Jolley urges patience after Grimsby double up

Posted Sunday, October 07, 2018 by PA

Grimsby manager Michael Jolley hailed his team’s performance after they picked up their second victory in a week – but insisted it will still take time for his side to grow.

Wes Thomas’ goal inside the first minute and JJ Hooper’s second-half strike saw the Mariners beat Port Vale 2-0 at Blundell Park, their first home league win of the season.

The result marks a turnaround for Grimsby, who dropped into the relegation zone of League Two following defeat to Morecambe the previous week.

But they followed up their midweek win over Carlisle with another deserved three points to make it a successful week for Jolley and his players.

“We wanted to build on the game on Tuesday where we thought we played well and deserved to win, and I think overall we deserved to win this game as well,” Jolley said.

“In the first half, I wasn’t particularly happy with our control of the game, but obviously we got a great start with Wes’ goal.

“Second half, I thought we stepped on to the game and played some good football. I thought we were unlucky not to get more than the one goal we got in the second half, but I’m really pleased overall.

“We’re not going to be an overnight success. I think we’re going to grow and improve, and if people can give us the time to go through that process then I think we can be much better over the longer term.”

For Port Vale boss Neil Aspin, things got off to a terrible start when Mitchell Clark’s back-pass was intercepted by Thomas after just 38 seconds, and they were unable to find a way back into the game from there as they fell to their second defeat of the week.

“All your preparation goes out the window a bit when you concede in 30 seconds,” Aspin said.

“I’ve spoken to Mitch because I think he’s been fantastic since he came to the club, and he’s still learning.

“Obviously I don’t want him to be making mistakes at our expense while he’s learning, but to be fair it’s the first mistake he’s made, and for a young lad he coped well after that.

“For the rest of the half I was pleased, we controlled the game, the only thing was we didn’t make clear-cut chances. But in terms of possession, after that setback, I was pleased at half-time.

“We took off a midfield player and went with an extra striker, but then that leaves us more vulnerable. Unfortunately the second goal killed us.

“We’ve spoken to the players, they’ve got to keep going because we’ve got difficult games now and they’ve got to stick together.”