Tom 'corners' a place in final

GRIMSBY Town Youth caretaker boss Adam Smith was delighted after seeing his side reach the Midlands Floodlit Youth Cup final.

The young Mariners won 1-0 at Walsall on Monday night thanks to a second-half goal from striker Tom Corner to secure a place in the final for the second time in five seasons.

The Mariners won the competition for the first time in their history at Walsall in 2006 when a Jammal Shahin strike secured a 1-0 triumph.

Now they are looking to repeat that success next month against either Chesterfield, Port Vale or Shrewsbury – the latter two still to play their quarter-final for the right to meet the Spireites in the last four.

Town have already done the hard part and made the final as they look to win silverware for the second successive season after last year's triumph in the Puma Youth Alliance Cup at QPR.

And Smith couldn't hide his pleasure after the semi-final success.

He said: "I was absolutely delighted for all the players – it's a fantastic achievement by everyone.

"It was always going to be tough against a good Walsall side but we defended strongly and kept tight.

"It was hard for either side to play much football on what was a diabolical surface that was dreadfully bobbly.

"But we went in level at 0-0 at half-time and came out to build on that.

"We didn't create a lot of chances but remained solid at the back and had a few half-chances.

"Then, with about 15 minutes to go, a great ball into the centre from Harry Deane found Corner and he finished superbly."

First-team boss, and ex-Youth coach, Neil Woods watched from the stands at the Banks's Stadium as his former charges made it through to their third cup final in four years.

And Smith says the achievement of his side, who have now won six consecutively in league and cup, is all the more impressive bearing in mind the changes at the club mid-season.

Smith added: "The players deserve huge credit to have achieved what they have with all the upheaval at the club.

"The first-team had a managerial change and so did we with Neil moving up.

"He was there to watch at Walsall and he was as pleased as anyone with the result."