Paul Hurst says Grimsby gave their all to boost survival hopes with Oldham win
Posted Sunday, April 25, 2021 by PA
Paul Hurst saluted his Grimsby battlers after they came from behind to win 2-1 at Oldham.
The Mariners kept their survival hopes just about alive with three games left thanks to Jay Matete’s superb late winner at Boundary Park.
Hurst said: “I spoke to all the players individually before the game and said that whatever happens, I wanted to see that they cared.
“I wanted to see the players really giving it their all, and I think they did.
“It is a mammoth ask for us still, but the lads responded so well after going behind in the first half.
“Some players might have wanted to throw the towel in at that stage, but people are still watching and making judgements, and we did what we needed to do in the end.
“The second-half performance was much better from us, and I always felt we’d get a chance to score against Oldham.
“I didn’t expect it to come like that from Jay, though. It was a great goal.
“Sometimes he’s guilty of taking one touch too many, but credit to him, he was brilliant there and when the ball skipped up nicely for him, he produced a brilliant finish.
“We’ve got a long trip to Exeter in midweek now, but we’re still in the fight and that’s all I asked for.”
Oldham struck first against a nervy-looking Grimsby, who could have been relegated with defeat, when Conor McAleny coolly slotted home his 21st goal of the season.
The Mariners levelled before the break when Matt Green curled home brilliantly from 25 yards.
Matete will steal the headlines thanks to his super late winner, but for Oldham boss Keith Curle, there was disappointment – although he did acknowledge that he may stay on at Boundary Park beyond the end of the season.
Curle said: “It was a great finish to win the game at the end, but we could have done better in certain areas.
“We created a few chances over the 90 minutes, but we just need to be better overall.
“We’ve won a couple recently, but then it just seems to be acceptable to then lose one or two – that’s indicative of where we are at the moment.
“Can we change that mentality? That’s the big question right now.
“On our day we can beat anyone in this division, but then on another day like today, we get beat and it is disappointing.
“I have spoken to the owners about the direction we all want to go in, and we have opened discussions about me staying on next season.
“It’s all about infrastructure for me – but we do seem to be on the same page so hopefully something will get sorted.”
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