Accrington Stanley reached the last 16 of the Papa Johns Trophy thanks to Tommy Leigh’s penalty against League Two Grimsby.

Leigh slotted home his sixth goal of the campaign in the second half to secure the Reds £20,000 at Blundell Park.

Stanley dominated the chances in the first half with both Ethan Hamilton and Dan Martin testing Mariners keeper Max Crocombe in the first 20 minutes.

Striker Kody Adedoyin, on the road back from injury, could only watch in agony as his header from Shaun Whalley’s cross crashed against the woodwork.

And, just before half-time, Adedoyin got on the end of Hamilton’s cross but Crocombe denied him with his legs.

Grimsby came more into it after the break and Paul Hurst made four substitutions on 62 minutes but it was the Reds who struck next.

Whalley was clipped in the area on 66 minutes after Rosaire Longelo made a superb run and Leigh took the spot kick and tucked it into the far corner of the net.

Stanley pressed for a second with Crocombe superbly keeping out an Adedoyin effort after the striker had made space for himself.

The Mariners came close to equaliser when Niall Maher’s near post flick was cleared off the line and, minutes later, Lukas Jensen used his feet to keep out another Maher strike.

Dylan Moonan, who signed for the Reds in July 2021 for the Development Squad, came on for his Stanley debut on 78 minutes.

The Reds held on to clinch their second successive win - and clean sheet - ahead of the Emirates FA Cup clash with Barnet on Saturday.

Stanley: Jensen, Clark, Rodgers, Tharme, Fernandes, Whalley, Hamilton (Moonan), Martin, Longelo (Nolan), Leigh, Adedoyin

Subs: Savin, Delfouneso, Perritt, Touray, Patrick

Crowd 703 (25 from ASFC)

Yellow: Whalley