Burnley 4-0 Grimsby

By: Richard Lord
Date: 14/01/2003

GRIMSBY Town's FA Cup third round replay at Burnley proved to be a fruitless mission as they went down 4-0 at Turf Moor. One of the Mariners' youngest squads had no answer as Burnley ran riot in the last 15 minutes.

Wes Parker and David Soames were drafted into the side, with Darren Mansaram starting and Steve Livingstone dropping into central defence alongside Steve Chettle. Town's bench included Rowan, Thompson, Bolder, Ward and Greg Young.

In a dull first half which Burnley controlled, Town never got going and were punished ten minutes before the break when Ian Moore scored a superb 25-yarder.

Soames had Town's best chance of the first half and on reflection, of the whole game. His shot cleared the bar when in a great position and from there the evening went drastically downhill.

Despite the heavy scoreline, Burnley's second goal didn't arrive until the 79th minute when the impressive Glen Little slotted under a helpless Coyne.

Seven minutes later and Livingstone was adjudged to have pulled down his man and with the referee ignoring the situation the linesman came into play and the referee changed his decision to award the spot kick.

Robbie Blake tucked away the penalty kick and then in injury time a fourth was added with Ian Moore collecting his second goal of the night.

The wheels well and truly came off for Town, but with an aging Groves and Livingstone in the team, along with a bunch of youngsters, fitness was bound to tell.

The defeat may prove to be a blessing in disguise as a Cup run may have had a similar effect on Town as it did with Crewe last season. That would be a positive, which Groves will surely be searching for after this latest performance.

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