Since a Coca-Cola Cup exit at Liverpool in November 1997, Alan Buckley’s Grimsby Town side had been on a marvellous run of results. This performance saw them surge towards the fringes of the Division Two Play Offs.
The week before this fixture against the Bees, the Mariners’ run had come to a halt. They suffered a 4-1 hammering at title-chasing Bristol City. Town were like a wounded animal for this visit of the West Londoners, and they were at their most dangerous.
GRIMSBY TOWN 4 (Groves, D. Smith, Donovan, Clare) BRENTFORD 0
Nationwide League Division Two | 17.01.98
The Mariners were buoyed by an inflated attendance of 4624, many of whom were there to ensure that they had the correct tickets stubs for the following week’s trip to Premier League outfit Leeds United in the FA Cup Fourth Round.
The display that followed was a wonderful example of what made Alan Buckley’s Grimsby Town sides so successful. An impenetrable goalkeeper, sturdy defence, well-marshalled and skilful midfield and hard-working attackers.
The game marked the debut of former Coventry and Birmingham star David Smith (left), the club’s future Commercial Manager. Smith, a £200,000 capture from Buckley’s former club West Bromwich Albion. He would prove to be the final piece in the manager’s promotion jigsaw. A versatile left-sided player who offered penetration and discipline. Smith would have an immediate impact in a black and white shirt.
It was an experienced Brentford side that travelled north to Cleethorpes on a chilly January afternoon. But, despite their credentials, they were blown away by the class of the Mariners’ play.
Town were on the front foot almost immediately and they soon got into the groove of their tried-and-tested passing game. Credit went to the visitors, as they stemmed the tide of the hosts’ attacks in the opening 10 minutes.
In took Town 11 minutes to break the deadlock, and they did so with a classic Grimsby goal. John McDermott zipped the ball into the on-loan Wayne Burnett in midfield. He in turn sprayed the ball wide to Kevin Donovan. McDermott sprinted forward on the overlap like he would do one hundred times over the course of the season.
Right-winger Donovan obliged by putting the ball directly in McDermott’s path. The Middlesbrough-born Town star crossed the ball at full speed. Strikers Neil Woods and Daryl Clare pulled the defence away with clever runs. This allowed captain Paul Groves to arrive late and power a header beyond former Tottenham trainee Kevin Dearden.
The goal’s application was simple. It was a joy to watch for the gathered Blundell Park throng. It was just the beginning of the afternoon’s entertainment. With something even better arriving with just 19 minutes on the clock.
The Mariners had been playing some neat possession football on the right. Then the play was switched to debutant Smith in space on the left side of the midfield. The former England Under-21 International took a touch and crashed a 25-yard drive into the top corner to rapturous applause. It was some way to announce yourself to the Town fans, and arguably one of the best debut goals in the club’s history.
Brentford were thoroughly deflated now and the Mariners threatened to run riot. Before the half was out they came agonisingly close to adding a third. This time the move came down the left-hand side with Smith, Groves and Woods all involved. The ball was slipped through to the onrushing Tony Gallimore, who clipped the angle of bar and post with his shot.
There was better to come in the second half as the Mariners showed the battered Bees no remorse, relentlessly striding forward in search of more goals. Just 14 minutes of the half had expired when Donovan claimed his customary goal. It was a typically sweeping Town move that went from back to front in quick order.
Woods and Smith combined to set Clare free. The young Jersey-born striker was desperate for his first goal for the club. With defenders around him though, he unselfishly rolled the ball to Donovan to add the third from the right-hand side of the penalty area.
The Town fans were in raptures as their side went in search of more goals. Fully in control of the game, it was now a matter of how many goals Alan Buckley’s side would net.
As it was they scored just once more, and fittingly Clare finally opened his account for the club. The teenage striker had performed admirably in the absence of first-choice strike pair Lee Nogan and Jack Lester; and with Livingstone being asked to take up a defensive role due to injuries.
His first senior goal arrived with just five minutes left on the clock. Clare broke the offside trap and raced away from the defence, before toe-poking the ball underneath Dearden to complete a fine afternoon’s work for the Mariners.
MARINERS: Davison; McDermott, Lever, Livingstone, Gallimore (Jobling); Donovan, Groves, Burnett (Widdrington), Smith; Woods (Black), Clare.
BEES: Dearden; Bates, Watson, Canham (Rapley), Oatway; Aspinall, Townley (McGhee), Wormull; Gleghorn, Scott (Dennis), Taylor.
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