Player Ratings: PLAY-OFF FINAL: + Man of the Match Poll

So far:

Taxi driver-8-Five minutes early and only a tenner on a Sunday morning. Happy Days.

FGW-7-Queueing system left a bit to be desired but they laid on an extra train so they went up a bit in the ratings.

Buffet cart on train-7-Quick service but had run out of Tribute which was a major blow.
Ref-8.5-Very good game for me . Let the game flow.
Rovers-6-We weren't very good but we won so who cares. Can't be bothered to do individual scores as it was all about the team today.

Fans-4-133 did our best but no one joined in.

Clarke-10-Was a 10 just for the result but his second video really should earn him an 11.

10 for all not a great game but who cares
Mom for me was Tom Lockyer awesome game, he got done on one occasion in 2nd half of extra time but other than that he was faultless

Watched on telly so points wouldn't count
Rovers 9
Grimsby 10
DC 15

and who cares Result 15,000,000

Puddy 6, very shakey first half and his kicking was very poor but he took a few decent crosses as the game progressed.
Brown 5, thought the occasion got to him, as poor as I have ever seen him.
McCrystal 8, excellent all game, solid and dependable.
Parks 7.5, a shakey first half but grew into the game and had a better second half & extra time.
Lockyear 8.5, one of his best games of the season, rose to the occasion.
Monkhouse 6, poor by recent standards, worked hard but didnt contribute.
Mansell 7.5, worked tiredlessly, felt he played a little deep but still played well plus a great penalty.
Lines 8.5, shows that extra bit of class from playing at a higher level.
Gosling 5.5, anonomous.
Harrison 7, worked hard and took his goal well.
Taylor 6.5, not a good day at the office for Matty, I suspdct his eye was a distraction plus rated the Grimsby centre half.
Balanta 6, flatters to deceive, would have been a 5 were it not for his penalty.
Blissett 5, poor today, think he will struggle in L2.

Clarke 9.5. His team didn't perform for him today but he deserves the victory after a fantastic campaign, bar the first 3/4 games.
Grimsby 7.5, edged a tight encounter
Referee 7, steady although made a few mistakes both ways

Puddy - 6 - Couldn't of done anything about the goal, was just unlucky. A bit shaky but he grew into the and and dealt with crosses well.

Brown - 6 - Again, started slowly and shaky but when he got forward he brought a sense of danger with him even if it never came to anything
McCrystal - 8 - My MOM, solid in defence as usual. Cut out their diagonal balls and never gave their strikers time.
Parkes - 7.5 - A very strong performance. Important off the line block. As good as a goal for any defender.
Lockyer - 7.5 - A good all round performance. Didn't put a foot wrong.

Gosling - 6.5 - Played well but didn't put in a big threat
Mansell - 7 - Won with a perfect penalty so got to give him credit!
Lines - 7 - Didn't have a massive influence on the game to the credit of Grimsby but was a cool, composed character on the pitch that you need in a game like this.
Monkhouse - 6.5 - Didn't see much of him in the game but didn't seem to lose the ball cheaply either.

Taylor - 7.5 - Might seem like a strangely high score but felt he caused problems for their defence for 120 minutes, winning the headers and a great first touch as usual. Antagonised their defence too, in a Diego Costa-esque way.
Harrison - 7.5 - Got the all important ground breaking goal.

Subs:
Balanta - 6.5 - Could've had more of an impact but was getting forward well
Blissett - 5 - Never really did anything. Looked like he'd been on he pitch longer than anyone else.
Mildenhall - N/A - Can't really give a real rating but maybe, just maybe, his size and presence forces penalty takers to go for power over placement.

DC - 8 - Seemed like we were told not to press them much and that caused their first goal. But kept spirits high, made that keeper switch and won it in the end. Full of ambition, passion and confidence. Can go a long way as a manager. Hopefully with this club.
Ref - 8 - See my other thread "laws of the game" I think he got most of the decisions right.
Grimsby - 8 - Just wasn't their day. Didn't allow Lines to control the game as he usually does. Looked threatening going forward. Hopefully we'll see them in 2016. Only criticism was I thought they'd bring more fans.

Puddy 6 appeared to have sent an imposter out in his place for the first 20 mins. All over the place until a good claim from a corner settled him down. After that he looked confident with his handling and dodgy with his kicking but started throwing it out more in second half

Lockyer 8 not fazed by the big day and kept his man shackled. Long throws proved more of a threat especially when Bliss replaced Ellis. Our best defender on the day.
Brown 6 not a great day for Browner, hardly got forward until second half and very nervy defensively. However, never ever stopped running and scored a beaut of a pen.
Parkes 7 not helped by Pudd's nightmare start TP began nervously but he gradually got the measure of Palmer and John-Lewis and mopped up well including some excellent blocks and line clearances.
McChrystal 7 similar to Parkesy, started poorly and got better looked less likely to get beaten the longer the game went on

Gosling 5 never really got into the game and proved indecisive in situations in this game that he was taking in his stride earlier this month
Lines 8 tried not to resort to the hoofball around him and ran himself into the ground doing it.
Mansell 7 did the ugly jobs well but did the pretty jobs badly including a chance to win it in the 88th minute
Monkhouse 7 sometimes brilliant sometimes weak and disappointing.

