FA Trophy Match Report: Grimsby Town 1 Wrexham 1 AET (Wrexham win 4-1 on penalties)

GRIMSBY Town suffered Wembley spot-kick heartache as they lost on penalties to Wrexham in the Carlsberg FA Trophy final.

It had all looked so promising for the Mariners when Andy Cook fired them into a 71st-minute lead in front of a black and white army of fans who had travelled down to the capital to cheer on their side.

But Wrexham, who few could argue were the better side on the day, hit back through a Kevin Thornton penalty to ensure the final went the distance.

And after a goalless extra time, Wrexham were immaculate in the shoot-out, scoring all four of their spot-kicks while Town missed two of theirs through Sam Hatton and then Richard Brodie, who left the field in tears at the final whistle.

With Derek Niven injured, Frankie Artus deputised for the Scot alongside skipper Craig Disley.

After the respective national anthems had been observed, the Mariners got the game underway, roared on by a 17,000-strong black and white army.

After a promising start for Town, skipper Craig Disley gave referee Jonathan Moss an early decision to make when he went in double-footed on his opposing skipper Dean Keates, but somewhat surprisingly, the 31-year-old got away with only a warning.

Few would argue that the Dragons had looked the more threatening in the opening 15 minutes, and, when Ian Miller gave the ball away at the back, Jay Harris stumbled through two ailing challenges before firing another warning shot over from just outside the box.

But with their pace in wide areas, Town were always going to pose a threat on the break, and, when Colbeck's clearance skewed into Marshall's path on the left, the winger carried the ball up field before being joined by Aswad Thomas.

The full-back failed to pick out a team-mate but, nevertheless, it was an encouraging sign for Rob Scott and Paul Hurst's under-pressure side.

After a cagey first-half, the game was always going open up in the second. And so it proved, as Town were appealing for a corner with less than four minutes of the restart following good work from Marshall on the left. At the other end, Wrexham player-boss Andy Morrell had the game's first real sight of goal.

A long ball was played through from the back and the veteran's gamble almost paid off when McKeown slipped before recovering well to smother his effort and eventually collect the loose ball.

Grimsby's Ross Hannah was sacrificed five minutes before the hour mark as Scott and Hurst threw on an extra midfielder in Andi Thanoj, and it almost paid instant dividends as, when Town broke from the back through a combination of Artus and Disley, Colbeck played in the now lone-striker Andy Cook, who fired just wide, unaware that the assistant linesman's flag had been raised for offside.

Riley was booked for hauling back Disley as the skipper looked to break amid a welcome spell of Town pressure as cries of 'we only sing when we're fishing' rang out.

But the Welshmen responded and roused their own fans with a decent break that ended with Brett Ormerod heading narrowly over.

The former Premier League hitman should have perhaps broken the deadlock but, seconds later, it was Town who did just that – with their first shot on target.

A superb ball from Disley set Colbeck racing down the right. The Yorkshireman waltzed into the box before pulling back to find Cook, who after seeing his first effort saved superbly by Maxwell, lashed home the rebound to send the travelling fans into raptures.

Stung by the goal, Wrexham looked to hit back straightaway and sub Adrian Cieslewicz drew a smart, low save from McKeown.

In the aftermath of that action, skipper Disley appealed for cool heads as Town looked to settle down from the euphoria of scoring the opener.

But they didn't appear to heed his warning as, eight minutes from time, a clumsy tackle from Pearson sent Keates tumbling in the box after the skipper had burst into the area.

It was a clear penalty and Kevin Thornton stepped up to send McKeown the wrong way and bring his side level and bring the boisterous Welsh contingent to their feet.

The joint bosses responded to that Wrexham pressure by bringing on Richard Brodie to partner Cook up top as the Mariners switched back to 4-4-2.

But that change did not make the impact that the first had and, with the two sides level after 90 minutes, the game went into extra time.

In Pictures: Grimsby Town v Wrexham - Match Gallery 3

In Pictures: Grimsby Town v Wrexham - Match Gallery 2

In Pictures: Grimsby Town v Wrexham - Match Gallery 1

In Pictures: Grimsby Town fans in Wembley Stadium

In Pictures: Grimsby Town fans outside Wembley

The opening ten minutes of the first period were largely uneventful, that was until Cieslewicz drew a superb, one-handed save from McKeown.

After the restart, Town enjoyed a brief bright spell with Colbeck dragging a 25-yarder just wide of Maxwell's post but at the other end, Wright underlined his side's threat with a header that drifted just wide.

With under five minutes to go, Cieslewicz drew another full-stretch save from McKeown, and the Town stopper was the hero again as the game approached the final minute of extra time.

A hopeful ball was played into the box and fell to the feet of Wright, who spun and struck a volley that somehow, McKeown got down to push the ball onto the post and away to ensure that the Mariners bought a ticket for the lottery of the shoot-out.

Wrexham won the toss to have the shoot-out held in front of their own fans, and Cieslewicz promptly drilled his effort low to get his side off to the best possible start.

Hatton was tasked with providing Town's response but the full-back could only smash his effort off the foot of the post.

Wright then stepped up to capitalise on that miss by coolly slotting down the middle before Brodie ballooned his spot-kick over the bar.

Centre-half Chris Westwood side-footed his kick into the side netting to put Wrexham on the edge of victory. And, knowing a miss would hand the Trophy to the Dragons, Colbeck stepped up and fired unerringly past Maxwell.

But the damage was already done with two earlier misses, and Johnny Hunt was the man to step up and drill the ball past McKeown to seal victory for Wrexham and condemn the Mariners to a tough walk up the 107 steps to collect their runners-up medals.