Grimsby boss David Artell says win over Barnet ‘best win of season’

David Artell labelled Grimsby’s 1-0 home win over 10-man Barnet as their best in Sky Bet League Two this season as they avenged their defeat to them in the reverse fixture.

The Bees were knocked back in their attempt to do a league double over the Mariners as Joe Kizzi was given a controversial straight red just 11 minutes in for his challenge on Evan Khouri.

Jayden Sweeney netted early in the second half to break the deadlock, and the hosts managed the game from that point to make it three wins by a 1-0 scoreline on the bounce.

Artell said: “It was probably our best win of the season because we were up against who I feel are a really good team, and we deserved to win.

“We made hard work of it in the final 15 minutes, but I thought we had the better of things at 11v11 before their lad got sent off.

“It got a bit edgy towards the end because we didn’t keep the ball very well and they were going direct, but we did what we needed to do defensively to get our fourth clean sheet on the bounce.

“Our worst performance of the season was against them at their place [3-0 loss in September], so we knew they would come here buoyed by the previous encounter.

“We owed them a much better performance to see real Grimsby Town, and I think that’s what they’ve seen today.”

The visitors were enraged by the early red card, which affected the course of the game, but they were still heartened by their response for the rest of the contest.

Speaking in manager Dean Brennan’s stead following his red card, Barnet assistant boss Connor Smith said: “I thought we were outstanding considering how long we had to play with 10 men against a decent side at this level.

“Their goal came from a lucky ricochet through bodies, and I thought we had the better chances in the second half.

“You could feel the nervousness around the ground in the latter stages, and we’re proud of the work rate of the lads, those that started and those that came on.

“We should’ve got something out of the game regardless, but [the red card] is ridiculous, because there was nothing really in either incident.

“The fourth official made the call, and they’ve given the red to the wrong player, so I think the pressure from their bench was telling.

“It’s bad officiating in the end, and they’ve ruined what could’ve been a really good game of football with that early call.

“It’s hard to adapt to a red card so early in the half because you need to get the team in to make tactical changes, but we handled it well.”