David Artell described his Grimsby players as “warriors” after an all-important 1-0 victory over Forest Green eased their relegation fears.
Grimsby picked up their first League Two win since late-December – with Harvey Rodgers settling the scores – to move six points clear of the danger zone.
Chances were few and far between throughout the 90 minutes at Blundell Park – certainly after the early winner from Rodgers – with neither goalkeeper tested as Rovers failed to boost their own survival hopes.
Steve Cotterill’s side are five points from safety with 11 games to play.
Artell said: “This wasn’t a game that was ever going to define our season, but we really wanted to win it.
“Saying that (it was a must-win game) is just words really, but what I would say is that we had 13 or 14 warriors out there.
“It wasn’t particularly pretty, but I can’t remember them having a chance. If you offered me a performance or result then I would have taken the result, of course, but off the ball we were outstanding to a man.
“We know that it wasn’t pretty, but the other side is it was a game we know will help us (at the end of the season).”
Grimsby settled first and went 1-0 up in the eighth minute when Rodgers looped over Vicente Reyes from the edge of the penalty area.
Chances were at a premium for the remainder of the first half with Rovers midfielder Emmanuel Osadebe dragging a half-volley narrowly wide.
Harvey Bunker took aim upon the restart as Rovers pushed and probed for a way back into what was an all-important relegation showdown.
At the other end, a wayward strike from substitute Kieran Green was as close as Grimsby came to extending their advantage, while Jamie Robson struck over with the last kick of the game for Rovers.
Rovers manager Cotterill added: “We didn’t start very well in the first 10 minutes and we made it look like it was going to be our third game in a week.
“They started fresher than us, but I thought we were miles better than them and we should never have lost that game.
“We didn’t quite play sharply enough and that’s because we couldn’t.
“I thought we were the better team by an absolute mile. We just couldn’t find that sharpness and work their goalkeeper enough.
“I feel for the boys really because that’s their third big effort in a week – we could’ve easily won the other night and we deserved to win this one.
“That’s a tough one for us to take as I don’t know what they did after 10 minutes.”
Bayern Munich 3-0 Augsburg: Hat-trick hero Kane smashes Bundesliga record
Harry Kane scored a hat-trick to become the quickest player to score 50 Bundesliga goals as Bayern Munich comfortably dispatched Augsburg 3-0 on Friday.
Kane opened the scoring in the 63rd with a penalty before netting a quickfire double in second-half stoppage time to smash the record previously held by Erling Haaland.
Despite controlling the early possession, Bayern were unable to make their dominance count, with Nediljko Labrovic rarely troubled in the opening 45 minutes.
The hosts maintained their dominance after the interval, with Leon Goretzka's looped header grazing the crossbar before Jamal Musiala went close soon after.
However, Bayern were awarded a penalty after a lengthy VAR review saw Mads Pedersen penalised for handling the ball, with Kane stepping up to score from 12 yards.
The England captain grabbed his second of the game in the third-minute of stoppage time following another VAR review which saw Keven Schlotterbeck sent off after tripping Kane inside the box.
Kane sent Labrovic the wrong way but was not to be denied a fourth treble of the season, brilliantly taking down Goretzka's searching ball before heading the ball home.
Data Debrief: HurriKane
Kane has now scored 50 Bundesliga goals in 43 matches. Before him, Haaland was the quickest player to reach 50 Bundesliga goals, having done so in 50 appearances in the competition for Borussia Dortmund.
He is also the quickest to reach that total for Bayern by some distance. Kane has reached that tally quicker than the likes of Gerd Muller (83 games), Mario Gomez (71 games), Roy Makaay (67 games) and Robert Lewandowski (64 games).
10 of Kane’s goals have come from penalties, while 32 of them have been with his right foot, nine with his left and nine with his head.
Messi 'will be our No.10 in 2026', hopes Inter Miami chief Mas
Inter Miami fully expect Lionel Messi to remain at the club beyond his current contract ahead of the 2026 MLS season.
Those were the words of Miami's club managing owner, Jorge Mas, who was speaking to the media following Gerardo Martino's resignation earlier on Friday.
Messi joined the MLS side in July 2023 on a two-and-a-half-year contract, leading the Herons to the Supporters' Shield and Leagues Cup during his time in the United States so far.
His current deal is due to expire at the end of next year, though Mas made clear his desire to see Messi remain with the Herons at Miami Freedom Park, the club's new stadium that will open in 2026.
"He’s under contract through 2025. Leo and I will sit, and we’ll discuss the future,” Mas said.
“As I’ve said before, and I will repeat it now: I fully expect that in the opening of our new stadium in 2026 in Miami and the opening of our 2026 season, hopefully after a trophy-laden 2025 season, that Lionel Messi will be our No. 10.”
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
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