Firstly, GTST would like to congratulate the Grimsby Town Youth Team on their magnificent and history making 2-1 victory in the Puma Youth Alliance League Cup at QPR last week. The Trust is proud to have done its bit, by providing the sponsorship, which enabled the team to stay overnight prior to the final.

GTST member Andy Stephenson has provided us with the following report on the game.

The game was played in lovely warm evening sunshine, with the crowd housed in the 'Platinum' seats of the main stand. God knows what the worst seats are like because these had about as much space and comfort as the Oak Road seats at Luton.

Town looked nervous early on, especially after conceding but they soon clawed their way back and for the next hour dominated the game with a committed, pacey and skilful display. The superb strike by Thompson just before half time was no more than Town deserved, as they had been carving through the QPR defence with some neat, quick  passing (of the Buckley/Arsenal type but with some end product) and no little skill.

If anything, Town increased their domination in the second half, with Josh Fuller outstanding, his pace and trickery causing the QPR defence problems all night, and it was he who made the winning goal, which was excellently taken by Freeman.

QPR were reduced to ten men after a professional foul on Dixon when he was one on one with the keeper, but this only spurred Rangers on for a do or die effort in last 15 minutes as Town visibly tired. Happily they held on and it was the ecstatic young Mariners who lifted the cup after a very well deserved victory, in front of John Fenty, Mike Newell and about a hundred Town fans and proud parents.

I was very impressed by the team’s all round play. They were committed, skilful, and physically able to compete against their opponents, whilst still retaining the Grimsby tradition of neat crisp passing. With four of them still first years, and with some good youngsters coming up, it looks like we might have an equally strong team next season and I would urge fans to get down to Cheapside. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by how good they are.

It is the Trust’s intention to continue to support the Grimsby Town youth system in any way we can and you can help us to do that by joining GTST, supporting our future events or, if you have more than a few quid to spare next season, by sponsoring one of the youth team players. A successful youth system is vital to a club like Grimsby Town so please join us in helping it to flourish.

Already doing their bit to help both the Grimsby and Lincoln Supporters Trusts are the clubs’ respective fans teams, who will be having a rematch on Wednesday 6^th May at Sincil Bank (kick off 7.30pm).

Grimsby Fans Manager Chris Parker commented:

“The biggest success of the first leg was the camaraderie on the pitch but the Grimsby Town fans team are keen to turn around the slight first leg deficit when we visit Sincil Bank on 6th May.

 I felt the Grimsby team put in a tremendous performance in the first leg and were unlucky to lose on the day 2-3. With a team made up entirely of the first 16 people who put their names forward and who were registered on the Fishy web site at the 1st January 2009 we know we could have recruited stronger players, but being true to the spirit of the game has given us an inner strength.
 
We will be going all out for victory but all the players are proud to have raised money for the registered charities and also to wear the shirt of their beloved club."

Tickets are currently on sale, but fans can pay on the gate on the night. Prices are £2 for adults (15 and over) and £1for concessions. There will be a bar and a selection of food available.

Gates open at 6.45pm and all the money raised will be split between the Grimsby and Lincoln Trusts and the Grimsby and Lincoln hospitals’ children’s wards, so please make an effort to go along and support these excellent ambassadors for their clubs.

In closing, we would like to thank all those who have supported the Trust this season and, in some cases, for many seasons. We don’t always get it right, you may not always agree with us, but we will always endeavour to act in the best interests of both our members and the club that we all love.

And don’t forget, if you think you can do better than the existing board or you think we’re doing ok and you want to help out, then please get in touch with us by emailing us at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it , or leaving a message on our answer phone  0870 4711 827or by writing to us at 26 Humberstone Road, Grimsby, DN32 8BP. The more people we have on (the) board, the more we can achieve.

Pictured reproduced with the kind permission of Grimsby Town Football Club