Luis Adlard’s extra-time goal saw Grimsby Town youth team progress to the second round of the FA Youth Cup as they beat Rugby Town 1-0 at Blundell Park.

Neil Woods’s side controlled large parts of the game, but couldn’t find the breakthrough as it ended 0-0 after 90 minutes.

But the young Mariners continued to push in extra time, and broke the deadlock after Adlard connected to Brandon McPherson’s pass to make it 1-0.

There was great support for Town, who were challenged by their opposition early on – there was a scrap for possession in a stop-start game, with neither time quite finding their groove.

There were moments in the game where Town looked likely to score first with Lennon Stead beating his man and flashing across goal, but no Town player could get there to tap it in.

Town took control of possession in the second half and created more chances as they looked to open the scoring.

Stead was on the end of McPherson’s free-kick, only to see it go over the bar, and Josh Smaller headed wide from a similar set piece.

 

The game ended with Town dominating and showing excellent fitness levels but it remained 0-0 as the match headed into extra time.

Town upped the tempo again as they continued to search for a goal to get ahead in the tie.

And it finally came after some neat play from McPherson found Adlard, who slotted home to make it 1-0 in the eighth minute of extra time.

Town saw out the game without conceding any further attempts on goal as they progressed to the second round of the competition.

The young Mariners will travel to Crewe Alexandra in the second round on Wednesday, November 13.

Town are next in action on Saturday as they host Walsall at Cheapside in the Youth Alliance Cup (12pm).