Contentious penalty for MK Dons goes viral; Grimsby come from 2-0 down to draw 2-2

A contentious penalty for MK Dons goes viral across social media, but Grimsby managed to come from 2-0 down to draw 2-2.

In Saturday’s League Two match at Blundell Park, a disputed 20th-minute penalty was converted by Callum Paterson, with a video uploaded and fans saying Aaron Collins had dived after Sam Lavelle was deemed to have brought him down in the box.

MK Dons got their second goal in the 27th minute when Marvin Ekpiteta’s effort came back off Harvey Rodgers and went in.

Five minutes later, Grimsby thought they had scored when Jaze Kabia headed in George McEachran’s cross, only for it to be offside.

In the second half, Grimsby hit back back with two goals from Jaze Kabia to earn a point, extending their unbeaten run while talk long continued over referee Kirsty Dowle’s call.

I’d be fuming if was Grimsby pic.twitter.com/yv8PNvNrKE

— Dakin (@jackdakin8) January 31, 2026

Grimsby’s assistant head coach Shaun Pearson said: “Obviously, when you find yourself 2-0 down in a game, everyone was delighted with the way we came back into it, and we even had the chance to go on and win it.

“We’re proud of the team for taking on board what was needed at half-time to get back into the game, and we made the tactical tweak which helped us massively.

“They had momentum in the game, and they were dangerous on the counter, so we didn’t have the control we normally have in the first half because our lines were too far apart at times.

“We spoke at half-time about him [Kabia] getting a bit closer to Cooky [Andy Cook] because he is such a handful and can make things happen through his size alone, so again it was great to see it come off.”

MK Dons boss Paul Warne said: “It was an excellent first half, probably the best 45 minutes we’ve played this season.

“We could’ve had multiple penalties, and there were one or two opportunities where we didn’t pull the trigger when we probably should have.

“We kept exploiting their weaknesses, and the front two worked really hard, but in the second half they came back as you would expect, so we had to ride the storm.

“They got one goal back when we felt we had done that in the first part of the second half, which was disappointing, and to concede the second from a set-piece from the front zone like that was horrific from our standpoint.

“Getting a point here shouldn’t feel bad, but it does feel like a defeat from the position we were in and in the last 20 minutes, when they had their tails up, we got through that comfortably.”

Here’s how fans reacted as a contentious penalty for MK Dons goes viral, but Grimsby managed come from 2-0 down to draw 2-2…

@schawn_monteiro: This is absolutely shocking ref decision. Collins has to be sanctioned for this surly. clear and obvious it’s a dive #EFL #GTFC #mkdons

@whollis99: Should be a retrospective ban that

@emmajjohnson75: Ref was shocking! She shouldn’t be allowed to be in charge of another game in her lifetime!

@smith_ingham: Successfully deceiving the officials, definitely a dive, should be retrospectively banned for that

@sherratt1876: That epitomises everything that’s wrong with the modern day player. Deserves a retrospective ban and a fine for ungentlemanly conduct

@lewadambradley: The standard of refereeing in this country is a joke. How is this given #gtfc

@ChrisParkerNo6: The ref obviously getting pelters, and rightly so, but action needs to be taken against the forward for cheating. @PFA have a responsibility to the game to address this with their members. Expect retrospective ban

@GTFC_Exiles: Wonder how many refs see this sort of footage of a player and then give defenders the benefit of the doubt when they have to make a decision on the same player? The ref has been conned – this is way beyond ‘being clever’.

@AshleySpink: This is absolutely SHOCKING! Talk about diving and the ref falling for it. Horrendous decision from the referee! #MKDons #GTFC #UTM

@sam__mkd: how the fuck did we get that🤣🤣🤣🤣

@bowers_bcafc12: Feel for Grimsby, if only they had a iPad, would have been overturned! #gtfc #bcafc

@GTFCSmithy: Didnt a Gillingham player get banned when the played Bromley for simulation after the game? If so same should happen here. Horrendous decision #gtfc #gills

@GTFC_Exiles: Clear to see the error from this angle but the line of sight of the ref is very different. A poor decision but the ref made what she felt was a fair call in the moment. The absolutely blatant cheating here is not the ref, it’s Collins. There’s buying a pen, then there’s this.