6 hours ago
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Santiago Bueno’s second-half winner ensured a safe passage into the FA Cup fifth round for Wolves as the League Two side Grimsby bowed out with pride intact.
The Premier League visitors had not won away in any competition since last April and look certain to be relegated to the Championship this season. But Rob Edwards’s side showed impressive resilience to avoid the kind of ignominy which led to Manchester United being dumped out of the Carabao Cup here this season.
After beating Ruben Amorim’s side on penalties, Grimsby went on to win at Sheffield Wednesday before being hammered 5-0 at home by Brentford. They went into this FA Cup fourth-round tie on the back of a 10-game unbeaten run in all competitions, a sequence which has encouraged hopes of promotion to the third tier in the coming weeks.
The Mariners’ head coach, Dave Artell, has connected the club with the local community and their exploits in both major domestic cup competitions this season have put the Lincolnshire side back on the map. Certainly their dramatic penalty shootout win against United marked one of the famous nights in Grimsby’s history.
There was to be no Premier League scalp here as Wolves showed guts to eke out the win in conditions that were, at times, atrocious.
In front of a bumper 8,594 crowd, there was no hiding place for the men from Molineux. Not that there was any suggestion they were looking.
The game began in freezing temperatures and driving rain made playing conditions extremely difficult. The hosts almost led inside the opening 45 seconds when Charles Vernam cut inside from the left flank and fired a low shot just wide of the far post.
It was a classic FA Cup tie and had all the makings of an upset, but Wolves showed glimpses of their class. Gomes fired an effort against the crossbar before the break, but Grimsby continued to battle gamely.
Roared on by their vociferous support, Artell’s men could not make the breakthrough and the crucial opener went to Wolves in the 60th minute. Gomes crossed dangerously from the right after a set-piece and Bueno was on hand to divert the ball home.
Half-chances came and went for both sides, with Andy Cook, on as a Mariners substitute, heading straight at the Wolves goalkeeper Sam Johnstone late in the game as the visitors held on.
