Under-18s survive scare to win thriller at Grimsby

Our Under-18s needed extra time to finish the job after a stunning late comeback from Grimsby Town in the FA Youth Cup on Monday night.

Leading 3-1 after 89 minutes following a dominant performance at Blundell Park and seemingly in line to book a fifth-round trip to Watford, we switched off and allowed the Mariners back into the tie, Grayson Giles pulling a goal back before substitute Fortun Onoh turned in deep into stoppage time to make it 3-3, sparking delirium among the home players and fans.

With a raft of changes having already been made by both sides, we kept our composure and our quality once again shone through in the additional 30 minutes as Jun'ai Byfield's header was added to by a thumping finish from Ronny Moncur to finally put the game to bed.

It was a deserved victory overall, but one we were made to work extra hard for having been in such a commanding position earlier in the night.

Grimsby, who had scalped our Under-18 Premier League rivals West Ham United at home in the previous round, didn't really trouble goalkeeper Sam Archer at all until their opening goal midway through the second half as it was all us for the first hour. Reiss Elliott-Parris hit the post and Luca Williams-Barnett struck the crossbar on the follow-up with 18 minutes gone, while Williams-Barnett saw a number of other attempts saved by Seb Auton during the first period as the hosts somehow made it to half-time without conceding, but we kept up our at times relentless pressure after the restart and Williams-Barnett finally got off the mark in the 52nd minute, firing home from the left angle after a good pass from Elliott-Parris.

Henry Brown almost got through on the break for Grimsby but Elijah Upson's speed allowed him to get in front of the midfielder and shepherd the ball back to Archer, while Elliott-Parris saw a deft shot saved by Auton before the Mariners equalised against the run of play as substitute Carlo Midwinter, who had only been on the pitch for mere seconds, converted Giles' square ball at the near post in the 66th minute.

We soon regained the upper hand as Williams-Barnett coaxed another save out of Auton before Elliott-Parris won a challenge on the left flank which allowed Tynan Thompson to roam in from that touchline and crack a superb shot low inside the near post from 25 yards for 2-1 in the 72nd minute. And 11 minutes later it was seemingly game over with Williams-Barnett involved again at the edge of the box, with the ball breaking kindly for substitute Ellis Lehane to hammer low into the net from the edge of the area with impressively little back-lift and give us a two-goal cushion.

Grimsby had other ideas, though, and after a free-kick from wide on the left was knocked down across the box a minute from the end of normal time, nobody picked up Giles and he slid home for 3-2. Miracle Adewole was clearing as much as he could as Grimsby threw everything forward in stoppage time and with the last action of the regulation game, in the 96th minute, Alex Graham's cross from the left saw big blocks made by Upson and Archer, only for Onoh to turn home from close range as the Mariners dramatically levelled the scores and took us into extra time.

For all the home side's heroics, though, you always felt we had enough to continue controlling the play and ultimately that proved to be the case. Two minutes before half-time in the additional period, Byfield superbly headed home Dexter Oliver's cross to give us the lead once again and although Archer was needed to deny Manadu Jalloh moments later, we bagged the killer fifth goal in the 109th minute, Ollie Salter's cross from the right brought under control by Lehane in the box, who sublimely laid off for Moncur to blast home from 18 yards out. We had to see out the closing stages with 10 men after Byfield was forced off and all of our permitted substitutions had been made, but we did so with greater purpose this time to make sure of our place in round five.

Match data

Goals: Grimsby - Midwinter 66, Giles 89, Onoh 90+6; Spurs - Williams-Barnett 52, Thompson 72, Lehane 83, Byfield 103, Moncur 109.

Yellow cards: Grimsby - Axcell 90+2; Spurs - Archer 68, Lehane 88, Moncur 108, Thompson 117.

Referee: Gareth Thomas.

Venue: Blundell Park.

Weather: Gentle breeze, four degrees.