One of the worst games I’ve ever seen – Paul Hurst reflects on Grimsby v Sutton

Paul Hurst felt Grimsby’s goalless draw against Sutton was “one of the worst games” he had seen.

Genuine chances were at a premium throughout the League Two meeting as Aribim Pepple and Ryan Taylor passed up late opportunities to snatch victory for the hosts.

Donovan Wilson passed up a similar chance for Sutton in the opening 45 as both sides looked more likely to threaten from set-pieces.

Grimsby manager Hurst said: “It was one of the worst games I’ve ever seen.

“It was rubbish. Near enough everything about it was really poor and I’m really not happy with our performance. Sutton make it difficult, but I’m not accepting that level.

“It was windy, the pitch was longer than I wanted it. But at the same time we have spoken about that and, if we get that type of game, then it suits them.

“We didn’t pass it nowhere near enough. We had the extra man in midfield and we never saw that which is why we saw a pretty quickish change in the second half, but we also had the best chances to win it.”

The goalless draw ended Sutton’s run of three straight away defeats in all competitions this campaign, including the Carabao Cup loss at MK Dons.

Manager Matt Gray felt his side deserved more away points to show for their efforts so far this season.

He said: “I was pleased with the performance, the clean sheet and our first point on the road this season after two disappointing results. We were feeling sorry for ourselves at Crewe and Doncaster.

“We deserved more out of those two games. For us to come here and get a point was the least that we deserved.

“It really got up the wind during the game and we were into it in the first half. We knew it was going to be tough.

“I thought our first-half performance into the wind was superb. We were excellent and we had some good moments to take the lead and were disappointed not to.”