Santiago Bueno's hour-mark intervention proved the difference as Wolves edged a resolute Grimsby Town 1-0 on a quagmire of a pitch at Blundell Park to seal their place in the FA Cup fifth round.
On a night of relentless driving rain and a surface that survived two pre-match inspections, the Premier League strugglers managed only one shot on target. It was enough. Bueno diverted Joao Gomes' right-wing cross past Jackson Smith to settle a tie that, on the evidence of conditions and contest, could have produced another giant-killing.
A Throwback in Driving Rain
In front of a bumper crowd of 8,594, the game began in freezing temperatures and unrelenting rainfall. The white paint of the pitch markings soon blended and blurred with the mud, with Grimsby goalkeeper Jackson Smith's penalty area already a quagmire before kick-off.