Grimsby Town Foundation’s boys scholarship team, in partnership with Franklin College, progressed to the semi-finals of the EFL CEFA National U19 cup for the second year running last week.
The Shadow Scholarship team were given a home tie for their quarter-final tie against Fleetwood, with the sides having met in the last 16 in the previous season.
It was the visitors who got off to a better start with a series of corners coming thick and fast at the Town defence and Flynn had to tip over an effort at the far post inside the first five minutes. Grimsby weathered the early pressure and eventually had their first effort on goal, when Kit-Bushell laid off Davey, but his effort was dragged wide. The game was being played at a very high tempo and neither side had much time to settle on the ball.
On the 20-minute mark, Davey had an effort blocked on the edge of the box. The ball bounced kindly for Allerton, who caught the ball sweetly on the half volley and it rocketed into the top corner.
The goal settled Town’s nerves and they were able to mount some pressure and should have doubled their lead ten minutes later. A set piece found Baldwin at the far post and he headed the ball back across goal, but Mawer and Walker got in each other’s way and failed to make contact with the goal at their mercy.
Grimsby, who had looked threatening from set pieces all half, earned themselves another free-kick five minutes before half-time about 40 yards out. Evison floated the ball up to the far post, where Baines cushioned his header across the face of goal. This time Mawer made no mistake with the finish to send Grimsby 2-0 up at the break.
The second-half started similarly to the firs,t with Fleetwood in the ascendancy, however Grimsby defended resolutely. The home side looked like they had weathered the storm, as Baines had a big sight of goal from a corner, but he fired his effort over.
The visitors weren’t going to go down without a fight and on the hour mark they were handed a lifeline when a penalty was given for handball. The Fleetwood striker fired straight down the middle to reduce the lead to 2-1.
The game continued to be played at a high tempo for the next 20 minutes or so and was essentially a midfield battle, with Grimsby intent on defending their lead and hitting Fleetwood on the counter-attack. There were very few good chances for either side as the clock ticked towards 90 minutes.
However on 85 minutes an unfortunate injury to Evison meant the game halted for 20 minutes whilst he received medical attention. A Fleetwood players was shown a red card for the incident and one the game restarted they played the remainder of the game a man light.
Grimsby were able to see out the final 7-8 minutes without any major scares and booked their place in the semi-final against Derby later this week at Franklin College.
The final of the prestigious competition, which features every EFL Trust Shadow side in the country, is fittingly being played at Championship side Stoke City’s Bet365 stadium in May.
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