By Match report: Lloyd’s injury-time winner hands Town victory at Doncaster
Grimsby Town scored in injury time to secure a dramatic late victory at Doncaster Rovers in League Two this afternoon.
Niall Maher cancelled out Aidan Barlow’s first-half effort before George Lloyd grabbed the all-important goal six minutes into added time to secure the three points for the Mariners.
Paul Hurst made six changes from the side that were beaten at home by Hartlepool United on Good Friday, with Josh Emmanuel, Anthony Glennon, Bryn Morris, Harry Clifton, John McAtee and Ryan Taylor all coming into the starting lineup.
The game got off to a quiet start in front of a bumper crowd at the Eco-Power Stadium, as almost 3,000 Town fans packed into the away end.
Kieran Agard had the first chance of the afternoon for the hosts after he turned and hit a low shot towards goal from 30 yards out that Max Crocombe got down well to collect.
Clifton then had an opportunity for the Mariners on 11 minutes, but his effort went high and wide of the target.
With the game lacking any real quality in the opening stages, that quickly changed when Rovers took the lead on 26 minutes through Barlow, whose curling shot from outside the area made its way into the top corner.
They almost grabbed a second eight minutes before the break, with Ben Close making space for himself on the edge of the area and unleashing a shot that came back off the bar.
On the stroke of half-time, Crocombe came a long way out of his area to challenge for the ball and Zain Westbrook sent a low shot just wide of the far post from a narrow angle.
There was a long stoppage early on in the second half after Ben Nelson was caught by Clifton in the air and the defender had to be carried off the field on a stretcher.
Morris had Town’s first chance of the second half when Crocombe’s long ball downfield was headed into the midfielder’s path and he sent a long-range shot straight at Jonathan Mitchell in the Doncaster goal.
With the game closely fought throughout much of the half, the Mariners were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the area with 11 minutes left to play after Clifton was brought down by Mitchell. From the resulting set-piece, Glennon’s effort went narrowly over the bar after the keeper appeared to get a touch on it, but a goal-kick was given.
The hosts then had a chance to double their lead through James Brown, who fired over after cutting inside from the right-hand side.
Town found an equaliser with five minutes left to play through Maher. Glennon’s ball in led to a scramble inside the box and, after substitute Danilo Orsi headed the ball down, the defender prodded it into the net to level things up.
With both sides looking to find a winner, the hosts went close to going back ahead when Brown found Barlow and he couldn’t find the target with his first-time effort.
Substitute Lloyd was the next to go close to stealing all three points when his header was well saved by Mitchell at the beginning of the nine minutes of added-on time.
The forward wasn’t to be denied for too much longer, though, as Clifton’s shot was parried to Lloyd and he tapped the ball into the roof of the net six minutes into injury time, sparking wild scenes in the away end.
The Mariners held on well in the last few minutes to secure a superb late turnaround and ensure they were heading back to North East Lincolnshire with all three points.
