It had rained all morning, as I travelled up from our holiday in Weymouth; I was beginning to feel apprehensive could we get our home form back on track? I had a pint at the Wetherspoon's in Boscombe and a Steak and Kidney Pudding. Met a friend from Peterborough who has just moved to Broadstone to be Superintendent at the Local Methodist Church their. My gift to him for his 60th was a ticket to see this game. I knew after seeing us play in the league game at Northampton we could be either good or bad and this game was no different.
There were moments of brilliance and moments of awfulness but that is us at the moment.
Eddie made one change to the team which beat Accrington Stanley last week, with Connell's start giving veteran frontman Fletcher a well-deserved rest. (Saved from a Loader strip for another week).
Grimsby, led by caretaker manager Neil Woods following Mick Newell being given the boot, went into the game in terrible form, having lost four successive league matches, their Captain moving to Peterborough the day before. But this Grimsby side still had some quality players. Connell and Pitman looked good but I just felt we were a little asleep and after just seven minutes the first good opportunity of the game fell to the visitors.
Garry and Pearce seemed to want to have an extended chat about the now glorious sunshine whilst Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro was the man who found himself clear on goal, but he fired wide under pressure from the onrushing Shwan Jalal. Akpro can be described as tall, languid, and dangerous but his finishing is AWFUL.
Cherries soon settled and quickly began to enjoy the lion's share of the possession, although Grimsby were proving far from easy to break down. Saints loan defender Lancashire was performing strongly at the heart of the Mariners' defence, Cherries failed to carve out any clear-cut chances until the 27th minute. Eddie's decision to shift Liam Feeney and Mark Molesley to opposite flanks was the master stroke pre- planned the right back had coped with the injured Mark Molesley adequately but Feeney was a different kettle of fish. It almost paid dividends when Feeney beat his man and delivered an excellent cross to the near post. Top scorer Pitman met the ball perfectly, only to see Nick Colgan produce an excellent save to palm his header to safety. But Cherries only had to wait seconds for a deserved opener when Connell demonstrated perfectly why he was handed a starting berth.
Receiving the ball from strike partner Pitman, (a quickly taken free kick allowed by an excellent referee) Connell turned sharply and curled a quite majestic right-foot shot high to Colgan's left from 15 yards, leaving the Grimsby skipper with no chance. Cherries sensed the opportunity to extend their advantage and they seized it by doubling the lead on 34 minutes. Captain Danny Hollands sent Pitman racing down the right and, when the forward sent over a low cross, Linwood clumsily turned the ball into his own net, with Hollands closing in. As the action continued at great pace, Cherries were given a warning not to get complacent, with Jalal forced into a brave block as a loose ball broke to the lively but moody reminded me of my ex wife Peter Bore.
Jalal produced an excellent save four minutes after the break to deny the evergreen Adrian Forbes, who by a mile was Grimsby's best player just playing off Akpro in a 4-4-2 formation, but he was powerless to stop Grimsby when they successfully pulled a goal back on 50 minutes. With Cherries failing to clear a corner, Linwood atoned for his earlier mistake by heading home, with the ball appearing to hit Ryan Garry on its way past the diving Jalal. The chance to clear had been missed would we pay the price an edgy period followed, with Grimsby upping their efforts in the hope of securing a positive result. Jalal continued his impressive afternoon by holding on to Akpa Akpro's 67th-minute lob as Cherries struggled to gain the sort of control they enjoyed during the opening period with Forbes being the main tormentor never being afraid to run at the defenders.
Pitman was presented with an opportunity to settle the nerves and seal the points on 70 minutes, but Colgan got down sharply holding the striker's low effort. Just after Edgar replaced the tiring Molesley(I just hope his foot is not to damaged by our need of him to play). Peter Sweeney's bullet drive gave Cherries and the nervous home support a scare as it flew narrowly over from long range. Pitman attempted an overhead kick which went nearer the corner flag. Eddie aware that the on coming Magennis was useful in the air, called on the old war horse Fletcher with 13 minutes remaining as Cherries looked to defend his height was now needed as we strove to protect the slender lead and the giant target man didn't disappoint, as he provided the assist to put the result beyond doubt. The 37-year-old flicked the ball on perfectly and Pitman did the rest, his overhead kick I was expecting on the highlights this was the one he tried earlier and this was the one he succeeded with. As the final whistle blew my thoughts went to Man of the Match and the following week. Rochdale don't like it up them so I would start with the same eleven as this week but at half-time not be afraid to let Goulding and Fletcher at them.
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AFCB: Jalal, Bradbury, Garry, Pearce, Cummings, Feeney, Robinson, Hollands, Molesley, Connell, Pitman
Subs: Thomas, Bartley, Goulding, Edgar (for Molesley, 70 mins), Fletcher (for Connell, 77 mins), McQuoid (for Feeney, 92 mins)
Clive Deverill, Peterborough