Taylor 6 too easily knocked off the ball, another player indecisive when opportunities presented themselves.
Harrison 8 always looked like we had a goal in us whilst he threatened their backline

Balanta 6 improved the right side, took a great pen
Blissett 6 gave them something different to worry about
Mildenhall was not on long enough to be rated

DC 10 picked the best available and completed the final project of the season successfully
Crowd 8 heard a similar number produce more atmosphere on a previous occasion but not a bad effort!
Grimsby 9 better on the day than us.
Ref 2 as rubbish as all the others in the Vanarama Drama league assisted by a pair of Johnsons who lived up to their names.

Puddy 4 always has a mistake in him, but wow....
Lockyer 7.5 MOTM as good a game as he has had for us. MOTM over Macca because I felt he raised his game whereas Macca was his normal solid self.
Macca 7.5 excellent performance. Top pro.
Parkes 7 had another good game
Brown 6 pushed back by Grimsby so we didn't see his marauding best
Gosling 4 sigh
Manse 6 (+4 for the pen) I love Mansell but not his best game
Lines 6.5 controlled the game at times but lacked options
Monkey 6 below his usual high standards
Taylor 5 marked out of the game well
Harrison 6 great goal but can't remember much else

Balanta 5
Blissett 5

DC 10

Penalties 10/10 well done to mildly and all the penalty takers.


Grim 7
Ref 6

Puddy - 7 - Looked very nervy early on with poor kicking and probably should have got a red card but was very good after that. Especially on crosses.
Lockyer - 8 - Dealt with most things that came his way very well. His passing was better and his long throws were a good option.
McChrystal - 8 - Very good performance at the back.
Parkes - 7 - Same as Puddy really. Started off very nervously but grew into the game.
Brown - 5 - Looked quite nervy and his partnership with Monkhouse onthe left never really got going in an attacking sense.
Gosling - 4 - Very quiet game and I can't remember him influcing much. He put a couple of nice corners in though which led to our goal.
Mansell - 7 - Battled everywhere.
Lines - 8 - MOTM for me. Always looking to pick the ball up from the back and dictated the play well. Made some good driving runs that put the Grimsby defence on the back foot.
Monkhouse - 6 - Solid if unspectacular.
Taylor - 5 - Struggled against a good Grimsby defence.
Harrison - 7 - Took his goal very well and gave their defenders a few problems at times. Sometimes lacked that final bit of quality though.

Balanta - 5 - Was really expecting this guy to do big things for us this season but another ineffective performance.
Blissett - 5 - Seems to struggle holding the ball up for such a big guy but gave their defenders something to think about.

DC - 7 - The team picked itself really. Only question was which of the subs and when.
Ref - 5 - Didn't seem to want to make the big calls (for both sides).
Grimsby - 7 - Worked hard, looked solid but at times lacked that final bit of quality.

Would like to say that I am absolutely delighted with every single player over the course of the season, and yesterday for achieving what we needed to achieve. However, some of the ratings on this thread seem extremely generous to me as I thought we were terrible for huge parts of the game (which I was there for in case this is needed by unigas) - putting the occasion aside I will rate as normal.

Puddy 4 - grew into the game to an extent but looked like an absolute liability at times, first twenty minutes in particular. Don't wish to sound too harsh after yesterday but he must not be our first choice next season.

Lockyer 7 - adhered to form really - very good in the tackle but passing was not good at all, and he does struggle against pace. Ultimately kept his head when others were losing theirs so merits a 7.
McChrystal 8 MOM - always looks susceptible to pace but another one who kept his head and sorted us out after a terrifying opening twenty. Made some key tackles and interceptions.
Parkes 6 - froze up a bit and not up to usual standard. Was not very confident in the air throughout. Believe he made that crucial goal line clearance at the Grimsby end however.
Brown 5 - far from his best game, never a threat and nervous in possession.

Gosling 4 - classic non-league winger IMO unfortunately. Flashes of inspiration and a couple of excellent runs but anonymous for huge chunks of the game.
Mansell 5.5 - penalty aside it was not his finest hour. Often wasteful in possession but industrious as ever and I'm sure his experience was crucial to us settling into the game.
Lines 7 - almost all of the quality in the game (from either side) came from him, but ball retention was not quite up to the standard of the last few weeks, and remains frustrating defensively at times.
Monkhouse 4.5 - not been a huge fan of his all season and yesterday didn't change that. Useful aerially and he did keep a cool head. Not sure why Balanta took what should have been his penalty IMO, but obviously glad he did in the end.

Harrison 6.5 - very mixed game. Got the goal and some good runs but (bizarrely) seemed to lose interest after half-time and didn't look entirely fit. We did miss him when he went off.
Taylor 7 - our best attacking threat, unlucky with refereeing decisions and should have had a penalty. Not always a fan of his positioning.

Balanta 2 - contributed nothing except the penalty (haven't taken account of pens in my marking). Sincerely hope he is not with us next season.
Blissett 5 - grew into the game and did cause them problems towards the end. Happy to trust DC with regards to keeping him.

Grimsby 7 - strong defensively (22 was my MOM) and up front, but their midfield was of a much lower standard for some reason.
DC 8 - couldn't really legislate for the nerves at the start of the game. Understood the thinking behind all three substitutions. The bloke will forever be a gas legend.
Referee 4 - we owe him for not sending Puddy off, but it was the wrong decision, as were almost all his decisions in the first half. Quiet game after that as both sides settled down.