Flitcroft praises players after beating Grimsby

Posted Wednesday, January 02, 2019 by PA

Mansfield Town manager David Flitcroft paid tribute to his players after seeing his side extend their unbeaten run away from home with a 1-0 win at Grimsby Town.

The Stags got their 2019 off to the perfect start as Neal Bishop’s first half header proved enough to settle the scores at Blundell Park, although they found Grimsby goalkeeper James McKeown in fine form once again.

The result means Mansfield enter the turn of the year still with only one league defeat to their name this season as they target promotion from League Two.

And, having overcome an in-form Grimsby side in their latest victory, Flitcroft couldn’t hold back his pride in his players.

“It’s difficult because sometimes the New Year can break a run up or break a rhythm up, but we carried the momentum,” Flitcroft said.

“We didn’t start too well for the opening 10 minutes, it just seemed to take us a bit long to get comfy in our surroundings.

“I thought once we did, we probed them, we upset them, we deconstructed them at times, and the keeper – like when we played them at our place – was outstanding again.

“He made some fantastic saves, and when you see CJ (Hamilton) one-on-one, you expect the net to ripple.

“The second half I thought was a really dominant display, and our fitness levels looked through the roof.

“A lot of hard work’s gone into this performance, and the players deserve all the credit because they’re the ones putting their bodies on the line.”

For Grimsby boss Michael Jolley, who was forced to field a makeshift back four due to injuries and suspension, it’s a first loss in five league games.

But, having picked up wins at Port Vale and Exeter over their busy festive schedule, Jolley was happy with the effort shown by his side..

“I think we gave it more than a good go,” Jolley said.

“The circumstances of the game were that we were playing a team that is unbeaten away from home and has lost one game all season, we had a right-back playing at centre-back, another right-back playing left centre-back, and a central midfield player playing at right-back.

“Then at half-time our left-back was unwell, so we had to put a midfield player at left-back.

“We’ve travelled to Stoke and back and played a game, we’ve travelled to Exeter and back and played a game in the last week or so, and yet despite all of that I thought all of our players gave absolutely everything to try and get a result from the game.

“The defeat stings like it always does, but there’s some pride there in terms of the way we went about it.”