Grimsby shock Spurs in Carling Cup
Grimsby 1 Tottenham 0
League Two leaders Grimsby created the shock of the round by dumping out Tottenham in the Carling Cup second-round tie at Blundell Park.
Martin Jol fielded a strong side but the Premiership team were undone by Jean-Paul Kamudimba Kalala strike a minute from full-time.
When a corner was cleared to the edge of the penalty area, Kamudimba Kalala smashed the ball into the bottom corner to clinch a famous victory.
While Russell Slade's side thoroughly deserved their moment in the spotlight, Tottenham Martin Jol could hardly be accused of failing to pay the League Two leaders the respect they deserve.
The Spurs boss named a strong line-up containing five England players and 10 internationals in total.
Defender Anthony Gardner was replaced by Noureddine Naybet after sustaining a hamstring injury at Villa Park on Saturday while Michael Brown came in for Teemu Tainio.
But high-flying Grimsby, who are currently topping League Two after successive relegations in the past two seasons, simply refused to give up and Kalala’s late strike was just reward for their mammoth efforts.
The Mariners, who dumped Derby out of the competition in the first round, recalled fit-again former Liverpool trainee Andy Parkinson while John McDermott lined up for his 700th Grimsby appearance.
And after keeper Steve Mildenhall was required to make a scrambling save from the recalled Robbie Keane’s low effort after seven minutes, Grimsby soon made a mockery of the yawning gap between the side’s respective league standings.
The Mariners were clearly in no mood to be bullied around by their more illustrious opponents – and Michael Reddy’s all-action style soon proved a real menace to the Londoners.
Though it was Tottenham, sporting their new blue away kit for the first time this season, who should have led after 22 minutes when Andy Reid was played clean through inside the box.
The Irish international winger looked a good bet to open the scoring but Mildenhall came racing off his line to repel Reid’s shot.
Two minutes later and spirited Grimsby came even closer to finding the net. Kalala delivered a cross from the right and after Gary Jones nodded back across the face of goal, Reddy was inches away from making crucial contact.
Shortly after the half hour mark, Spurs almost edged ahead when Defoe nodded Paul Stalteri’s excellent right-wing cross wide after Keane cleverly engineered an opening.
Grimsby, roared on a noisy 8,206 capacity crowd, again raced upfield before livewire Parkinson cut in from the left flank and curled a delightful long-range shot towards the far corner.
England keeper Paul Robinson was required to utilise every inch of his 6ft 4in frame to turn the ball around the post at full stretch.
Grimsby continued to press after the restart and Reddy had a golden opportunity to make the all-important breakthrough.
He found himself clear of Tottenham’s defence with only Robinson to beat but the forward could watch on in agony as his attempted lob sailed harmlessly wide.
After Defoe shot wastefully wide shortly before the hour mark Jol replaced the ineffective Reid with Aaron Lennon in an attempt to inject some much needed spark to his side’s attack.
But Tottenham’s attacks remained fleeting and more often than not unproductive, with Jermaine Jenas particularly ineffective.
Young-Pyo Lee began to make a belated effect on Spurs’ left flank but Grimsby defended like demons in the face of mounting pressure from the Premiership side.
And with time running out, Kalala struck from distance after a corner was headed out to him on the edge of the box to put Mariners fans in dreamland.
Carling Cup Second Round Results and Scorers:
Barnet 2 Plymouth 1
Burnley 3 Barnsley 0
Cardiff 2 Macclesfield 1
Charlton 3 Hartlepool 1
Crystal Palace 1 Coventry 0
Gillingham 3 Portsmouth 2 Aet score after 90 minutes 2-2 After Extra Time
Grimsby 1 Tottenham 0
Leicester 2 Blackpool 1
Mansfield 1 Southampton 0
Norwich 2 Northampton 0
Reading 1 Luton 0
Rotherham 0 Leeds 2
Scunthorpe 0 Birmingham 2
Sheff Wed 2 West Ham 4
Shrewsbury 0 Sheff Utd 0 Sheff Utd win 4-3 on penalties
Sunderland 1 Cheltenham 0 Aet score after 90 minutes 0-0 After Extra Time
Watford 2 Wolverhampton 1 Aet score after 90 minutes 1-1 After Extra Time
West Brom 4 Bradford 1
Wigan 1 Bournemouth (0) 0
Wycombe 3 Aston Villa 8
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