By Match report: Late Khan winner secures FA Cup victory for Town at Cambridge
An injury-time Otis Khan strike earned Grimsby Town a dramatic FA Cup victory at Cambridge United this afternoon.
A double for Khan either side of Sam Smith’s strike for the hosts proved to be enough to send the Mariners into the third round of the competition.
With Town looking to get back to winning ways, Paul Hurst decided to make five changes to the team that narrowly lost to Accrington Stanley in the Papa Johns Trophy in midweek.
Luke Waterfall returned to captain the side, with Harry Clifton, Kieran Green, Brendan Kiernan and John McAtee also getting the nod from the off in Cambridgeshire.
Both sides knew a victory would earn them a place in the third-round draw, where they could potentially be rewarded with a tie against one of the big clubs.
The game got off to a relatively slow start, with Cambridge enjoying the majority of the possession in the opening stages, but neither side were able to create any opportunities.
The Mariners’ first chance fell to Kiernan, who slipped as he went to fire the ball towards goal and it sailed over the bar with 15 minutes on the clock.
The visitors managed to get a bit more of a foot on the ball across the next 15 minutes, but there continued to be very little goalmouth action to really threaten either keeper.
The U’s were inches away from taking the lead when Maher diverted a corner into the box onto his own bar, before Town then managed to scramble the ball away just over a third of the way into the contest.
That appeared to spark the Mariners into action, as Kiernan went close a couple of minutes later, but his effort went narrowly over following some good build-up play.
Clifton was then superbly denied by Will Mannion in the Cambridge goal after the Town midfielder evaded a last-ditch challenge to get a shot away nine minutes before the break.
Town continued to push forward and peg the hosts back as McAtee had their next opportunity, but his half-volley was comfortably saved by Mannion.
The sides went in level at the break and the away side will have been the most pleased with their first-half performance, particularly towards the end of the half.
The U’s started the second half with a little more purpose and almost grabbed the opener, with Harvey Knibbs firing just wide of the target following good work by James Brophy to beat two players.
The Mariners had a chance of their own just a couple of minutes later, as McAtee’s deflected effort was well tipped over by Mannion to keep the scoreline level.
It wouldn’t stay that way for much longer, though, as Khan handed Town a much-deserved lead on 61 minutes with a lovely finish on the rebound after the keeper had made an initial save.
With just over a quarter of an hour left to play, McAtee’s first-time effort forced Mannion into yet another superb save as the visitors looked to double their lead.
Cambridge then grabbed an undeserved equaliser on 81 minutes when substitute Sam Smith rose highest to meet Paul Digby’s cross into the box with their first shot on target.
Town responded fairly well to that setback, with some good build-up play resulting in Kiernan striking the ball over the bar.
They continued to push forward in pursuit of a winner and were once again rewarded for their efforts when Khan went through on goal and beat the keeper for his second of the game in injury time.
Hurst’s side held on well in the last few minutes to seal a thoroughly deserved victory that sends them into the FA Cup third round.
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