TOWERING defender David Longe-King has signed a two-year contract with Grimsby Town after being released by Newport County AFC – helped by a glowing reference from Padraig Amond.

The Mariners state that they “fought off strong competition” to snap up the 26-year-old centre-back to help their bid to bounce back following relegation from League Two.

Longe-King arrived at Rodney Parade from St Albans City last summer on a one-season deal, keen to test himself in the Football League.

He suffered a serious pre-season groin injury before making his debut as a last-gasp replacement against Morecambe in December.

Longe-King profited from Swansea City recalling loan star Brandon Cooper and he made a mightily impressive first start against Brighton and Hove Albion in the FA Cup, when the Premier League side were held 0-0 but progressed on penalties.

However, he slipped down the pecking order after the January arrival of Priestley Farquharson and his last outing was against Bolton Wanderers when he was replaced at half-time in a tactical reshuffle.

Grimsby had already seen enough of the defender and assistant manager Chris Doig is pleased that he will be at the back at Blundell Park.

"David played against us last season for Newport, he's a commanding lad, he's a big, strong and physical presence", said Paul Hurst’s right-hand man.

"He did very well against us when we played them to be fair and even in the games leading up to that, we were watching him and were very impressed.

“I was actually watching him earlier on in the season when we were out of work actually, he was a name I took down.

South Wales Argus: MOVE: David Longe-King has signed for Grimsby after leaving Newport County AFCMOVE: David Longe-King has signed for Grimsby after leaving Newport County AFC

“He comes highly recommended from a number of people we have spoken to, Padraig Amond in particular was complimentary of him.

"Even though he's not played a vast amount of games, I think we can see a lot of potential there, someone we want to work with and somebody who is desperate to learn.

“His attitude really shone through when we spoke to him, he wants to do well, improve, he's ambitious and someone I am really looking forward to working with."

Amond scored 37 goals when firing Grimsby to the EFL in 2015/16 and not only encouraged the club to snap up Longe-King but sang the praises of the Mariners to the defender.

"I think the biggest thing for me is knowing that the gaffer worked with ‘Podge’ in the past,” he said.

“I spoke to Podge before signing here and he said ‘if you want to play, want to learn and take your game to the next level, Grimsby is the place to be’, so with Podge hardly ever being wrong I knew it was a no brainer.

“I respect Podge a lot and spoke to him a lot when I was at Newport, so when he said go up there, I said that's the place for me.”

Longe-King was a travelling reserve for County for the run-in, which ended in play-off final agony against Morecambe at Wembley.

South Wales Argus: MOVE: David Longe-King has signed for Grimsby after leaving Newport County AFCMOVE: David Longe-King has signed for Grimsby after leaving Newport County AFC

The former England C international was a victim of the defence producing the goods, as well as suffering some untimely niggles.

"I didn't play as many games as I would have liked, but the boys did well and just missed out on promotion,” said Longe-King.

"I don't feel that I improved as much as I would have liked last season because I got injured, but I spoke to Doigy and the gaffer here and with them both being defenders, I feel they can definitely help me improve my game.

“When you look at the stadium and that you can tell it's a club that shouldn't be in the National League. It should be in the Football League and that's our aim for next season.”