Grimsby Town Women came from two goals down to level the game and progressed to the second round of the League Cup with a dramatic 5–4 victory on penalties against Long Eaton United, thanks to penalty heroics from Jas Lacey.

FIRST HALF

The Mariners started brightly, with the first real chance falling to debutant Betsy Thomas in the 7th minute. Cutting in off the left, Thomas unleashed a curling strike that forced a strong fingertip save from the Long Eaton goalkeeper.

Town dominated the opening exchanges, enjoying the lion’s share of possession, but without carving out many clear-cut opportunities.

At the other end, goalkeeper Jas Lacey was called into action for the first time on 14 minutes, reacting smartly to deny a Long Eaton effort after a quick counterattack.

A superb round-the-corner pass from Milly North in the 21st minute found Beth Wharton, who looked to be through on goal before the Long Eaton defence recovered well to clear.

Mere moments later, Wharton turned provider with a clever through ball for Thomas, but her effort was straight at the keeper. Abbie Emslie then broke in behind on 26 minutes and squared for Wharton, whose first-time strike drifted narrowly wide.

Despite the Mariner’s dominance, it was the visitors who found the breakthrough on 33 minutes, finishing smartly to take the lead against the run of play. Just two minutes later, Long Eaton struck again with a well-taken goal to double their advantage.

The Mariners nearly conceded a third in stoppage time, but a spectacular one-handed save from Lacey kept the score at 2–0 heading into the break.

SECOND HALF

Thomas made a change at half-time, with Liv Kershaw replacing Thomas, and the substitute made an immediate impact.

Just three minutes after the restart, Alicia Davis saw her effort blocked for a corner, before the breakthrough finally came.

Kershaw surged down the right and delivered a low cross into the box, where Emslie arrived to calmly slot home and halve the deficit just four minutes into the second-half.

The equaliser came just five minutes later.

Some lovely footwork from Pariss Welsh created space in midfield, and she fed Milly North, who lifted a perfectly weighted pass into the path of Wharton. The striker made no mistake, firing past the onrushing goalkeeper to level the scores at 2–2 in the 54th minute.

The Mariners kept pushing for a winner, with Dani Brighton testing the keeper from range on 77 minutes and Emslie forcing another save late on. One minute from time, Wharton was caught as she released a shot, and Emslie nearly bundled the loose ball over the line, only for the keeper to recover and clear.

With the scores level at full-time, the game went to penalties. Both sides confidently dispatched their first four spot-kicks.

Then came the decisive moment – Jas Lacey made a sharp save to deny Long Eaton’s fifth penalty.

Up stepped Dani Brighton, knowing a goal would win it for the Mariners and she delivered with a cool finish to send Grimsby Town Women into the second round of the League Cup.

Grimsby Town XI: Lacey, Wray, Gray, Thorpe, Brighton, Welsh, Davis, North, Thomas (46 Kershaw), Emslie, Wharton
Subs not Used: Green

UTM