David Artell insists he always had faith in Grimsby scoring late winner

David Artell was delighted to see Grimsby deliver the knockout punch to beat Fleetwood 1-0 and return to the Sky Bet League Two play-off places.

The Mariners boss used a boxing analogy to describe what he felt was a dominant display from his side, with Jaze Kabia’s goal in the sixth minute of stoppage time getting the hosts over the line in dramatic fashion.

The belief remained in the dugout, in the stands and most importantly on the pitch for Grimsby, who had battled against a resolute Fleetwood side, but were on the edge of frustration.

The last action of the game allowed the Mariners to leapfrog Chesterfield back into the seventh after their heavy defeat to Oldham.

Artell said: “We left it late, but it was nothing more than we deserved.

“If it were a boxing match, I think they would have had a standing count after 10 minutes and again at 30 minutes.

“They changed shape to try and stop the onslaught on their goal, and it slowed down to an extent, but we were much the dominant team from minute one to minute 96.

“When you’re that dominant, you always expect that the goal is going to come, but you’re working against the clock.

“Jaze nips in and gets the winner for his 15th of the season, which is a fantastic return for his first year in the Football League.

“Justin [Amaluzor] was great coming off the bench as well.

“He hit the post and gave us a bit more impetus going forward on his side.

“I didn’t lose belief that we’d score, and it’s clear that the lads didn’t either, getting the reward for the crowd who were fantastic and really got behind us.”

Matt Lawlor was hoping to maintain his celebratory mood after getting the Fleetwood job on a permanent basis, but his side’s defensive efforts came without reward.

He said: “People might be unaware of the true physical toll on the players travelling up and down the country as we have done in a short space of time.

“There is a lot that goes into them getting a corner and scoring in the 96th minute, but it makes it a bittersweet day.

“We want to be in the position they’re in with time, which we will need because they’re a good outfit who have had two or three years to develop under a great manager.

“I’m proud of the lads in terms of their effort and endeavour to stick at it for so long and defend our goal.

“They score at the death and the result will change the perception of the performance, and we need to be much better on the ball, but I’m proud of the effort.”