GRIMSBY TOWN delivered the Cup upset of the season as the League Two side dumped out Premier League Southampton.
Two Gavan Holohan penalties gave Paul Hurst and his boys in blue a night they will never forget, as the Mariners reached the last quarter-finals for the first time since 1939.
More than 4000 superb Grimsby fans had made the 480-mile round trip to St. Mary’s, having bought a remarkable 1200 Harry the Haddock inflatables from the club shop.
The blow-up fish have become a hallmark of the club’s big games, with Saints having initially banned them before backing down.
Bosses at the club may have wished they’d stuck to their guns.
The travelling supporters gave terrific backing to their side and made St. Mary’s their own, as the increasingly quiet home support looked on in disgust – their desperate season reaching a new, unimaginable low before their eyes.
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Ruben Selles’ side tried to fight back after Duje Caleta-Car got a goal back, but they didn’t deserve anything more.
Grimsby may be sitting 16th in League Two, 64 places below their hosts, but the Mariners had got the better of teams from higher divisions in each round of the Cup this season, including Championship Luton Town.
With Southampton having made nine changes, starting a front four with a combined four goals all season, Grimsby arrived on the south coast smelling blood.
A shoddy start from the Saints, wasting good openings, only lifted the spirits of those in black and white packing out the Northam Stand.
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Things were going their way, and they knew it.
The Saints thought they had a breakthrough when Sekou Mara fired a low shot home from Moussa Djenepo’s cut-back, but the linesman’s flag quickly ruled that the Mali winger was offside before playing the cross.
Southampton were in control but, even against lower league defenders, were showing the same lack of cutting edge they’ve had in the final third all season.
That sloppy side extended to the back line late in the first half.
The hosts let Mariners winger Josh Emmanuel slip through the net down the right wing, with the No7 looking to pick out Harry Clifton.
Brazilian livewire Lyanco ducked to head the ball clear but instead made contact with his right arm and, after an inexplicably long VAR check, Holohan was allowed to step up and write himself into Grimsby Town history.
The away end was a sea of bouncing Haddocks, buoyed further when, in the final minute of added time at the end of the first half, Mara blazed a simple effort over the bar from an Orsic corner.
Five minutes into the second half, Southampton’s torrid evening spiralled even further out of control.
After a long ball forward, Danilo Orsi crumbled in the Southampton box. The back line laughed away his efforts to win a penalty, but ref Thomas Bramall bought them and pointed to the spot for a second time.
Replays showed that Saints defender Caleta-Car, making his first appearance since being sent off against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup semi-final, had given Orsi a slap on the back, with the Grimsby man hitting the deck.
Holohan powered home his second of the night and this time got to celebrate on his knees in front of the delirious away end.
While the visitors celebrated, the staggered Southampton stared at Bramall in disbelief, though Caleta-Car had to shoulder the blame for giving him a decision to make, no matter how contentious.
Ruben Selles responded by calling for captain James Ward-Prowse, who began his rescue job minutes later.
The England midfielder bent a looping corner to the far post where, waiting for redemption, Caleta-Car volleyed home from close range to halve the deficit.
But the Mariners continued to believe, and a second disallowed goal for Southampton, this time Walcott, only increased the volume.
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Kyle Walker-Peters saw a late effort fizz past the far post as the Saints looked to force extra time, but this was Grimsby’s night.
Does anyone know Wembley’s policy on Harry Haddocks?
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
