By Match report: Town Women suffer heartbreaking cup defeat in extra time
Grimsby Town Women suffered a last-minute extra-time defeat to Stamford AFC in their County Cup quarter-final clash on Sunday afternoon.
Assistant Manager Paul Shaw took the reins in Hayley Cox’s, making two changes from the team that started the previous game.
Mia Atherley made her debut after a mid-season transfer from Lincoln United and Olivia Kershaw returned to the starting lineup.
The hosts started on the front foot, confident from their 13-0 victory in the previous round, as they pinned the Mariners back.
Their deserved opening goal came in the 25th minute when a loose ball was knocked in at close range.
But Town responded well to that setback and Ellie Wilson saw her header drift agonisingly wide of the post.
That miss proved costly as Stamford headed up the other end of the pitch to double their lead just before the break after taking advantage of a defensive error to finish into an open goal from 20 yards.
The Mariners returned after half-time with much more intent, pinning the hosts back in their own half as they looked for a route back into the tie.
A floated cross from Alisha DeJonge saw Wilson head towards goal, but after her effort was well stopped, Kim Brown evaded a Stamford defender on the edge of the area and fired the ball into the net to halve the deficit.
Town pressure continued throughout the half and, with 10 minutes left on the clock, Beth Wharton equalised following an excellent move that involved Leah Wray, Eden Pedersen and DeJonge, who slid the ball into the attacker to supply a neat finish.
The momentum was then with the Mariners, but a defensive lapse in concentration led to Stamford going back in front against the run of play with just a few minutes remaining.
That left Town in need of another late goal to send the game into extra time and up stepped Pederson, whose long-range effort lobbed the keeper.
The visitors continued to dominate proceedings but were unable to find the goal to secure the victory in extra time, with Brown seeing an effort cleared off the line and both DeJonge and Wilson hitting the woodwork.
With the game looking to be heading for a penalty shootout, Mariners hearts were broken when Stamford snatched a winner in the final minute after a counter-attack saw the hosts’ striker tap the ball home into an empty net.
Following back-to-back cup defeats for Town, attention now turns to their league campaign, where they will host St Joseph’s Rockware of Worksop at Oasis Winteringham Academy on Sunday afternoon.
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