The second leg of the charity match between Grimsby Town fans and Lincoln City fans was hosted at Sincil Bank on Monday, 10th May and ended 6-1 to Lincoln. The first leg ended 4-0 to the Mariners when the two teams met back in late February at Wintringham School, Grimsby.
The weekend before the game, Grimsby fans witnessed their club’s first relegation from the Football League in 100 years. If ever there was a chance for the Town fans to reinstall some much needed pride, a win against their rivals would have softened the relegation blow.
The four goal cushion between the two teams at the start of the game did not act as a barrier for too long as the Lincoln team fresh with new additions looked the better of the sides in the early exchanges.
The scoreline at half time read 4-0 in Lincoln’s favour on the night and 4-4 in aggregate terms. It would be up to the Mariner’s fans to pick it up in the second half yet the worst was not over. The Imps fans team came out to face the final 45 minutes and immediately pressed a Grimsby team who were well and truly on the rocks.
Grimsby fans’ manager Jon Spurr had his head in his hands for much of the second half and on many occasions vented his frustration at the officials’ decisions. Spurr was once again forced out of his technical area as the Imps scored their fifth of the night making the score 5-4 in favour of City.
Grimsby’s defeat was all but confirmed as the sixth Lincoln goal went in after some very lacklustre defending at the heart of defence, at which was Matthew Newton.
Just as the game was coming to close the Mariners did have a final flourish and ensured they would not leave Sincil Bank goalless – ending the game 6-5 down overall.
Lincoln City 6 (6-5 on aggregate) 1 Grimsby Town
The game, which was played out in great spirit, was a chance for rival supporters to get a taste of the action and to play on a professional football pitch. It was also in aid of the ‘Help for Heroes’ charity that helps to support injured soldiers when they come back from war.
Organiser of the game and manager of the Grimsby Town side Jon Spurr spoke to The Linc and reflected on his team’s performance.
He said: “It was a deserved win for Lincoln, and I’ll give them credit they were ten times better than us.
“They punished us all over the field and we got hammered, we did exactly what the main team did on Saturday and just folded. [They] showed no pride, no passion, no nothing.”
Grimsby Town fans player Matthew Newton differed from Spurr and believed that charity comes first and the competition comes second.
Newton said: “It’s always played in a competitive manner, but obviously it’s charity and that is always the more important of the two.”
The charity match is now in its second year and may be put under threat due to Grimsby’s recent relegation. However Newton believes this not to be the case.
“I think there’s always a chance that we could play them (Lincoln fans) because we (Grimsby) are only down the road. It goes ahead at the end of the season anyway.
“I would like to see it go ahead again as it is a bit of fun, you get to play at a professional football stadium and I hope they (more games) do go ahead.”