Groves Defends Tactics

By: Bill Osborne
Date: 11/03/2002

PAUL GROVES was in a defiant mood today when he talked about the Walsall game in which the Mariners threw away two points and defended the change in tactics. "It's not over yet. The position hasn't changed because the results have gone for us."

"This was one of our home games, he told the Grimsby Telegraph. "But you have to be realistic and know that you will get a day when it doesn't go for you. We haven't lost, that is the main thing."

"We are obviously very disappointed. But we're in a good run of form and we've been playing quite well of late. We've conceded a late goal but they haven't caused us hardly any problems so there's no need to change things. We just have to keep working hard."

Groves defended the decision to replace Bradley Allen with midfielder Stacy Coldicott in a move which saw Town invite pressure for the final 20 minutes.

"The game wasn't going anywhere. It was bottled up and they weren't causing us any problems. "A lot of it was backs against the wall and we were trying to make it difficult for them to get through."

On the laste equaliaser he said: "It was one ball into the box and a toe poke. It wasn't even good play that opened us up. From my point of view a point wasn't fair. We were looking for a win, but it wasn't to be."

"In conditions like that you are always going to have one team defending. We did that without them having too many clear-cut chances and that is why everybody is so disappointed with their late goal."

"I would have taken the three points rather than the goal I scored."

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