STAFFORD RANGERS 3 GRIMSBY TOWN 3 (Grimsby Town win 3-2 on penalties)
Sunday 8 November 2026 | FA Cup First Round | 3,113
The Mariners are in the hat for the second round of this season’s FA Cup. In some ways, that’s all that matters. But the final score and statistics far from tell the full story of what was a pulsating cup tie, as David Artell’s side avoided the slipperiest of banana skins at the home of eighth tier Stafford Rangers…by the skin of their teeth.
Rangers, who were once of non-league football’s premier outfits, have fallen on hard times in the past 30 years, and currently ply their trade in the Northern Premier League Division One West. For large periods of this cup tie though, Graham Deakins’ side were by far the superior team.
Artell made four changes from the side that beat York City last weekend. In came goalkeeper Harvey Cartwright, midfielder Mark Shelton, and attackers Finlay Cartwright and Josh Andrews; Christy Pym, Kieran Green, Jamie Walker, and Andy Cook being the players to make way. The Town boss stuck with the wingbacks formation that caused the Minstermen so many problems. Stafford undid all that within 90 seconds of the game starting. It was a simple ball over-the-top; Maldini Kacurri and Cameron McJannet were caught on their heels, and that allowed Darrhyl Mason to advance and hammer a shot beyond Cartwright in the goal and into the roof of the net—it was the worst possible start for the visitors.
Town’s initial gameplan relied on using one of the three central defenders as a spare man moving forward but Rangers responded with simplicity, getting the ball forward quickly to expose the Mariners’ lack of numbers at the back; Town often being left in a two-on-two situation, which was perfectly evident when right-back Beto Gomes used his pace and power to turn a Grimsby corner into a dangerous attack for the home side.
One moment of controversy came Town’s way as the game approached the quarter-hour mark. Charles Vernam advanced into the area and attempted to go around goalkeeper Russell Saunders, who clipped the winger’s ankles. Vernam was going down early but the appeals were waved away for offside given against Vernam, rather than a dive. TV replays later showed that the Town man was onside.
It took the Mariners a good 25 minutes to find their feet and to have a proper sight of goal when Shelton saw an effort blocked from the edge of the area. A couple of minutes later and the visitors were unlucky not to be level. Iwan Morgan worked some space and fired goalwards from 20 yards—the ball grazing the post on its way to safety,
Town were still vulnerable to the long ball over the top though, and they were thankful for another questionable offside decision when Kacurri inexplicably left a long clearance from Saunders and allowed Scott Bakkor a free run on goal. The Mariners responded in kind when Foulkes found himself in space, only to be denied by Saunders, with defender Andy Burns sliding into deny Andrews a tap-in.
Then came the Mariners’ best move of the half. Morgan cleverly switched the play to Rodgers, who in turn found Foulkes, but his low cross was gathered at the second attempt by Saunders. Any hopes Town had of being level at the break were extinguished like a Guy Fawkes Night bonfire just two minutes before the interval. Artell’s side had been warned about the danger posed by Tom Tonks’ long throws but it was a warning they didn’t heed, and the second Stafford goal came after the Mariners failed to deal with another of the Stafford defender’s javelin-like set-pieces. The ball arrowed into the Town box and pierced the heart of the Mariners’ defence, who struggled to clear their lines. Gomes latched onto it, and his deflected effort was brilliantly saved by Cartwright, but the ball ran into the path of Jack Birch, who made no mistake from close-range. A yellow card for McJannet summed up a largely torrid first 45 minutes for the League Two side.
Artell’s side had been so far off the pace in the first period that you knew changes would follow at the interval. Walker was introduced for Finlay Cartwright who had struggled in unfamiliar territory, with Justin Amaluzor replacing the under-par Vernam. The change saw Foulkes revert to the left wingback slot, with Amaluzor taking up a position on the right-hand side. And it almost paid dividends when Morgan found himself with space in the area but his effort was blocked by the impressive Gomes. Amaluzor then did well to win a free kick in a good position but Shelton fired the resulting set piece well over the crossbar.
