Grimsby boss Jolley positive after Stevenage draw

Posted Saturday, March 31, 2018 by PA

Grimsby manager Michael Jolley believes there were plenty of positives in his side’s goalless draw with Stevenage, despite the result extending their winless run in League Two.

Neither side were able to break the deadlock at Blundell Park, although both went close on a few occasions.

Gary McSheffrey had an effort cleared off the line for the hosts, while Stevenage’s Chris Whelpdale saw his second half header come back off the post.

The result means Grimsby edged slightly further away from the relegation zone after Chesterfield’s defeat at Port Vale and, despite his side now being without a win in 19 games, Jolley insisted he was happy with the performance.

“I thought it was a good game,” Jolley said. “It was a tight game, and I think both teams tried to win the game, we certainly did.

“I think we created a number of chances in the first half that could have got us that opening goal that we were so desperate for.

“The second half was tenser and tighter, and I think neither team wanted to make a mistake and give that important first goal away.

“Overall, we have to take the positives, it’s another point to add to our tally, and it’s the first clean sheet we’ve had since I arrived, and that’s important.

“I think as a 90-minute performance, it was the best performance out of the four games that I’ve had so far, so there’s certainly some positives to take from it. Clearly we wanted to win the game, and we tried to do that.”

For Stevenage boss Dino Maamria it was a first point since taking over as manager and he was impressed with his team’s response after being second best before the break.

“It’s a difficult place to come, and the fans got behind them, but I thought it was a solid performance,” Maamria said.

“It nearly went how we wanted it to go with Chris Whelpdale’s header, I can’t believe how it didn’t go in.

“We showed a lot of good habits, and I thought our second half was much better than the first, which I like.

“I said a few things at half-time which needed to be better, and I thought we were better. They didn’t have many chances in the second half.

“I found the team doing certain habits that I don’t like in the first half – passing the ball back, causing our own problems, clearances weren’t as good as we’d expect them to be.

“We put ourselves under pressure when we had possession of the ball, and I just spoke to them at half-time and told them to tighten at the back, play a higher line and press from the front.”