City welcome local rivals Grimsby Town to the Sun-Hat Villas & Resorts Stadium as they search for a win in the final of their three U17 PDL Cup group games.
Read the pre-match thoughts of Isaac Rice as well as all the key information on both sides’ start to the 2026/27 campaign.
Key Information
Grimsby Town have played seven games in their current Youth Alliance North campaign, racking up 12 points through four wins and three losses, most recently they travelled to Chesterfield and emerged as 2-1 victors. Prior to that, they hosted Crewe Alexandra and managed to send them back empty handed with a 2-0 for the Mariners.
City have had an electric start to their campaign, topping the Youth Alliance North East Division with 17 points from their opening eight games. The young Imps have suffered defeat just once so far, winning five and drawing a further two including most recently when making the long journey to face Blackpool with goals from Mason Jubb and Leo Fifield earning Sam Tillen and Isaac Rice’s men a 2-2 draw. Their most notable result so far was when making the trip to Lancashire to face Rochdale and slotting nine past their rivals in a 9-0 win.
Tomorrow is the final of the three U17 PDL Cup group games that City are required to play with games against both Mansfield Town and Hull City already happened. It started out at the Sun-Hats Villas and Resorts Stadium when the young Imps played host to Mansfield and came out on top earning them three points to kick off the competition before making the trip to Cat 2 academy, Hull City, and gave a great account of themselves, going down valiantly in a narrow 4-3 defeat.
With the Mariners being a fellow Cat 3 side, the two sides meet frequently including twice last season which provided two varying results. Firstly, it was an away journey for City with the game being played at Brigg Town, it was the home side who got the better of things that day, beating the young Imps by three goals to one. The reverse fixture fell on the final day of the season and was a much different story with City emerging as victors by the same scoreline with two goals from Leo Fifield as a trialist as well as one from Josh Kennealey.
Isaac Rice’s Thoughts
Rice said: “Grimsby are a side we know well, and they’ve shown in their recent results that they’re more than capable of causing teams problems. They’ve picked up two good wins against Crewe and Chesterfield, so we know we’ll have to be switched on from the first whistle, match their intensity and make sure we’re at our best in and out of possession. We’ve had some good battles with them previously, and with both sides looking to finish the group strongly, we know it’ll be a competitive game.
“From our point of view, it’s another great opportunity for the lads to test themselves, and playing under the lights at the Sun-Hat Villas & Resorts Stadium makes it an occasion to really look forward to.”