Last-gasp goals
against Sean Hessey’s ten men, after defender Josh Brizell was dismissed on the hour mark for a reckless lunge on John Marsden.
Despite Brizell’s straight red, The Hatters toiled until the 85th minute before finding the breakthrough, with top scorer Lloyd powering home a free-kick before converting a penalty just sixty seconds later to seal County’s progress.
Jim Gannon made two changes to the side which had battled to a 1-0 away win at Gloucester last weekend, with the matchwinner from that game Kaine Felix coming in for captain Mark Ross. John Marsden, who grabbed his first goal in 20 games in County’s last FA Trophy outing, started in place of Jimmy Ball.
Gannon stuck with his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation, with centre-half Michael Clarke again wearing the captain’s armband in the absence of Ross.
Marine, who earned their visit to Edgeley Park following a dramatic 3-2 win over County’s divisional rivals Darlington last week, enjoyed a lively start against a flat Hatters side in the opening stages - and Hessey’s men soon had a merited lead, just seven minutes in. Midfielder Gary Stopforth’s clearance cannoned back off his own team-mate Michael Clarke as County looked to clear their lines, and Stopforth was left with little choice but to lunge in on William Smart – with the referee left with no choice but to point to the spot.
The Crosby side’s leading goalscorer Mitchley confidently dispatched the spot-kick against a Hatters goalkeeper in Ben Hinchliffe who had saved his previous two penalties in a County shirt.
There were few real chances for County to enjoy in the opening 45 minutes, as their lower division opponents pressed high up the pitch and didn’t allow their hosts to settle. Marsden soon drilled a snapshot on the turn straight at the Mariners’ ‘keeper Calvin Hare.
Star man Danny Lloyd was kept unusually quiet for large portions of the opening half, which seemed to affect his County teammates as the home side struggled to break down the visitors.
At the other end, County survived another scare as JJ Monaghan got to the byline only to see his pull-back cleared desperately by Chris Smalley.
But almost out of nowhere, County were on level terms – the leveller coming unsurprisingly through the creativity of Lloyd, who finally found space to cross on a plate for Odejayi to head home his third of the season four minutes before the break.
But if the 1,411 inside Edgeley Park expected the County equaliser to signal an onslaught of eighth division Marine, they were given a shock as Mitchley collected a long ball from defence to race in on goal and slot coolly past Hinchliffe in first-half stoppage time.
There was, however, huge controversy surrounding the visitors second as the linesman appeared to miss a flickon from former Hatter Obi Anoruo which left Mitchley standing seemingly yards past the last Hatters defender Clarke in an offside position; but the flag stayed down and Mitchley converted to give the visitors an unlikely half-time lead.
Both Sam Minihan and the livelier Lloyd fired early second half efforts narrowly over the bar as County produced somewhat of a second half onslaught.
Marine were, in truth, dead on their feet long before Brizell’s straight red card which proved to boost The Hatters’ chances.
The home fans were left wincing as Brizell flew in from behind on Marsden, with even the ‘gentle giant’ Odejayi sprinting over to the scene to confront the Marine defender.
The straight red card was produced despite Brizell’s protests that he’d won some of the ball, but the away side were down to ten for the best part of half an hour.
By full-time, Hessey’s men totalled seven yellow cards added to Brizell’s straight red for a number of late challenges and acts of dissent towards the officials.
There were still very few clear-cut opportunities despite Marine’s limited numbers, and as the 85th minute mark approached, County were still trailing by the odd goal in three and looking likely to exit the trophy at the first round proper stage.
But the undoubted man of the match Lloyd popped up with two moments of inspiration in two minutes to seal County’s progress with less than five minutes on the clock.
Lewis Field became the fifth Marine man to pick up a caution as he denied County with a cynical handball right on the edge of the penalty area -–and Lloyd duly stepped up to notch his twelfth of the season with a low free- kick drilled past Hare.
If Marine were happy to see out the remaining four minutes to take a 2-2 draw back to a replay in Crosby on Tuesday night, Hessey’s side didn’t show it at all as Lloyd was allowed to