Young Terriers beaten at Canalside
- Young Terriers beaten 2-5 by Grimsby Town
- Second Central League Cup defeat for Young Terriers
- Conor Falls bagged brace
Conor Falls scored a brace as the Young Terriers put in a valiant effort against a far more experienced Grimsby Town side that came away with a 5-2 victory in the Central League Cup on Wednesday afternoon.
Due to the B Team’s fixture against Watford on Wednesday evening, a depleted Young Terriers side put in a hard-working display against a pressing Mariners side that contained several First Team players.
Grimsby’s strength saw them start the game on top, with them finding an early opener. Scott Burgess played the ball into the feet of Joel Grant who, with his back to goal, laid the ball into the feet of former Terrier Sean Scannell, who drilled the ball past a hapless Michael Roxburgh.
Max Wright enjoyed a lot of the ball on the left channel and was arguably Grimsby’s biggest threat in the first half. He had two early sights at goal that were dealt with by well-timed challenges from Charles Ondo and Tom Iorpenda.
Moments later, the visitors went close with two corner attempts. First, a delivery towards the front post was headed out to Burgess, whose floated cross was looped over the bar via a side-footed volley from Andy Smith, before Lenell John-Lewis glanced wide a minute later.
On 20 minutes, Grant managed to find himself one-on-one with Roxburgh after a smart through-ball from Wright. The 34-year-old executed a fine chip over the ‘keeper, but Ajay Weston raced back and superbly hooked the ball away from the target on the line.
The Young Terriers continued to play out from the back to try and counteract the wind’s impact, but they were met with a high press from Grimsby that saw Town struggle to get out of their own half for much of the first period.
The hosts, however, managed to equalise on the half-hour mark through Falls, who was threaded through on goal by Evander Grubb, as the forward stroked the ball past Ollie Battersby.
The away side went close with two chances from Grant and John-Lewis before they nudged back in front just a minute before the break.
Scannell released Alex Markham down the right on the overlap before the full-back swung a delightful ball towards the back post where Wright arrived late to stab the ball past the ‘keeper.
Grimsby then made it 3-1 just five minutes after the restart through Scannell, who brought down a looping cross towards the back post by Burgess before squeezing a shot between Roxburgh and his near post.
On the hour, Roxburgh made a terrific double save to keep the Young Terriers in the fixture. Wright jinked into the area from the left and tried to place the ball between the legs of Roxburgh, who got down to block. The ball fell into the path of John-Lewis, who held off Iorpenda before rolling the ball towards the edge where Scannell hit a powerful drive that was saved at the midriff of Roxburgh.
Grimsby put further daylight between the two sides when on 65 minutes, Harvey Tomlinson ran onto a ball down the left of the area before striking a shot into the roof of the net.
Grubb almost pulled a goal back with seven minutes remaining. The forward received a pass from Donay O’Brien-Brady on the half-turn, which allowed him to sharply cut across Jamie Brammer and whip a ball towards the far corner that was saved by Battersby.
The Young Terriers halved the deficit just moments later. Dylan Helliwell carried the ball into the area before colliding with Tomlinson. The ball popped out to Falls, who struck a rasping effort that was too powerful for the ‘keeper.
However, the Mariners confirmed their victory with a fifth as Tomlinson found Essel in the centre following a swift counterattack.
Under-19s Line-up (3-4-3)
Michael Roxburgh; Tom Iorpenda, Charles Ondo, Donay O’Brien-Brady; Jeremy Stewart (Dylan Helliwell, 58’), Sonny Whittingham, Evander Grubb, Ajay Weston (Michael Parker, 31’); Fope Deru (Tyree Sanusi, 76’), Conor Falls, Cian Philpott.
Unused Subs
Sam Taylor, Hakeem Sandah
Town Scorer
Conor Falls (29’, 85’)
