It took just eight seconds to turn Matty Stevens and Stevenage's day from despair to delight - as the new signing swooped in the fifth minute of stoppage time to clinch the winner at Grimsby Town.

Boro looked to have surrendered all three points when Stefan Payne equalised for the Mariners four minutes into time added on.

But three passes and eight seconds on from the kick-off after that goal all that heartache disappeared as Stevens got on the end of a Luther James-Wildin ball forward ahead of goalkeeper James McKeown to give Stevenage a 2-1 win and send them four points clear of their hosts and the relegation zone.

Speaking to the club's media channels, the goalscorer said: "It caught me by surprise. I was devastated when they scored but when the ball went to Luther I just peeled off the defender.

"I didn’t expect him to hit it as well as he did but it was a beautiful pass and when I saw the keeper coming out, he made my mind up for me.

"Their goal was horrible especially for a player coming on.

"I shouldn’t have done because I didn’t do anything wrong but [I felt gutted] coming on and then conceding but that just made it sweeter when we got the winner.

"I always felt we’d get another, it just happened that they scored first, but there’s no better way for the game to finish."

The game pitted two of the clubs inside the bottom three together and Stevenage travelled knowing that victory would go a long way to perhaps securing their future in the Football League for another year.

For the 22-year-old Stevens though, there was the added joy of getting his first goal for the club, especially as he had one ruled out in Tuesday's 0-0 draw with Colchester United.

He said: "We watched the game from Tuesday back and my goal was definitely onside so I was disappointed with that.

"I wanted to put it right and I was lucky enough to do that.

"The boys have welcomed me and the gaffer has been after me for a while. He’s made me feel good and I’m happy that I can repay him with a massive goal like that.

"It was a massive game and luckily we got the win."