Scunthorpe 4-2 Wednesday

A MUCH-changed Wednesday side bowed out of the Carling Cup with a 4-2 defeat against Championship side Scunthorpe United on Tuesday night.

The Iron coasted to their second round success against 10-man Wednesday, who had former Scunthorpe defender Richard Hinds sent off in the second half.

Chris Dagnall bagged a brace for Nigel Adkins side to help steer them to the next round while Michael Collins and Michael O’Connor also netted for the hosts.

Owls substitutes Marcus Tudgay and Neil Mellor both replied late in the second half but the tie was already won following Hinds’ dismissal at his former ground.

Owls boss Alan Irvine made a number of changes to the side that started the 1-0 victory over Brighton on Saturday.

Three changes to the defence were made with Tommy Spurr, captain Darren Purse and Lewis Buxton being replaced by Jon Otsemobor, Hinds and Daniel Jones respectively.

Clinton Morrison and Paul Heffernan started in attack, in place of Tudgay and Mellor, while James O’Connor returned to the midfield in place of Giles Coke, who had to make do with a spot on the bench.

It was a starting eleven that screamed out that Irvine was more keen on getting three points this Saturday in the league at Hartlepool than cup progression, but the Owls started pretty brightly with plenty of the ball in the opening exchanges.

For all their hard work and early graft though it was the hosts who had the first real chance of the game when Dagnall sliced an attempted volley off target.

Wednesday were looking threatening at the other end with the new strike pairing of Morrison and Heffernan and the former had two good chances.

First he headed over from a Teale cross and then he carved a chance from nothing with a powerful strike which zipped just over the bar on the half hour mark.

The signs were promising for Wednesday’s much-changed side and Heffernan was next to threaten when he fired another effort over the bar when he maybe could have done better.

The Iron were far from out of the contest and they issued a warning sign when Weaver showed his reaction qualities with a good save from Michael Raynes.

But he could do nothing to stop the hosts bagging what turned out to be a crucial goal at just the right time in first-half stoppage time.

The Owls defence failed to put pressure on Collins and he was given the time and space to neatly put Scunthorpe ahead just moments before the referee blew for half-time.

Half-Time: Scunthorpe 1-0 Wednesday

The next goal was always going to be the important one and both sides knew they needed a strong start to the second half if they were to stand a chance of cup progression.

But it was Adkins’ troops who carried their momentum into the second half as Dagnall walzted by two defenders before drilling in Scunthorpe’s second to leave the Owls with a mountain to climb just minutes after the restart.

Irvine looked to change his team and Mellor, Tudgay and Tommy Miller were all introduced as the Owls look to get back in the contest.

Mellor had a good opportunity with his very first touch of the game but he couldn’t find the touch to get the Owls back in it.

Former Owl Eddie Nolan almost put the game beyond doubt with an effort which came back off the woodwork, but United soon found a third and it came in devastating fashion.

Jonathan Forte was all set to tap home a third when Hinds felled the former Sheffield United man inside the box and was given his marching orders.

O’Connor smashed home the penalty to make it game, set and match to the Iron.

Wednesday did give themselves some light at the end of the tunnel when Mellor was felled by Josh Wright inside the box and Tudgay got his first goal of the season from the resulting penalty.

But Dagnall added his second with a header before the Owls netted another consolation strike, this time from Mellow with seven minutes remaining.

It was too little, too late for Wednesday though as they bowed out of the competition and now have to turn their attention to league matters this weekend.

Full-Time: Scunthorpe 4-2 Wednesday