AFTER all the celebrations and gloating, Boxing Day's demolition of Lincoln could count for little if the Mariners don't finish the job at Blundell Park.
More than 1,700 Grimsby Town fans were at Sincil Bank to watch their side give the local rivals a good old-fashioned thumping on their own turf.
True, the result may have slightly flattered the Mariners, but they were still the better side for large periods – and showed a ruthlessness in front of goal that was so lacking from their hosts.
Remaining on top of the Conference table as a result of the victory capped things off beautifully on a perfect afternoon for Town followers.
In a normal, run-of-the-mill season, that would mean everything to all at the club. After all, football fans love nothing more than the opportunity to laud it up over the neighbours.
But, as my colleague Matt Dannatt observed in last week's 'Talk of the Town', this year is different – there are more important things on the line than simple bragging rights.
Despite the winning margin and clear embarrassment to the Imps, all that was ultimately achieved was three points.
Yes, it was a precious three points that keeps Newport, Wrexham and Luton at bay for the time being.
But failure to repeat the trick on New Day's Day in Cleethorpes would spell a missed opportunity as the Mariners target a return to the Football League at the third attempt.
With no 'Crawleys' or 'Fleetwoods' running away with the title this time around, the season is opening up as a golden opportunity for Town.
Judging on the first half of the campaign, a haul of little more than 90 points could land the automatic promotion spot this season.
The Mariners are halfway there after 24 games, meaning a decent run through a busy New Year and January could put Scott and Hurst's men in pole position.
So let's not get side-tracked by thumping the local rivals and the post-match party at Sincil Bank.
There could be far bigger and more important celebrations to come.
PERHAPS the only negative to come out of Town's Boxing Day triumph was the astonishing amount of empty seats in the home ends.
The Mariners sold their 1,700 tickets in no time at all, and probably could have taken at least another 1,000 followers down the A46 for the clash.
But in their wisdom, the hosts opted to limit the allocation for their rivals and instead choose to have more than 4,000 unused seats for their biggest game of the season.
The result was that Sincil Bank was just over half full – or just under half empty – and hundreds of Town fans were left listening to radio commentary or joining our interactive service online.
With adult tickets priced at £16, even my maths tells me that Lincoln has missed out on roughly £16,000 there.
For a club with apparently such a miniscule playing budget, it's remarkable they could be so picky.
