Grimsby Town fought through an end-to-end first half to blitz sixth-tier Slough Town after the break, winning 7-2 in their FA Cup first-round replay at Blundell Park.
Rekeil Pyke and Arthur Gnahoua both netted braces, with Danny Rose, Alex Hunt and Jamie Andrews adding the others, as the Mariners secured a second-round tie away at Oxford United, the highest-ranked team currently in the draw.
Interim head coaches Shaun Pearson and Ben Davies made just three changes to the starting team from Saturday’s league win over Morecambe, with Luke Waterfall, Danny Amos and Arthur Gnahoua coming into the team, with Otis Khan and Abo Eisa away on international duty.
READ MORE: Ben Davies hails Grimsby Town’s fighting spirit in victory over Morecambe
Slough had netted seven times in their two league games in between the first matchup with the Mariners and this one with a 4-3 away defeat at Welling United following a 4-0 home win over Truro City.
Grimsby’s first effort on target came in the fourth minute, with Gnahoua receiving the ball on the inside right channel and firing a deflected effort into the arms of Rohan Luthra. Town opened the scoring with their next attempt with Gnahoua involved again as his deflected effort fell right at the feet of Pyke in the Slough box, and Luthra had no chance to save his shot which he slashed into the right corner of the net.
The visitors had made a positive start to the game, but they were soon two goals down, this time undone by a well-executed corner, as Niall Maher flicked Gnahoua’s near-post delivery onto Rose, who came flying in to divert the ball into the net.
Conceding two early goals did not break the spirit of the National League South outfit however who pulled a goal back in the 19th minute from their own corner – Tyrese Dyce heading in at close range.
Town looked to restore their two-goal lead quickly, with Gnahoua playing a quick free-kick ahead of Gavan Holohan who cut the ball across to Rose on the edge of the box to shoot straight at Luthra.
After a flurry of goals in the opening 20 minutes, the game settled down a touch in terms of goalscoring chances, with Grimsby next threatening the Slough goal in the 32nd minute, through Pyke, who headed the ball marginally wide of the far post from a cross left side.
Grimsby never looked completely comfortable in the first half and the two-goal lead they had built up was soon completely erased by Slough who levelled the game in the 33rd minute through David Ogbonna.
Having drawn level, the visiting side had their tails up and went at Town for the rest of the half, with Johnny Goddard skipping two tackles on his way to the centre of the Grimsby box, with his shot diverted wide by a crucial block from Maher.
The nerves were building inside Blundell Park moving towards half time, but Pyke managed to cool those nerves before the break, as he was well placed to head into the net at close range from a corner, with Kieran Green winning the initial aerial battle to divert the ball goalwards.
Slough could hold their heads high with their first-half performance and they came again shortly after the break, with Town blocking a flurry of goalbound shots after Harvey Cartwright punched away a cross from the right flank.
Grimsby were all over the place defensively to start the second period, and Slough should have levelled the scores again, with Rose doing some excellent work on his own goalline to head away a looping effort with Cartwright away from his goal.
The hosts needed a reprieve from the pressure they were being put under by Slough and they got it in the form of a fourth goal – Pyke doing really well to push the ball forward and find Gnahoua on the right side of the box, with the winger cutting in on his left foot and firing past a rooted Luthra.
The fourth goal had deflated the away side to an extent, but they almost pulled themselves back into the game again, with Green giving the ball away in Slough’s half with the Grimsby backline pushed up. George Alexander got in behind but Cartwright was alive to the danger and came out well to stop the shot.
Pearson and Davies rang the changes with about 15 minutes to play, and some of the substitutes combined to make the scoreline more comfortable, Hunt finishing off the move with a low right-footed effort in the box.
Gnahoua and Jamie Andrews added two more in the final ten minutes to make it a less flattering scoreline for their lower league opponents, whose resistance crumbled late on.
Starting line-up: Cartwright; Mullarkey, Waterfall, Maher, Amos (Glennon 56’); Green (Conteh 77’), Andrews, Holohan (Wilson 64’); Gnahoua, Pyke (Ainley 77’), Rose (Hunt 77’)
Unused subs: Eastwood, Rodgers, Gardner, Bramwell
Original story at https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/sport/
