Hall Road Rangers Martin Thacker (right) said his players had let the down in the 3-1 defeat to previously winless Grimsby Borough
Hall Road Rangers became the first team to lose on the road to Grimsby Borough in the Toolstation NCEL Division One this season.
The final game of the second day in the NCEL Easter GroundHop weekend saw the home side win 3-1 which gave them their first league victory at the Bradley Football Development Centre all season.
It was also only their second league success of the season.
Presumably inspired by the groundhoppers, Grimsby, who look set to be relegated from the NCEL, celebrated the surprise victory like winning cup final.
The chances of a Grimsby win looked remote in the early stages as it was Hall Road who drew first blood in a scrappy affair, with Danny Walker hitting sublime strike into the back of the net past a helpless James Harness in the Grimsby net after just three minutes.
Seconds later there was action at the other end as Steve Janney made an incredible save to deny Richard Creer, as both sides wasted little time to make chances.
After 20 minutes the home side pegged back as Creer teed up Peter Fuller who poked home to put the score level at 1-1.
Hall Road looked on course for a straightforward after Danny Walker put them ahead after three minutes
Action from Grimsby Borough 3-1 Hall Road Rangers
With 30 minutes gone Danny Blount saved his side from going down, as he cleared another shot from Fuller off the line heroically, to keep the score level going into the dressing room.
After half-time the home side made it clear they were looking to take the lead, and they almost did after tenminutes of knocking the door, only for Steve Janney to make another fine save to clear off his line.
On the hour mark Jonathan Blakestone’s shot looked goal-bound but Kyle Bensley headed off the line to keep the score at 1-1 and keep alive the hosts chances of their first home win of the season.
And the home side took the lead in style after 68 minutes, after Peter Fuller worked his way through the Hall Road defence before volleying home to give his side the lead.
Grimsby rounded off their deserved win with ten minutes left as Matthew Hall smashed home to give Borough their first home win of the season and finish off the second day of the 2015 GroundHop in style.
Hall Road Rangers manager Martin Thacker:
“I think disappointed is an absolute understatement, I think they totally deserved to win.
“I actually think we have better players than them and I’m sure they’ll admit that, but when teams work harder and try harder and play smarter, we’re going to get beaten, and that’s exactly what happened.
“When we had the team-talk it was about them not winning at home and making sure it wasn’t us that they beat.
“But on the back of that we have to deliver. If we don’t back up what we say it makes us look silly and the players have let the club down.
“We shouldn’t be losing and it’s no disrespect to them, but it should have been a game we should be winning.
“In terms of the effort and the willingness to run I can’t fault them, but we need to be smarter, especially against teams lesser than us because you come up short if you don’t,
“The lads have worked their socks off, but unfortunately for us their lads played 100% and we only really put 90% in.”
Hall Road Rangers: Janney, Walsh (Atkinson 45), Wilson, Morrill, Blount, McKay, O’Malley, Harrison (Rooks 55), Walker, Blakestone (Tucker 65), Start. Subs unused: Wain.
Grimsby Borough: Harness, Pearson (Hamilton 71), Bensley, Atkin, Unsworth, Stanley, Waugh, Hall, Creer (Simpson 71), Fuller (Blendell 87), Fanthorpe. Subs unused: King, Sparrow.
Referee: David Jones
Ref Rating: 8/10
Attendance: 284
Man of the Match: Peter Fuller (Grimsby Borough)