Bristol City 0-3 Wednesday

Wednesday progressed to the FA Cup fourth round for the first time in a decade as they saw off Championship side Bristol City in emphatic fashion at Ashton Gate.

The Owls produced a superb second-half performance to see off the Robins in 16 scintillating minutes of attacking football as Gary Teale, Neil Mellor and Clinton Morrison bagged the goals to see Wednesday through.

It came after a first-half which could have easily seen the hosts ahead and with boss Alan Irvine celebrating his first year in charge at the club.

Irvine included both new additions in his back four, with Reda Johnson and Michael Morrison going into defence alongside skipper Darren Purse and Daniel Jones, who replaced Tommy Spurr at left-back.

Robins boss Keith Millen marked the game as the most important of his side’s season to date before the match, and the hosts started brightly.

City had endured a tough start to their Championship campaign but were in improved form going into the game and Albert Adomah fired an early warning shot in the opening exchanges.

The home side continued to carve out all the chances with Brett Pitman looking to add to his eight goals in his last eight outings with a long-range effort which drifted just wide of Nicky Weaver’s goal.

They came even closer when Jamal Campbell-Ryce produced a pin-point cross for Jon Stead to head towards goal but, with Weaver beaten, James O’Connor was well positioned to head the ball off the line.

Wednesday’s new-look defence was thwarting everything the Robins had to throw at them but the Owls weren’t really creating many chances at the other end.

Weaver was to thank on the half-hour mark when he came off his line to deny Pitman again, this time after the striker had got on the end of a long ball forward.

The Owls’ only real clear-cut chance came on the stroke of half-time when new-boy Morrison rose to meet a Gary Teale free-kick but failed to find the target.

Half-Time: Bristol City 0-0 Wednesday

The longer Wednesday held out at the start of the second half, the more likely it would be that the visitors could well cause a shock and go down the other end to snatch an unlikely victory.

But, instead of holding off wave after wave of City attacks, the Owls came out a different side in the second half and took the game to their hosts.

It was a shock to the Robins, and Wednesday issues their first real threat from a breakaway when Meller and Chris Sedgwick linked well but Tommy Miller couldn’t produce the finishing touch to end the move with a goal.

Sedgwick was celebrating being the provider just minutes later though as he produced a superb cross for Teale to rush onto a head the ball beyond city stopper David James to give the visitors the lead.

It was a blow to the hosts and they were clearly hit for six with the Owls’ opener.

It was something Wednesday took full advantage of as they doubled their lead not long after.

This time the threat came from the left, where Jones whipped in a cross for Mellor to divert beyond James to make it 2-0 in favour of the visitors.

It was all Wednesday and, although higher on the league ladder, the Robins could do little about Wednesday’s attacking threat, a stark contrast to how the first half had panned out.

Sedgwick came close to making it 3-0 from another Jones cross but could only divert his effort over the bar when he perhaps should have done better.

The Owls’ third did come on 65 minutes though when Mellor and Morrison linked well, the latter smashing home from close range to all-but seal Wednesday’s progression into the next round.

The Robins were never in the game in the second half and, at 3-0 down, looked to have given up their cup hopes for this season.

If anything, Wednesday could, and probably should, have added to their tally in the latter stages with both Mellor and Reda Johnson coming close.

A superb day at the office for Wednesday, and a rare entry into the fourth round of the world’s most famous cup competition.

Full-Time: Bristol City 0-3 Wednesday