David Artell hails ‘magnificent’ performance as Grimsby beat 10-man Notts County

Grimsby manager David Artell hailed a “magnificent” performance as his side secured a 1-0 win over 10-man Notts County at Meadow Lane.

After Lee Ndlovu had been shown a straight red card in the 76th minute for the hosts, Charles Vernam’s winner with five minutes to go saw the Mariners claim all three points.

“They’re a good team, and they’re good here; they have one of the best home records, but I thought we were also magnificent and that’s why we’ve won the game,” said Artell.

“From my point of view, it was a really good game, in terms of ‘can we work out what they’re doing now?’, and I thought it was two committed teams, and two good teams.

“I thought they asked lots of questions of us and we had the answers to them all, so we’ve come out on the right side of it thanks to a terrific goal from [Vernam].”

Ndlovu’s red card was a decisive moment in a contest that had been largely evenly matched, with both home stopper James Belshaw and counterpart Jackson Smith called upon.

“I thought they were all very good, and you have to be very good when you come to a team like this,” continued Artell.

“I thought we looked equally dangerous, if not more so, on our breaks and in our transitions [before the red card], and I said to them at half time, ‘you have to be better in the final third’.”

Meanwhile, County manager Martin Paterson chose his words carefully around Ndlovu’s dismissal, but accepted his side were below their best.

“I think it’s a lazy challenge, and it’s a soft one, but I’ve got to be careful what I say because I want the focus to be on my group,” said Paterson.

“I’m going to go and speak to the referee and see if he can help educate me on why that’s a sending off.

“I think everybody was surprised with the decision, but, also, in self-reflection, I want to be really respectful, and do it the right way.”

The 38-year-old affirmed that despite his side’s high-flying status, Artell and Grimsby proved a tricky challenge for his team.

“This is League Two, you’re not coming up against teams that are just going to lie down, and in the first half I don’t think we did enough to break them,” he said.

“They’re a good outfit, with a good manager, and the respect element from them was that they came in and tried to sit in and counter.

“I was pleased with us, we kept going, and I thought we were miles better in the second half, but a decision has ultimately taken the game away from us.”