WEMBLEY Stadium, Wednesday, March 6.
Grimsby Town bosses Paul Hurst and Rob Scott, captain Craig Disley and goalkeeper James McKeown are already into the swing of the FA-organised media day when Trophy final opponents Wrexham turn up.
I start my interview with 6ft 1in hulk of a goalkeeper McKeown by asking for his thoughts on the surroundings.
“It’s slightly better than Blundell Park – less windy anyway!” laughs the 23-year-old, before his old Walsall and Peterborough team-mate Dean Keates – the Red Dragons’ 5ft 6ins captain – comes out of the tunnel and jumps on him.
“All right Deano?” asks McKeown with his West Midlands twang.
“He wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for me,” says 34-year-old midfielder Keates. “He was fourth choice at Walsall, heading nowhere quite fast. I went to Peterborough and Barry Fry pulled me and said, ‘We need a third-choice goalkeeper, there’s a young kid at Walsall isn’t there?’ Me and Westy (Wrexham centre-half Chris Westwood) went, ‘Well, yeah, the only problem is he doesn’t drive, and we need a driver to bring us down’.
JM: “They needed someone to bully. I was 17-18 and him and Westy just bullied me for a year. They once had me in the footwell of the car hitting me with socks for an hour-and-a-half. They threw my watch out of the window on the M6 – I’ve still not had it replaced.”
DK: “He’s like the little brother I never had – nor wanted!”
Consistent
Rivals they may be in Non-League‘s showpiece cup final in two weeks’ time and, more importantly to both, in the race for the Blue Square Bet Premier title.
But there is some real camaraderie among opponents on the Non-League circuit, and despite the boyish banter, this pair’s feeling for each other warms Wembley.
Keates knows his old travelling partner has grown up since joining Grimsby in 2011. He was ever-present last season, and this term he is the man behind the second-best defensive record in the top six levels of English football. The Mariners have let in just 24 goals in 33 league games at an average of 0.73 per game, bettered only by League One Swindon’s 25 in 35 (0.71).
“Our centre-half Shaun Pearson keeps me up to date with all the stats,” smiles McKeown, who has missed just one of those games, through injury, and has played in six of the seven games on the road to Wembley, Joe Healy’s penalty for Welling the only goal leaked.
“He checks Kidderminster straight away because they are closest to us in terms of goals conceded in our division, then he checks League Two, League One… he checks everything! “It’s been a good season in terms of goals conceded, but that’s not just me, it’s the whole team. We’ve been a lot more consistent this season.”
McKeown’s own consistent run started in the summer of 2010 when the Grimsby joint-bosses took him to their previous club Boston on loan from Posh. He kept 14 clean sheets in 18 games – including ten in a row – before returning to London Road in January 2011.
Battle
“I’ve definitely matured,” he says, with Keates looking directly up at him, smirking.
“Goalie coach Steve Croudson has helped a lot. I’d never really played before I came here. The gaffers took me on loan to Boston and that went quite well, but other than that I never really played at Peterborough.”
Keates interrupts: “You went to Kettering as well didn’t you? They sent you back.”
JM: “I had one bad game!”
DK: “They sent you back. You didn’t get much stick for that, did you?
JM: “I’m still getting it now!”
I suggest that McKeown can get his own back by giving Keates a dig if he stands in front of him at corners the midfielder is not taking himself.
“And the ones he takes he’ll keep putting on me for 90 minutes,” replies the keeper.
“Because I know he flaps!” adds Keates.
I know I’ve not seen much flapping from the big keeper when I’ve watched Grimsby this term. In his 39 appearances before yesterday’s clash with Kidderminster, he’d conceded just 29, including four in one FA Cup defeat to Kiddy.
I picked him in my team of the first half-of-the-season he remains right up there from what I’ve seen in 2013.
“It’d be nice to finish it off by winning the Trophy here and then obviously the main thing – promotion,” adds McKeown.
After another pitchside photo of all four rival players, Keates finishes off by punching the heavyweight keeper as hard as he can in his chest.
Big Mac doesn’t move, apart from to say: “Shall I get you some ice for your wrist, Deano?”
As the battle for silverware hots up, the ever-maturing McKeown remains as cool as Cleethorpes on a midweek Conference night!
