Grimsby Town: FA Cup run is sign of the progress made, says chairman Jason Stockwood

Harry Clifton opened the scoring for Grimsby against Luton

Grimsby chairman Jason Stockwood says the team's FA Cup run is "a fairy tale" and shows the extent of the club's recent improvement.

Three first-half goals took League Two Grimsby past Championship promotion contenders Luton Town in Tuesday's fourth-round replay at Blundell Park.

Their reward is a fifth-round tie away to Premier League Southampton.

"There's a generation of fans that have never seen this," Stockwood said. "It's just a good marker of progress for us."

Stockwood told BBC Radio Humberside: "It's 1996 since we last were in the fifth round. The atmosphere and the support were amazing and the performance was even better.

"There's a couple of hundred grand on the line with the win and the TV money from the next round."

Grimsby struck twice in the first 28 minutes through Harry Clifton and Danilo Orsi and added a third in first-half stoppage time from Danny Amos.

"They were a bit giddy and there was a lot of talking," said manager Paul Hurst about the dressing room buzz at half-time. "I had a bit of a smirk on my face listening to them - then I told them to focus.

"It was only when the board went up for three minutes remaining [in the game] that I really thought we would see this through."

Grimsby's tie at Southampton will be played on Wednesday, 1 March.

"It is a little disappointing because it's a hell of a travel," said Hurst. "People that can go are going to have to take days off work. There'll be a financial gain for the football club which will be a help."

"It's bittersweet - no one expected us to be in the next round," added Stockwood. "But let's be honest - we'd have played in Timbuktu on a Monday morning if we had to."