Dieseruvwe’s hat-trick is not enough as Town are held to draw
EASTLEIGH GRAB LATE EQUALISER
GRIMSBY Town will face Notts County in the quarter-finals of the National League play-offs after finishing sixth following a dramatic 4-4 draw with Eastleigh. The Mariners will travel to Meadow Lane on May 23 for their knock-out tie against the Magpies.
They rounded off the league campaign with a Jekyll and Hyde performance with goals from Jordan Maguire-Drew and an Emmanuel Dieseruvwe penalty putting them in control at the break.
However, a mental start to the secondhalf saw Eastleigh pull level with two goals in as many minutes.
Half-time substitutes Danny Whitehall and Sam Smart scored to bring the match level 11 minutes after the restart.
Town responded, though, with Dieseruvwe restoring the lead from a Jordan Cropper cross but they were pegged back again.
Scott Burgess was robbed of possession and after a driving run, Jake Hesketh was picked out and he fired past Ollie Battersby.
Dieseruvwe completed his hat-trick with a close-range finish to seemingly secure the points only for Tyrone Barnett to net a penalty as the clock ticked into stoppage time. A breathless second-half saw the match end level.
Paul Hurst made nine changes to the Mariners’ team with only Jordan Cropper and Shaun Pearson retaining their place.
Youngsters Jamie Bramwell was handed a full debut with Evan Khouri, Harvey Tomlinson and Aaron Braithwaite on the substitutes’ bench alongside the returning Arjan Raikhy.
In a low-tempo affair, Grimsby set the early running, dominating possession and looking the most threatening.
Burgess wasted a gilt-edged chance after being put through by Maguire-Drew but his deft lob went wide.
It would only be a warning sign for Eastleigh though as Town opened the scoring shortly after.
The influential Maguire-Drew picked up the ball in the area, shifted the ball onto his weaker foot and dragged an effort into the bottom corner.
From that point, the result looked in little doubt and more comfort was added to the scoreline when Dieseruvwe netted from 12 yards.
The on-loan striker, released by parent club Tranmere this week, rolled the ball into the corner just before half-time.
Battersby was given very little to do in the opening 45 minutes whilst debutant Bramwell looked assured in defence and impressed with some eye-catching passes as he carried the ball into midfield.
The young Town goalkeeper was called into action just after the break as he fingertipped wide Barnett’s fierce drive.
After a flea in their ear at half-time, Eastleigh came flying out of the traps and turned the match on its head.
Half-time substitutes Whitehall and Smart netted within two minutes of each other to bring the hosts level just 11 minutes after the restart.
However, the Mariners produced a timely response. Four minutes after being pegged back, they were back in front with Dieseruvwe doubling his tally with a closerange finish.
More mistakes proved costly though as Eastleigh responded. Burgess dallied in possession, got his pocket picked and from the resulting attack, Hesketh fired past Battersby at the near post with a powerful drive.
However, four minutes from time, Dieseruvwe completed his hat-trick from close range after Flitney had denied Tristan Abrahams. His fifth for the club looked to have done enough to secure all three points until stoppage time.
That was until Hesketh’s strike struck a Grimsby hand in the eyes of the referee. Barnett stepped up to send Battersby the wrong way and bring the curtain on the season with a bonkers second half which ended 4-4.
Hurst’s pre-match message to his players was to make themselves undroppable ahead of the play-offs.
After a dominant first-half performance, the Town boss will be concerned by the second 45 minutes which was littered with errors and did nobody’s hopes of featuring any favours.