ON THIS DAY: 23 February – Last visit to Hinckley & inaugural meeting against Grimsby
There seems to have been plenty of ‘run-of-the-mill’ matches involving Reds on the 23rd February in bygone years and, if nothing else, we became draw specialists…….
2019 Marine (away) 2-0 We were on course for relegation two years ago and Marine looked to be heading for mid-table mediocrity. In the end, we both fell through the relegation trap door and our win at College Road didn’t really help our cause and was probably the start of Marine’s decline.
Aaran Taylor had a good record saving penalties and he kept one out during the first half of this game, thwarting Marine’s Craig Carney. We built on that confidence booster in the second period and goals from Brad Carroll, his first for the club, and Sam Joel clinched a welcome win. Sam had also scored against the Crosby side in the drawn game at Borough Park.
2013 Hinckley United (away) 1-1 A draw against higher-placed opponents is considered a good result yet the same outcome against a team below you in the table is often thought of as two points dropped. It was the latter scenario when we travelled to play bottom club, Hinckley, and, although we scored first, we were probably fortunate to obtain a point on this occasion.
Jonny Wright had opened the scoring in the first half with his 70th goal for the club but the hosts salvaged a point mid-way through the second half.
It proved to be our last visit to the excellent Marston Stadium before their sad demise.
2008 Boston United (home) 0-1 Adam Collin’s only task throughout a frustrating afternoon was to retrieve the ball from his net in the fifth minute after Boston completed the perfect ‘smash and grab raid’. It maintained their 100% winning record against us although we did everything but score. Man-of-the-match, Graham Anthony, came closest to grabbing an equaliser but his shot rebounded off the post.
1991 Accrington Stanley (home) 2-2 This Northern Premier League fixture was selected for the Pools Coupon (ask your granddad what that was about) and, fittingly, resulted in a draw.
It was an entertaining contest and, although Reds twice went in front, Stanley were the better side overall. Graeme Nicholson and Gary Taylor shared our goals, both via well directed headers.
1985 Grantham (home) 2-1 First half goals from top scorer, John Smith, and skipper, John Reach, paved the way to a comfortable home win against the Lincolnshire outfit and completed a rare league double in Reds favour.
It was probably Grantham’s poorest season at that level, Reds finished in a satisfactory 8th position.
1980 Goole Town (home) 1-1 Reds started brightly enough but, after gifting Goole an equaliser on the stroke of half time, deteriorated rapidly in the second half and were fortunate to obtain a point.
Graham Gill opened the scoring with his eleventh goal of the season but that was as good as it got and the home support left the ground disgruntled.
1973 Peterborough United (home) 2-2 Our home record against the Posh was impressive although we had to share four goals against Noel Cantwell’s side on this occasion.
John Rowlands and Tony Geidmintis scored Reds’ goals that day with the latter’s coming via the penalty spot. Tony also converted a penalty in the earlier meeting at London Road.
1970 Darlington (away) 1-1 Reds and ‘Darlo’ struggled to make an impact during the ’69-70 season and the aim of both was to avoid the bottom four. We pulled clear of the re-election zone, just, but Darlington finished 22nd.
The point gained at Feethams was important in the end and obtained thanks to a Jimmy Goodfellow goal.
1963 Lincoln City (home) 1-1 The majority of our home games against Lincoln City finished all square and we had to thank Dave Carr’s goal for a draw in this match. Reds supporters welcomed goalkeeper, Ian Ower, to the club and he enjoyed a steady home debut.
1952 Grimsby Town (home) 2-4 This was our inaugural Football League meeting against Town and proved a shock to the system as they became the first team to score four goals at Borough Park. They handed out a football lesson that day although we did score consolation goals by George Dick and Andy Mullen – the latter still alive today! Grimsby eventually finished runners-up but Reds ended the campaign at the foot of Division Three (North).
