Morecambe 1 Sheffield Wednesday 2: Delight for Owls chief as Megson hails team for avoiding an upset

Goals in either half from Chris Lines and Chris O’Grady were enough to give the Owls a battling victory.

Megson said: “I always thought this was going to be the toughest tie we could have had.

“The TV cameras were here for one reason only really and that was to see us get beat.

“We were away from home against a side who are having a really good run in League Two and are full of confidence and it was always going to be a tough afternoon.

“But we played well for the majority of the game, kept the ball well and really could have had the game sewn up by half time if we had taken our chances.

“But the conditions favoured them in the second half and when they got the penalty it gave them hope and they made it difficult for us. We had a few worrying moments but overall we defended well and I am glad that we are through and have got a home tie in the next round.’’

Chris Lines gave the Owls the lead on 18 minutes with a fine strike. The midfielder exchanged passes on the edge of the Morecambe area with Chris O’Grady before curling a delightful right-foot effort into the bottom left-hand corner of the Morecambe goal.

Lines then went close to making it 2-0 a minute later with a 25-yard dipping volley that forced Barry Roche into an excellent save to his right as he palmed the ball away for a corner.

The Owls always looked in control without really testing Roche in the first half again.

Jermaine Johnson found space on several occasions but blasted two efforts horribly wide and a James O’Connor cross was inches too far ahead of Gary Madine after one swift counter.

Wednesday goalkeeper Richard O’Donnell was a virtual spectator in the first half but he was soon in action after the break as he was beaten by a long range strike from Laurence Wilson which flew past him but came back off the crossbar.

Moments later the Owls doubled their advantage with a soft goal on 53 minutes.

Lewis Buxton’s right-wing cross caused the Morecambe defence all sorts of problems and as goalkeeper Roche and central defender Chris McCready hesitated, Chris O’Grady took advantage with a header from close range that bobbled into the empty net.

Morecambe hit back with a penalty just after the hour. Lines was adjudged to have handled Gary McDonald’s left-wing cross and Laurence Wilson blasted the spot kick past O’Donnell to give Morecambe hope.

The home side continued to add pressure with McDonald testing O’Donnell with a close range volley and the visiting goalkeeper saving superbly from Phil Jevons before Morecambe were denied a last-gasp equaliser when McDonald’s close range header was ruled out for offside.

Morecambe: Roche: Parrish (Haining 59), Fenton, McCready, Wilson; Reid (Alessandra 80), Hunter (Jevons 59), Drummond, McDonald, Ellison; Carlton. Unused substitutes: Routledge, Fleming, Charnock, Price.

Sheffield Wednesday: O’Donnell: Buxton, Batth, R Johnson, Bennett; Lines, O’Connor, Lines Semedo, J Johnson (Sedgwick 69); O’Grady. Madine. Unused substitutes: Jameson (GK), Prutton, Reynolds, Morrison, Coke, Lowe.

Referee: D Webb (Lancashire).

Man of the match: Jose Vitor Semedo.