Mariners and Saints go marching in!

Awoke much later this morning - 8.30 a.m. After breakfast of grapefruit and croissants I went to Cleethorpes to have a coffee in MacDonald’s on Kings Road where I spent the best part of two hours updating this blog and dealing with emails. I had some difficulty on logging on with the laptop for a little while but was able to send emails using my iPod Touch. I rang Mim to say that I would call and see her tomorrow sometime between 12 noon and 2 p.m. after I’ve been to church and before I go off to Louth to see David. I went to Marklew’s to get fish and chips and mushy peas for lunch. Tim Baldock, my old school friend, called at 2 p.m. and we walked in the rain to Blundell Park to see Grimsby Town (the Mariners) play Bournemouth. This was a vital match for the Mariners who are six points adrift at the bottom of League 2. The weather was very warm when we arrived at the ground and I took off my coat and scarf when we sat down. In a short time we watched as a cold front came sweeping across the Humber Estuary bringing with it torrential rain and a freezing conditions. The pitch quickly deteriorated as it became cut up by the players. The Mariners scored first amongst tumultuous celebration from the Grimsby fans but this was tempered shortly afterwards as Grimsby let in a soft header from Bournemouth during a set piece corner. At half time the teams went in at 1-1. Cheltenham, who were hosting Port Vale, were also level at 1-1. Grimsby need to hope that Cheltenham slip up over their remaining games and they, themselves, can win the majority of theirs. Grimsby came back quite early on with a great goal but minutes later the Grimsby keeper saved a strike friom Bournemouth only to slip it into the back of his own net when the slippery ball slid out of his hands. Now down to 2-2 with only about 15 minutes to go, Grimsby needed to push forward and were rewarded when Bournemouth had a man sent off. With only a few minutes to go Grimsby managed to slip in the third goal to win the match 3-2. With Cheltenham’s scoreline remaining at 1-1, Grimsby have narrowed the gap by 2 points to only being 4 points adrift. Darlington lost meaning that their chances of overtaking Grimsby look to be gone. At Milton Keynes, Southampton beat the Dons 0-3. Another fantastic result for the Saints. Now of 50 points with a massive positive goal difference, they have secured that they will not get relegated and are still with an outside chance of getting into the playoffs. It was therefore an incredible day – both my teams scoring 3 goals each and winning their matches. Tim came back with me to Mum’s for a cup of tea and I’ve agreed to go round to his home in Tetney tomorrow afternoon after I’ve visited David Kaye. Tonight I watched the France v. England 6 Nations match with France winning a Grand Slam Championship by beating England 12-10 in a very close match. I’m looking forward to seeing Grimsby’s and Southampton’s goals on TV tonight. A very busy schedule for me tomorrow.