Grimsby boss David Artell hails draw after ‘worst performance of the season’

David Artell was impressed with the desire of Grimsby to snatch a last-gasp 1-1 draw against Cambridge after their “worst performance of the season”.

The U’s took the lead in the first half through Adam Mayor, and it seemed as though the Mariners were heading to consecutive defeats at home before a stoppage-time penalty gave them a golden opportunity to rescue a point.

Jaze Kabia missed from the spot for the third time this season, but Justin Amaluzor was on hand to score the rebound for his first EFL goal following his summer move to Grimsby from Altrincham.

On the late draw, Artell said: “I thought we showed incredible desire and resilience to get a point when we didn’t play very well because that was our worst performance of the season.

“There wasn’t really any quality on show in the game, but we stayed in it and we didn’t give much away ourselves. We’ve just got to be a lot better on the ball as we have been in most games this season.

“I think a draw was a fair result because I don’t think either team particularly deserved to win. I’m not worried because we’ve shown plenty of quality this season, and everyone is entitled to an off day.

“All the subs deserve a huge amount of credit because they did generate more momentum for us. We knew they would be a tough nut to crack, and they came to spoil, which they did, so we’ll take the point.”

Given the circumstances of the game, it was a bitter pill to swallow for Neil Harris and his Cambridge team not to leave Blundell Park with three points, but he had no criticisms for the U’s performance.

The Cambridge boss added: “I thought it was a strong individual and team performance, and we were much the better team in the game, but Grimsby got away with one.

“The way we’ve played the game today, the mentality and the aggression we showed is what I demand of the players in training, and that is the standard for us now, the bare minimum.

“There are going to be highs and lows in games; we’ll be really good one day, and not good on the ball another day, and that is going to happen in football, but the mentality has to be there no matter what.

“We had that in abundance today so I feel for the group because it could be argued that the penalty was harsh, but I don’t really know.

“[Jake] Eastwood makes a good save, but the ball still finds its way into the net, and I can’t pin that on our lads in this instance; we’ve just been unlucky.”