Paul Hurst celebrates Grimsby passing 50 points after comeback win at Doncaster

Posted Tuesday, April 11, 2023 by PA

Grimsby manager Paul Hurst celebrated passing 50 points for the season following a late 2-1 League Two comeback triumph at Doncaster.

That target was always going to be the first for the Mariners this season having been promoted back to the EFL via the National League play-offs last June.

And Grimsby ended a six-game run without a victory to reach the landmark with six games left to play courtesy of substitute George Lloyd’s winning goal in the sixth minute of stoppage time.

Niall Maher had earlier levelled the scores in the 85th minute in front of 2,900 travelling fans after Aidan Barlow’s spectacular first-half strike – his second goal in 46 outings for Rovers.

A pleased Hurst said: “It was nice to get a win in front of that following and it takes us over the 50-point mark and we’ve been trying to do that for a while.

“They scored an excellent goal and they also hit the woodwork, with what would have been another good strike but – apart from that – there wasn’t a lot happening and we were still in the game without having done much.

“It wasn’t a great spectacle but I felt, in the end, as well as our two goals, we should have been awarded two penalties.

“Those decisions might have cost us and I was starting to question what people were watching sometimes, because their keeper also made a great save and a goalkick was given.

“It wasn’t a free-flowing performance, but we ground the game out. Making the substitutions also helped us win the game. They looked shot at the end, but we were able to freshen our team up.”

Doncaster boss Danny Schofield was harangued by unhappy home fans at the final whistle with his team having now won just one of their last 11 fixtures.

In response, he admitted: “Our results aren’t positive and that damages confidence, but you have to be strong enough to come through this poor run of form we are in.

“Football’s about winning games and we are not doing that, so I can understand the fans’ frustrations.

“I’ve got to accept that criticism because it naturally comes with the run we are on and we’ve got to fight for as many points as we can now and the players need to show pride in the shirt.”

Schofield also felt his side retreated in the second half and were affected by a back injury to on-loan Leicester defender Ben Nelson that saw him receive lengthy treatment before being taken to hospital, where early indications suggest that the issue might not be as serious as first feared.

The Doncaster chief added: “The first half was excellent and it was an excellent strike by Aidan. We deserved to be leading at half-time, but we sat deep in the second half when we needed to be a bit more aggressive.

“That’s maybe understandable because of the run of form we are on. It was a tough result to take because we could have avoided the goals we conceded.

“There were lots of errors and poor positional. Ben Nelson’s injury also had an impact on the momentum of the game.”