The second strike of lightening never arrived. They came in droves, a black-and-white army marching through tight streets, hoping for a miracle but it was all too much.
Grimsby Town had captured the hearts of neutrals, thanks to their heroics against Manchester United in August, and left locals hoping the League Cup’s quarter-finals would include their team’s name for the first time since 1985.
Football, though, only provides romance only fleetingly. Here was a sobering lesson, a ruthless dismantling at the hands of an established and progressive Premier League side that have grand ambitions of their own.
Brentford were never going to misjudge the potential for a mishap against League Two opposition and they treated this assignment with a total professionalism. They gave Grimsby maximum respect with they approached the contest but they also gave them a shellacking for good measure.
‘The attitude of our group was impeccable,’ Keith Andrews, Brentford’s head coach, proudly pointed out. ‘We had to educate the players about the challenge they were going to face coming here; 16 years ago, this was a League Two fixture. We have had to earn the right to get to this level.’
And when they earned the right to play here, they zoomed away with five unanswered goals. Brentford have only been to one major semi-final – in this competition in 2021, that miserable Covid season – but why can’t they get to that stage now?
Brentford cruised into the last eight of the Carabao Cup by thrashing Grimsby 5-0
Fabio Carvalho slots home Brentford’s fourth as they succeeded where Man United so dismally failed in the second round
Sometimes you watch a squad and you know they are doing everything right. People within the building at Brentford aren’t getting carried away, cautioning that it is early in the campaign, but they approached this challenge in a manner United never did.
Where Ruben Amorim’s side were slovenly when they ventured east in late summer, Brentford never missed a beat. There was always going to be an early storm and the visitors edginess was characterised by a needless Frank Onyeka mistake, forcing a corner, that left Andrews wincing.
Really, however, that was as uncomfortable as it got for Andrews, who continues to make a positive impression. His opposite number, David Artell, couldn’t have been more complimentary about the work he has done and it was easy to see why.
Everything about Brentford was sound: the speed of their passing, the way they moved up field, the shape they kept when out of possession. Grimsby would have loved to have bustled them up but it was like a class above boxer, put a hand on his opponents and watching him throw air shots.
Jensen, one of nine changes from the team that had beaten Liverpool 3-2 on Saturday, got things up and running for Brentford, sweeping in a drive from 18 yards that was always drifting away from Grimsby keeper Christy Pym.
‘We were the underdogs on Saturday,’ Andrews noted. ‘The early goal took the sting out of it, which is what we wanted because we didn’t want them to grow in confidence.’
The lead was soon doubled when Kane Lewis-Potter arrived at the back post to head in a cross from Reiss Nelson and the on-loan Arsenal winger marked his debut with a goal of his own to end the tie just before half-time. Andrews knew it, clenching his fists and shouting “Yes!” as the ball nestled.
Would they let up? Not a bit of it. Carvalho confidently dispatched a 53rd minute penalty before substitute Nathan Collins completed the rout in the 75th minute with another header, this time from a corner. Still, there was time for the Grimsby fans to show their appreciation.
‘We gave it a good go,’ said Artell, who was rightly proud. ‘We have reached the last 16 of national cup competition but we have got to keep progressing. We go to Ebbsfleet now in the FA Cup. We have got to try to be like Brentford.’
