Match Report

Goalless 0-0 stalemate at Grimsby – but Manager Nathan Haslam praises players

Grimsby Borough 0, Guisborough Town 0

(Northern Premier League East Division)

Guisborough Town Manager Nathan Haslam remained philosophical and positive despite a disappointing first-ever visit to Grimsby Borough on Saturday.

The Priorymen dominated the first half but some impressive approach play didn’t yield the breakthrough goal they deserved.

Grimsby Borough rallied in the latter part of the second half although it was Guisborough who had come closest to breaking the deadlock in the 55th minute with a rasping Toluwani Osiyemi shot which struck the inside of the far post and Alfie Doherty shot the rebound wide.

After the game Manager Nathan commented: “It seems strange coming away with a point from home and saying you’re disappointed but we’ve dominated the game yet failed to convert a number of chances.

“But that’s football and Grimsby have hung on in there. We’ve showed some naivety towards the end of the game and we could have very nearly lost it and come away with nothing.

“ON ANOTHER DAY WE WOULD HAVE WON THE GAME”

“But in the raw emotion after the game I’ve got to say I’m really disappointed with the draw and on another day we would have won the game,” added Nathan.

He continued: “But this is Non-league football and I can’t be too harsh on my players because everything they did throughout the game was brilliant up to a certain point when we were attacking their goal and this is something we’ve got to become better at.

“It’s been a humid day here today and the lads have become tired and we’ve picked up a few injuries as the game’s wore on.

“But we play some lovely football at times pulling teams around and It’s admirable what we do playing through the lines. But we get to the hardest point in football of putting the ball in the net and we make it harder than what it should be.

‘WE’VE GOT TO LOOK AT IT POSITIVELY”

“But you’ve got to look at it positively and at some point in the season we’ll look back on this and probably feel that a clean sheet and a point on the road is actually not that bad point as it seemed at the time,” added Nathan.

Guisborough midfielder Alex Payne, giving his thoughts on the game, commented: “We got a point but I think we should have had all three. We dominated the game and at the end of the day we’ve got av point so we’ll take that.

“I’m really enjoying playing week in week out and the lads have been really good to me helping me develop out on the pitch.

“I honestly think even at this stage of the season that we could make the play-offs but for now we play game by game and see where that takes us,” added Alex.

Meanwhile, next Saturday, 12 September Guisborough travel to Ashington in Northumberland for the next round of the FA Trophy and the Club will be putting on a team coach with spaces once again available for supporters. Watch out for further details on our X site and our Facebook feed.

Report by Bll Perfitt.