UPLIFTING! There is no other word for Saturday’s game. The 2-1 defeat of Grimsby left all who saw it overjoyed and optimistic.

Never have I heard so many post-match cheery voices as I headed for my car. An atmosphere of content and confidence prevailed. It had been a great afternoon.

Our players did us proud. Grimsby arrived at The New Lawn having conceded just 12 goals away from home, where they were unbeaten since September 2, but they more than met their match, finding Rovers a confident team, battling all the time and always pressing for a win.

There were fine individual performances all over the pitch, with goalkeeper Sam Russell winning my personal man-of-the- match award. Two of his saves were outstanding and speaking exclusively to your columnist minutes after the final whistle he thought the one low to his right at very close range “could have been the best of my career”.

Manager Ady said it was a squad performance praising the contribution made by all the substitutes and he was very right to do so.

The manager spoke proudly of the strength and attitude of the whole squad stating he now had quality cover in every position.

We saw this in the back four. David Pipe and Danny Coles slipping in seamlessly. The partnership of Coles and Clough was especially pleasing.

Clough has brought an incisive decisive quality to our defence. Yes he is sometimes a row Z merchant but he certainly attacks the ball, getting there first more often than not.

Now to our enigma James Norwood. I certainly agree with AP he is a wide, right sided player rather than a centre forward, but I disagree with the manager on how to use him. I would always start with James. I know coming on from the bench he can be a match-changer but his goal scoring record shows he is also a match winner. Every minute he is on the bench is a minute wasted. Some fans see Kurtis Guthrie as the man to give way for James. Not me, as Kurtis is very much an improving talent and I see him as the regular partner for Jon Parkin. In my preferred side, Stuart Fleetwood would be on the bench.

Whoever is selected however is good enough to do a fine job. Saturday was a triumph for the manager. The team playing to his style, his formation and including his individuals entertained us all and showed they are well worthy of a promotion place.

Some astonishing criticisms have been made of him on the forum. He has been accused of being a poor coach, a poor judge of players and in one post about Chris Stokes he is accused of giving players “little or no chance”. I must point out that Chris has started 16 games this season, including an unbroken run of 12 games. Does not that amount to every chance? Of course I join so many others in wishing Chris well at Coventry and as one who agrees with Ady on this subject I would be delighted to be proved wrong.

The James Norwood video was remarkably interesting. AP had spoken of James very warmly in his post-match press conference and the video proved this. James showed a mature awareness of his situation and that of the clubs. There was no spitting out of any dummies, and of course he gave us some vital information.

This column has twice advocated that the football management at FGR should look at promoted clubs and learn from them. James, mentioning Luton and Mansfield stated that was exactly what had happened, stating it meant we were now playing a little less football and by implication were being more direct.

We all have romantic memories of the Harvey era and even some from the Hockaday years. Pleasant yes, but where did we end up? The blunt answer is serial failures. Of course it is not all right yet but Saturday’s exhilarating game shows we are moving in the right direction.

To finish I end with plaudits to my media colleagues. SNJ Ash is now both cameraman and questioner for his helpful videos.

Pete Orchard does a fine job and Richard Joyce is both jack-of-all-trades and master of them as well, being Saturday’s cameraman while Bob Hunt is treading the boards next week, proving yet again he is the best pantomime dame between Cinderford and Cirencester. You can catch his performance this week in Berkeley.