It was another point on the road for Simon Weaver and his Harrogate Town side as they drew 0-0 with Grimsby in our EFL 2 trip to Blundell Park.
While both sides had opportunities to win the match, strong goalkeeping and heroic defending came out on top as neither side were able to find the back of the net.
Town’s line-up remained unchanged for the third match in succession as Simon Weaver opted to show faith in his players as they looked to make it three games unbeaten.
Fresh off the back of their dramatic victory over Northampton, tonight’s host made three changes to their starting 11. These saw Michee Efete, Anthony Glennon and George Lloyd in from the start.
The match started at lightning speed with both sides keen to grab an early advantage. Town’s first serious attack was brought to a premature end as Armstrong hit the ground as he attempted to get on the end of a clever pass from Sims. However, referee Tom Nield waved play on.
As Grimsby sought to give the home crowd reason to cheer, they themselves worked a dangerous attack. However, as the ball fell to McAtee on the edge of the area he was intercepted by Falkingham. There were some claims for a penalty. Despite this, the referee waved play on once again.
It took 10 minutes before Town would register their first shot of the encounter. A knockdown fell nicely for Jack Muldoon on the edge of the area. However, his powerful volley flew narrowly over the bar.
Grimsby too went close to opening the scoring as Maher’s header looked destined to find the back of the net but an outstretched arm of Oxley tipped it over.
Kazeem Olaigbe continued to show his attacking ability as he picked up a cross from Armstrong on the edge of the area. Town’s number 10 worked a shooting opportunity but it was narrowly wide.
Mark Oxley was again called into action as a long range effort from McAtee caught him wrong footed in the Town net. However, he recovered to get a hand to the shot and Town cleared.
In the final 10 minutes of the half, Grimsby had Oxley beaten as a near post flick on left the goalkeeper stranded. However, Tom Eastman was on hand to produce a goal-line clearance.
Grimsby would again turn the pressure up on the Town backline. A low free-kick from Glennon had Oxley scrambling across to hold the effort.
The second 45 was to start in a similar fashion to the first, Armstrong and Olaigbe helped the away side gain territory up the pitch. A loose ball fell to Sutton who continued his run to the edge of the Grimsby box but his shot didn’t trouble the ‘keeper.
The fast paced nature of the half was short lived. As both sides battled to find the upper hand, strong defending from Eastman did enough to prevent Lloyd from having a dangerous effort at goal and Oxley collected.
With the match approaching the final 20 minutes, McAtee’s volley from the edge of the box was one of the more notable chances of the half. However, it was fired high and wide.
Keen to make an instant impact from the bench, the first involvement for Grimsby’s Mikey O’Neil saw him flash a dangerous cross across the face of goal but thankfully Oxley was able to claim in his six-yard box.
With 10 minutes remaining the chance of the half fell for Grimsby sub Alex Hunt. He found himself in space on the edge of the area and looked to curl an effort into the bottom corner. However, the glove of Oxley denied him
Grimsby: Crocombe, Efete, Glennon, Waterfall (C), Holohan, Emmanuel, Lloyd (Taylor, 77′), McAtee, Clifton (Hunt, 69′), Morris (O’Neil, 69′) , Maher
Subs not used: Gallacher, Smith, Dickson-Peters, Orsi
Town: Oxley, Falkingham (C), Olaigbe, Sims (Burrell, 86′), O’Connor, Pattison, Sutton (Grant, 81′), Muldoon, Armstrong, Foulds, Eastman
Subs not used: Giles, Thomson, Folarin, McArdle, Daly
Attendance: 5,487
Referee: Tom Nield
