Rotherham United (U18s) 2-3 Grimsby Town (U18s)

Rotherham United (U18s) 2-3 Grimsby Town (U18s)

EFL Youth Alliance

Saturday 6th August 2022

A new season and three points in the bag already for Grimsby Town’s youth team who showed lots of character and determination as they twice came from behind to beat Rotherham United in the North-East Youth Alliance.

The Mariners finished as runners-up to Bradford City last year and although this performance wasn’t their best ever, they were still the better team and deserved to grind out the win. 

Rotherham (always notoriously difficult to play against) were big, strong and physical; working off set-plays, long-throws and any defensive mistakes to create openings. It’s probably a compliment to the quality that Grimsby had on the pitch that the Millers’ players and management wanted to time-waste as much as possible when they were winning (and, ridiculously, this even happened in the first 10 minutes) but they suddenly wanted to get on the game in the latter stages when they were behind. I wonder why…

Harvey Tomlinson’s penalty, Jamie Bramwell’s powerful header and Brooklyn Dennis' 70th minute close-range tap-in secured the three points.

Rotherham, wearing their usual red and white colours, got things underway and dictated much of the first 10-15 minutes. They pushed forward, had more possession and posed quite a few problems with looping long-throws by their No.2 which forced the visiting defence to concentrate, plus some quality balls into the box at corners.

Declyn Dennis got in the way of a low drive from the edge of the box in the game’s first chance on seven minutes, but the Mariners ‘keeper was soon beaten when a free-kick from the angle of the area nestled in the top corner.

It wasn’t 1-0 to Rotherham for very long though because despite time-wasting at a corner soon afterwards, the hosts got caught on the counter-attack and conceded a penalty after their ‘keeper fumbled a snap-shot by Tomlinson and subsequently cleaned out (I think) Brooklyn Dennis who was first to react to the loose ball. Tomlinson, eligible to play for the youth team this season as an over-age player, duly sent him the wrong way and it was 1-1.

Declyn Dennis pulled off another good save on 17 minutes - using his legs to thwart No.7 from the edge of the box, after Harry Milner was fouled in the centre circle but nothing was given and the Millers broke forward.

That chance aside, however, Grimsby looked a lot more settled after their equaliser, and went close to taking the lead before the half-hour mark when Jamie Bramwell was left unmarked at a corner (the first of five times it happened during the game) and his powerful on target connection forced the opposition ‘keeper into a good reaction save.

Two goals were then scored within the space of two minutes; one counted and one didn’t, and it ended with Rotherham in front again.

Will Hodgson grew into the game and popped some fine passes about and, having got into a good position outside the box on 33 minutes, he drilled a ball across the face of goal which was tapped in by Brooklyn Dennis. He was just about to start celebrating but the flag was up and the home defence breathed a huge sigh of relief.

A minute later, the Millers broke in numbers down at the other end of the pitch and scored legally. Their right-winger beat a sliding Henry Moore in a 50/50 close to the touchline and played the ball inside to No.7 who demonstrated some good footwork before finishing well.

With Rotherham leading once more, the time-wasting began again (shock horror) but the hosts were nearly masters of their own downfall close to half-time. Somehow, they contrived to concede a corner from their own throw-in and Tomlinson’s delivery picked out Bramwell again for another free downward header which was scrambled away.

Grimsby’s second half display was then much more assured as they showed ruthlessness and resilience in abundance to get the win.

The first chance after the re-start saw Shakeel Brown go close with a header at the back-post from a Hodgson cross in open play, but an equaliser arrived soon enough which exposed the flaws in Rotherham’s defence at set-plays. Tomlinson won and then floated a free-kick from the wide-left towards the near-post where Bramwell was lurking unmarked (yet again) and the big man’s glancing connection this time hit the back of the net and left Rotherham’s defenders debating amongst themselves. 

Level at 2-2 with half-and-hour to go, it only ever looked as if Grimsby would score the next goal and after a 10-15 minute period where they were on top, that’s what duly happened on 71 minutes.

