Brigg Town joint manager Paul Grimes
After securing their first win in thirteen games, new Brigg Town joint manager Paul Grimes is looking ahead to the future after his side look to build on their 2-0 weekend away win at Staveley.
With a winless streak leading back to September, it was Grimes who opened the scoring for the Zebras at the weekend on 27 minutes before an own goal from the host’s Alex Pugh, four minutes from time sealed the points.
Grimes is of the belief that after an improvement in performances his side were unfortunate not to record maximum points sooner.
Grimes, a former Lincoln United and Retford striker is in the Hawthorns hot-seat alongside Scott Hellewell, said: “We are delighted to get our first win (since taking over) on the board.
“We can look back on previous games and say it could or should have happened then, but football doesn’t work like that.”
“We went to Staveley with a very clear game plan in mind and credit must go to the players for taking that on board and sticking to it.
“It was vital to score while we were on top in the first half and we felt it was deserved. We told the players at half time to expect them to come out second half and put us under pressure and they did exactly that.
“That was the only 20 minute spell where we felt they were in control and on top. The pleasing thing was that we defended well during that period and restricted them to half chances.
“Our full backs dealt with their threat from wide areas, and the triangle of Scott, Bows and Jody looked solid down the middle. We came through that period and finished the stronger team and got a second goal.”
After a miserable start to the season following on from last season’s relegation, the appointments of Grimes and Hellewell have steadied the ship with just one defeat in their last four matches.
With a Boxing Day home derby to look forward to against Barton next, Grimes conceded that Brigg have no easy games between now and the end of the season although a points target has been discussed in the dressing room.
“We know there will be no easy games from now until the end of the season, and our only aim is to collect as many points as possible,” he said.
“We spoke to the players last week at training and spoke about a points target from the next 5 games, and 3 points on Saturday was a great start.
“We will now train in midweek and move on to the game on Boxing day against Barton hoping for another strong performance.”
With the future certainly looking brighter Grimes reserved praise for Elliot Broughton and dual-registration capture Josh Parker from Lincoln United in their role in the win.
He said: ”We played Elliot Broughton in a slightly different role and he was a real problem for them for the full 90 minutes, and maybe on another day he would have got himself a goal.”
“We were also very pleased with Josh Parker on his debut. It is frightening to think he is only 17 years old and he certainly has all the qualities to play at a much higher level.
“He has a great range of passing and brings an energy to our midfield. The most encouraging thing was his decision making, which is something young players often struggle with and in 90 minutes I don’t think he made a bad decision.”
Brigg will be looking to give their supporters a little more festive cheer when third-placed Barton Town visit the Hawthorns on Boxing Day (KO – 1pm) and have confirmed their home match with Clipstone, originally postponed for a waterlogged pitch last weekend has been rescheduled for Wednesday January 27 (KO – 7.45pm).
Many thanks to Neil Winsor for this article.