Paul Hurst was 'delighted' with the result, if not the performance, against Alfreton on Saturday. Here is the Grimsby Town joint manager's post-match analysis of the clash
Victory over Alfreton…
" We're delighted with the victory. However, we have stood on the sidelines and felt quite comfortable a lot over the course of this season. We never really felt that on Saturday. "It was by no means our best performance. If you're not going to play to your optimum but score four goals and get a victory against Alfreton – who are never easy to play against – then that can only be a good sign for us. "At the odd time, we played football and when we did we looked dangerous. "But in the first half we struggled massively to get out of our own half, from the goal-kicks. "We tried splitting the full-backs and getting out that way, but credit to Alfreton they pressed us high up the pitch. "Our decisions on the ball weren't great. Once we worked our way up towards the half-way line, there were times when we could have slid a ball down the side and turned their back four around to get a breather, but we never did that. "In the second half we passed the ball more and created chances, but I never felt comfortable defensively. "Even at 86 minutes, I looked at the clock when they had a shot go wide and I was hoping for the referee to blow for full-time. "You never get any easy game against Nicky Law's team and we knew we had to be up for the fight. "They were winning the battles in the first-half, there's no getting away from it, and to go in at 2-1 was a massive bonus for us – we didn't deserve it at all."
Alfreton's penalty…
" It looked a penalty and it epitomised our performance. "Brodes had the opportunity to clear the ball, waited and then went to clear it and realised he'd given it away and reacted – positively in the sense of trying to get to the player. You could see it coming from the side, and at that point his inclusion didn't look justified!"
Richard Brodie…
" Brodes had a big hand in our goals. He won the penalty which he wanted to take, but Dev (Jamie Devitt) took one at Welling and scored, so he took responsibility and put it away nicely. "Then Brodes got the ball in the box, turned and managed to get a goal, which can only help his confidence. "I think he felt like the world is against him. Even in training or warm-ups, he's having shots and the keepers are making great saves or it's coming back off the post. "I think Andy (Cook) and Brodes linked up well when we did play our football. "In the second half when the game opened up a bit we created chances and looked a threat. "But for a couple of saves and some good defending, we could have had more goals."
Lenell John-Lewis…
" Lenell couldn't quite get into it in the first couple of minutes but then he showed his honesty. "He won a great header on the far side and had a hand in the goal when his effort was saved by Phil Barnes and Craig Disley got the follow-up for the fourth. He showed a bit of pace, closing the defenders down. He'll be a handful to play against, you could see that straight away. We've got real competition at the top end of the team."
Possible departures…
" Anthony Elding is speaking with a club at present to see if he can arrange a move. "Greg Pearson is available. He almost went to a club last week but it didn't quite happen. I think he's seen that he's down the pecking order. "While he is here and his attitude is right, you never know, but ultimately for him and his career, he needs to get away and be playing football."
Ross Hannah's omission…
" We took our leading goalscorer out of the firing line. He obviously wants to play, but he hasn't got on the pitch and we've scored four goals, so that can only be a positive for us."
Time for a rest…
" The lads will get a few days off now because next week is one of the very few weeks that is clear from action. "We've got Andi Thanoj and Aswad Thomas on international duty, and then it's really into the thick of it where it will be Saturday-Tuesday matches for pretty much the rest of the season."