But as the game ticked towards the hour, the Mariners nearly conceded a third. A low ball from the right found Birch sliding in, and he was only denied by a reflex stop from Cartwright. Town had lost their way entirely. Geza David Turi was dropping deeper and deeper to receive the ball, Rodgers advancing farther forward to try and effect the game, Foulkes drifting back over to the right and leaving the left alarmingly exposed—it was often hard to tell who should be playing where for the visitors, who looked bereft of any attacking ideas.
And they were indebted to Cartwright again as the game moved into its last quarter. Another Tonks’ throw caused chaos, with the Town stopper missing his initial punch but he got across superbly to deny Birch again, with the goal gaping. WIth 15 minutes to go, the Mariners received a lifeline. Walker used his experience to win a free kick in a dangerous position, and when it was floated in by Morgan, Rodgers was on hand to glance home a header from ten yards. Within two minutes, the Mariners were level. Amaluzor forced Tonks into picking up a booking on the byline, and from another pinpoint Morgan delivery, Kacurri thumped a header home from six yards out.
Town were on top now and pressing for a winner. Saunders tipped a Morgan effort around the post for a corner, and then Rodgers fired over as the game moved into the final ten minutes. The Mariners’ best chance of this spell fell again to Morgan, who was slipped in by a lovely pass from Turi but the Welshman elected to shoot straight at Saunders with substitute Andy Cook, on for Andrews, well placed in the middle.
Just like that, the visitors lost their way again. Shelton gave away the most inexplicable free kick for a needless pull, which led to Cartwright having to pull off another fingertip save to keep the Mariners in the cup. The worry for Artell was that despite the four-division gap between the two sides, it was the non-league outfit that looked fitter and stronger moving into extra time. And that would prove prophetic within 60 seconds of the restart as Rangers retook the lead. Another ball over the top caused panic in the defence, and Birch was given time and space to lay it on a plate for Mason to finish from close-range and claim his second of the game.
Not for the first time this season the Mariners turned to Faroese international Turi to get them out of a hole. The midfielder had influenced the game more as it went on, and it came as no surprise when he equalised for Town in added-on time at the end of the first period of extra-time. Substitute Sonny Finch nodded the ball down, Turi’s majestic touch took three Stafford players out of the equation, and his second expertly lifted the ball over Saunders for three-all.
The same pair combined again to nearly fashion a winner for Town. Turi released the former South Shields youngster, whose effort was tipped over spectacularly by Saunders. So, the game came down to the lottery of penalties. The hosts blinked first with Cartwright diving to his left to keep out Birch, but the scores remained scoreless in the shoot-out when Walker crashed his effort against the crossbar.
Luke Banks opened the scoring for the home side, netting to the top left but Cook responded with a coolly taken effort. Cartwright then saved again to deny Harvey Washington, allowing Cian Doyle to give the Mariners the advantage. Kyle Sambor brought the home side level but Amaluzor put the visitors back in front. Cartwright then saved his third spot kick of the shoot-out to deny Luca Navarro and send the Mariners through.
So, Town will find themselves one game away from a potentially lucrative third round cup tie, and for the fans that’s all that really matters. But alarm bells will have been ringing in the Town dugout throughout the tie, especially in the first half, which saw Town second best in all areas. Manager David Artell will want to curb that sloppiness, particularly as his side have struggled in recent weeks against League Two’s struggling sides, particularly against Shrewsbury and Northampton. This Mariners’ side has that sort of performance in their locker, and they can ill-afford any similar performances in the league for the remainder of the campaign.
RANGERS: Saunders; Gomes, Burns, Washington, Dunne; Birch, Ferrier (Navarro 119), Tonks (Banks 119), Mason (Dasilva-Olajide 99); Bakkor (Horan 77), Efunnaga (Sambor 64). Subs not used: Phillips, Zaknoune, Thompson, Webster.
MARINERS: H. Cartwright; Foulkes (Sweeney 89), Rodgers, Kacurri, McJannet; Vernam (Amaluzor 45); Turi, Shelton (Doyle 104), F. Cartwright (Walker 45); Morgan (Finch 95), Andrews (Cook 67). Subs not used: Pym, Reynolds, Brown.
