guess the frustration of missing out on three successive rounds of play-offs has taken its toll.
The second leg is now down at Braintree's Cressing Road ground in Essex on Sunday, and I am sure it will be another close run thing. There is no reason why Grimsby can't turn this around, but they will need to find a cutting edge; they may be better prepared than their part-time opponents, who were back at work today after arriving home in the early hours of the morning. Suffice to say I will not be making the trip to Essex, having suffered several motorway closures last night on the way home; I only arrived home at 12:30 am!
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