Michael Jolley: JJ Hooper put down marker for next season with hat-trick

Posted Sunday, May 06, 2018 by PA

Grimsby boss Michael Jolley felt hat-trick hero JJ Hooper put a marker down for next season.

Hooper ensured Town ended their campaign with a final day 3-0 victory at Forest Green.

For large parts it had all the hallmarks of an end-of-season clash – but after he bundled home the opener in the second half, Hooper then curled in two fantastic long-range strikes.

And boss Jolley said: “JJ’s a very capable player. What players need is confidence, to know that they’ve got the faith of their manager and the players that play with them.

“We all believe in JJ, we believe in all our players. I’m delighted for JJ today because he’s put down a marker for what he wants to do for Grimsby so hopefully he can be a big player for us in the future.

“I was feeling proud of the players. All the credit has to go to them.

“We’ve said all week that we’ve done a good job in the last two months of the season in terms of working hard and doing the basics well and today was a further progression along that pathway.

“So massive credit to all the players and all the staff over the last two months and today was a nice way to finish it off.”

Grimsby finished the season on a five-game unbeaten run, which ended any lingering relegation fears to give Jolley hope for next season.

He said: “I understand expectations will shift given the way we’ve finished the season, but we can’t take anything for granted, we’re going to have to earn every single point that we get next season.

“I’ve reminded the players of what they’re capable of. I believe in the group, I believe in our players. We’ve got some good players at this level. We glue it all together by working hard.”

After finishing a point above the drop zone, Forest Green boss Mark Cooper is happy to say goodbye to Rovers’ first season in League Two.

“I’m glad it’s over,” said Cooper.

“When we come back for pre-season training, we can’t accept defeat too easily as a group and that has to change so we have to hit the reset button.

“The players that are still here come July have to work hard to become winners.

“It was a typical end-of-season game, with not a lot to play for in the sun. The sun made it hard for energy levels, but no excuses today, Grimsby were better than us.

“It’s not that we’re accepting survival as a success but for a while out we knew that was the aim and we did it with games to spare.

“There’s been plenty of poor performances, but that’s got to change.

“We have to make sure we get the right mindset. It’s a mentality thing, it becomes easy to lose. It’s a lot harder to win a game than it is to lose one.”