James McKeown’s relief at Grimsby Town win

GRIMSBY goalkeeper James McKeown says that winning through to the Vanarama Conference Promotion final at the third attempt has helped him get over his mistake in last season’s semi-final.

Twelve months ago, McKeown allowed a shot from Gateshead’s James Marwood slip through his hands in the second leg at the International Stadium as the Heed beat Town 4-2 on aggregate

But having kept a clean sheet in last Sunday’s 3-0 win over Eastleigh to ensure the Mariners finally made it to Wembley, 5-1 victors over the two legs, the 25-year-old stopper told The NLP of his relief.

The ex-Peterborough man said: “After last year, a lot of people would have been watching on Sunday thinking ‘How’s he going to do?’ And rightly so, because if you make a mistake in a big game, instantly, regardless of whether it’s true or not, people will think ‘He can’t handle pressure’.

“You could have played in 20 big games and not made a mistake, but it’s something you have to live with.

“So getting through with a clean sheet on Sunday was brilliant. I couldn’t do much about their goal in the first leg last Thursday. I didn’t play great by any means, but I did OK and it was such a relief. The monkey off my back a little bit to hopefully prove people wrong.”

 

*A full interview with James McKeown will appear in this Sunday’s NLP as part of the build-up to next Sunday’s Vanarama Conference Promotion final against Bristol Rovers