The romance of the FA Cup in Cleethorpes, ultimately, was limited to a good old-fashioned away following of about 571 hardy yet boisterous souls from Weston-super-Mare.
The Seagull Army twice wildly celebrated second-half equalisers through Luke Coulson and their predatory striker Louis Britton before Grimsby substitute Kieran Green’s looping header settled the match and ended Weston’s stirring six-game run in the competition.
That felt cruel on Scott Rogers’ part-time National League South outfit, but there was no shame in defeat and their attention will turn back to winning promotion from English football’s sixth tier.
“I’m absolutely gutted for them to be fair because at 2-2, we’re thinking: ‘come on’,” reflected Rogers, who had a beer with Grimsby counterpart Dave Artell after the game.
“The spirit we showed to come back twice – that’s what we’re all about – and we’re proud of what we are. We’ve got a good bunch in there.
