Ben Davies lauds ‘unbelievable character’ of Grimsby players after comeback win

Posted Sunday, November 12, 2023 by PA

Grimsby’s joint-caretaker manager Ben Davies was blown away by the character shown by his side during their 3-2 win over Morecambe at Blundell Park.

The hosts scored three goals in 11 minutes after half-time to stun Morecambe and grab the points from their first League Two match since sacking Paul Hurst.

Danny Rose, Kieran Green and Rekeil Pyke were on target in that blistering spell with Adam Mayor and JJ McKiernan bookmarking the scoring for Morecambe with goals at the start and end of the game.

Grimsby headed into the match having lost their last four in League Two and their opponents were flying high in the standings. However, while Morecombe grabbed the initiative first up, the Mariners ultimately shone through.

Davies, who has taken charge alongside Shaun Pearson on a temporary basis after Hurst was dismissed, said: “They showed unbelievable character throughout the game and deserved to get their victory.

“We told them to keep going and it started last week.

“The players have been absolutely fantastic for me and Shaun in training and I said afterwards that [the win] is a product of what they have done in training.

“I thought that we got in some fantastic positions in the first half with our build-up play and all that was lacking from us was a goal.

“Credit to them and their character. Their work-rate and character they showed to put in a performance like that and get the result was outstanding.”

Morecambe started brightly and opened the scoring inside two minutes when Mayor picked up possession and found the bottom corner with his left foot.

Green and Gavan Holohan both passed up decent opportunities for Grimsby in the first half and it was after the break they really cranked things up.

Rose needed just 90 seconds of the second half to force Adam Smith into a save before going one better with an equaliser from point-blank range after reacting quickest at a corner. Green then powered home two minutes later as Grimsby seized control.

Pyke made it 3-1 with a stylish finish shortly before the hour-mark as Morecambe pushed and probed for a way back into the contest.

In the end, though, a consolation goal from McKiernan proved too little too late.

Morecambe manager Derek Adams said: “We got off to what was a perfect start and that gave us a lot of confidence, but it swung Grimsby’s way and I thought they created the better openings in the first half.

“We didn’t deal with their movement and long balls.

“Grimsby could have gone in ahead at half-time and we wanted to change things to deal with those long balls.

“For their first goal Adam [Smith] drops it and they score, but for the second and third goals I don’t think we dealt with our men well enough.”