Milner was the architect as he cut inside with a clever run to the byline with the ball touch-tight to his feet. Unable to shoot himself, he looked up and picked out Brooklyn Dennis who was waiting in the centre, just a few yards out, to apply the simplest of finishing touches and make it 3-2.

Rotherham now seemed to want to get on with things quite urgently, yet within seconds of falling behind they almost got back on level terms when a ball over the top landed in the ‘corridor of uncertainty’ and led to a foot-race between Dennis and Rotherham’s attacker. Surprisingly, there was no offside and the Millers man got to the ball ahead of the Grimsby ‘keeper but his toe-poked first-time effort from 25 yards went the wrong side of the post.

At the other end, Hodgson drew a save from the Rotherham ‘keeper after a lay-off by Milner who himself went close from a corner late on, but much of the last 15 minutes saw Grimsby defending doggedly to protect their lead and pick up three points.

However, barring one or two routine saves and claiming a set-piece cross under pressure from Rotherham’s 6ft4 substitute, Dennis wasn’t troubled all that much. That’s because the defence in front of him were superb and put their bodies on the line several times; Alex Markham made a real captain's contribution with four blocks during the last 10 minutes (including a 'double' block with seconds to go), Bramwell and Moore threw themselves into everything, whilst the full-backs; Harry Thorpe and Tom Zebroni also played their part in keeping Rotherham out. 

It was resilient, determined and solid defending - and a pleasure to witness!

The result was deserved and the best team won. Yes, the performance could have been better in parts (especially in the first half), but playing against Rotherham is always difficult due to their blueprint and tactics and it's unlike every other game in the Youth Alliance. So grinding out three points against them is a positive because there will be other teams who sink against them and get beat by a few goals.

A special mention has to go to the defence for their resilience during the latter stages. They worked well together and showed bags of character and desire. 

Individually, Alex Markham epitomised all the qualities you’d want in a captain and he'll be very happy with his four blocks (including the double one deep into injury-time) and a good performance. Jamie Bramwell was as solid as always and a threat at the other end (finding the space to torment Rotherham and he could have scored more than just once), whilst Henry Moore was ruthless and composed and showed a fearless edge a few times. In no way were they over-awed by their opponents' stature and physicality.

The two full-backs did reasonably well; both showing energy with left-back Tom Zebroni busting a gut to get back into good defensive recovery positions on a few occasions and stop Rotherham in their tracks - including one deep into injury-time. Harry Thorpe had a good game and looked comfortable against what he was up against. He contributed a lot, heading one away at the far post during the late onslaught, and I liked what I saw from him besides the throw-in towards the end of the first half (but we've all been there at some point).

Further up the pitch, Will Hodgson covered so much ground and popped some great passes about (including a piercing ball about a minute or two before the disallowed goal). I've always rated him since the game at Brigg last summer where he scored a worldie, and he was an instigator and a big threat at times in this game - linking up well with Harvey Tomlinson who was excellent in the first half; teasing and tormenting opponents with his footwork and showing lots of creativity/quality on the ball. He’ll be happy with a goal and an assist because it was well deserved.

After a quiet first half, Harry Milner did what I know he can do to good effect in the second half - being direct, aggressive and taking the game to Rotherham. He was positive in his ideas, impacted things and the only thing he didn’t do was score a goal but that will come.

Brooklyn Dennis was a menace (pun intended but it's true) and he got in lots of good positions; anticipating things well, showing clever movement and on another day, he’d have scored two goals (not forgetting the one in the first half) whilst Shakeel Brown put in a good shift and was direct and threatening before he was substituted late on.

Based on what I witnessed in this game, and with other creative players like Aaron Braithwaite and Edwin Essel also eligible to play in the Youth Alliance this season, I’ve got no doubts this is a team with high standards, talent and potential to do well again. The work-ethic and determination to grind out the three points couldn’t be faulted; there’s quality in lots of different areas and it’s a decent side.

There’s a lot more hard work to be done so, onto the next one, but well done on beating Rotherham!