Owls dumped out of Cup at first hurdle

This report from the official site:

Wednesday forfeited the chance of a money-spinning FA Cup tie at home to Leeds United after crashing out in the third round at Gillingham's frozen Priestfield Stadium.

They were undone by Marlon King's two-goal blitz after Gerald Sibon's opener had given the Owls an early lead. Guy Ipoua added a third to effectively end the contest by half-time and Chris Hope's fourth sealed the home side's win.

But it had all looked different for Wednesday after a dream start which rewarded around 400 hardy fans who had made the journey from South Yorkshire. Even before Sibon's fourth-minute opener, Ashley Westwood had headed wide when presented with a great opportunity from Jon Beswetherick's cross.

The return of the left-back was one of seven changes forced on Owls boss Chris Turner due to injuries and the unavailability of loan players, and another of the squad that sat out the Rotherham win, Sibon, quickly announced his return from a sore back.

He rose at the near post to glance home Alan Quinn's left-wing corner, despite Andy Hessenthaler's attempt to clear the ball off the line. Wednesday could have swiftly doubled their lead over an opposition whose last match came before Christmas but Kuqi fired wide after outpacing Nicky Southall from the halfway line and then Owen Morrison failed to control Sibon's throw-in with home keeper Jason Brown a long way out of his goal.

That was as good as it got for SWFC, who were over-powered for the rest of the match by a determined and capable Gills side that continually caused problems for the Owls defence on the treacherous surface.

They had already offered Mark Saunders a free header from a Hessenthaler corner within a minute of Sibon's goal, which Chris Stringer held on the line. But the Owls keeper appeared to be culpable for the Gills' 12th-minute equaliser when King flicked the ball into Stringer's penalty area and then hooked it away from the keeper's outstretched hands before converting into the open goal from close range.

Stringer had no chance with King's second, six minutes later, when he was sent the wrong way from the penalty spot after Westwood had been penalised for handball as Ipoua turned in the box. With the game turned on its head, Turner's men appeared shell-shocked, but were unlucky not to force an equaliser against the run of play on the half-hour mark.

Shefki Kuqi latched onto Quinn's through ball and rounded Brown before sending a firm left-footer goalwards from 16 yards. But, as he turned to celebrate, he watched in disbelief as Nyron Nosworthy appeared from nowhere to perform an amazing goal-line clearance. The importance of that intervention was emphasised when Ipoua doubled the lead, four minutes before the interval, following up from point-blank range to ram home Stringer's parry from King's cross-shot.

Half-time: Gillingham 3-1 Owls

Within a minute of the restart, Wednesday had a great opportunity to haul themselves back into the match when Quinn chested down Kuqi's cross to the far post but couldn't get his shot away.

With Crane forced to time his challenge well to block Hessenthaler's burst into the box, and then King diverting his team-mate Shaw's volley wide, the Wednesday manager brought on Leon Knight for the quiet Morrison to improve his side's attacking options.

The Owls were grateful to Stringer, on 66 minutes, for a smart penalty save to deny King his hat-trick after Crane had been penalised for a foul on Shaw. But the respite was short-lived as - a minute after Jon Shaw had replaced Sibon for his SWFC debut - Gills centre-back Hope completed matters by beating Stringer to a Hessenthaler cross and nodding a 10-yard header into the empty net.