David Artell salutes ‘terrific’ Grimsby victory at Cambridge

Manager David Artell hailed a “terrific win” after Grimsby inflicted a rare home defeat on Cambridge with a dramatic 2-1 victory.

Cameron McJannet’s bundled winner four minutes into added time was enough to lift the Mariners into League Two’s final play-off position with two games remining.

Had Cambridge won they would have headed into the weekend knowing victory would secure promotion, but instead they lead Salford by only a point prior to the penultimate weekend.

Artell said: “It was two good teams, a terrific game, a terrific advert for League Two.

“You could see why they’ve only lost once here at home, they gave it everything. You can also see why we’re now in a play-off place. It was two good teams playing their own way.

“They move the ball really well (but) we could have been two or three up in the first half, we had two one on ones.

“We get our noses in front with a brilliant goal, then we switch off and concede one and it’s in the balance again. Obviously we’re grateful for the penalty save. We got our rewards.

“Whenever these lads take a lump on the nose like we did at Chesterfield, they don’t half know how to bounce back and they deserve a huge amount of credit.

“I’ve said to them rest up for another biggie on Saturday.

“The lads were terrific, it’s a terrific win. We roll on to Saturday.”

Cambridge boss Neil Harris saw many positives in how his side performed but rued the fact they continued their recent trend of conceding a late goal which changed the outcome.

He said: “We showcased ourselves to be a top side in the way we moved the ball, the way we played, the threat we carried.

“But we showed ourselves again why we’re not top of the league and won the league already because we conceded a late goal again and we’ve not been the better team in both boxes in key moments.

“How many times have I said that after games? Time after time, a ruthless nature again jut missing in that final action.

“We lacked a little bit of leadership in the back line in the key moment, we should get out of the box quicker.

“I’ve just said to the players in no uncertain terms they’ve done great and it’s all about bouncing back on Saturday, but they’ve got to bring a better mindset than they’ve had tonight.

“We didn’t have that mentality to kill Grimsby off, we didn’t have the mentality to have a hero and a leader in the team, and that’s what I demand.”