ONLINE POLL: Sheff Weds 1 Charlton 2 – Steel City tie torn from script as Owls wilt

The FA Cup re-match that Sheffield had waited 21 years to see will not come to pass after Charlton Athletic ended Wednesday’s dreams of reaching the quarter-finals.

Goals either side of half-time from Callum Harriott and Simon Church mean it is the London club and not the Owls who will travel to Bramall Lane next month.

Considering the excitement that the two Steel City clubs possibly being paired together in the last eight had triggered over the previous week or so, last night’s result came as a crushing anti-climax.

Wednesday, though, had only themselves to blame following a lacklustre first-half display with a profligate streak in front of goal that ultimately led to their downfall.

Leon Best did find the net to cancel out Harriott’s opener, but a combination of some fine saves by Ben Hamer, the woodwork and home players getting in each other’s way when it seemed easier to score led to the South Yorkshire side crashing out.

It now means as the red-and-white half of Sheffield look forward to a home tie and the chance of a possible Wembley trip in the semi-finals, the Owls will instead travel to Yeovil Town on March 8 in the Championship.

This sense of regret is likely to follow Stuart Gray’s men all the way to Somerset as this really was a golden chance for Sheffield’s great rivalry to be played out in the Cup for the first time since the 1993 semi-final at Wembley that was settled by Mark Bright’s header.

The prospect of a Sheffield derby in the last eight meant a bumper crowd of 24,607 decided to brave the cold in S6.

Many of those will have had tickets for when the tie should have been played a week last Saturday, but there was no denying that the prize at stake had put a few extra thousand on the gate.

As the game kicked off, there was a tangible sense of excitement in the air. There was, though, also plenty of apprehension and this seemed to find its way onto the field almost immediately as Wednesday started nervously.

Every touch by a home player seemed mired in anxiety and too many players took the easy option of punting the ball forward rather than trying to play through midfield.

This was just what Charlton had been hoping for and, credit to Chris Powell’s men, they set about exploiting their hosts’ unease.

The Addicks twice went close when Astrit Ajdarevic had efforts blocked in quick succession before Church’s drilled cross flashed across the face of goal without a Charlton man being able to apply the final touch.

These let-offs for Wednesday should have served as warnings but went unheeded as more sloppiness from Gray’s side allowed the visitors to take the lead on 27 minutes.

Diego Poyet, son of former Leeds United assistant manager Gus, started the move by darting down the wing before picking out Ajdarevic.

His shot was blocked but the ball ran to Harriott, who finished with aplomb from 12 yards.

Falling behind was no more than Wednesday deserved for such an insipid opening quarter.

Before the break, however, they had started to stir with Gary Gardner and Best both having efforts saved by Hamer.

Chris Maguire also came close to latching on to a wayward back-pass before Hamer cleared and when the second half resumed there was little doubt that there was a new intent about Wednesday. The equaliser came just before the hour when Best fired in from six yards after Charlton had failed to clear a free-kick.

That should have been the prelude to an Owls assault on the Charlton goal. However, after Atdhe Nuhiu had gone close with a prod goalwards that Hamer did well to block, the London club regained the lead.

A splendidly flighted free-kick from Johnnie Jackson created the opening as the retreating Owls back-line and goalkeeper Damian Martinez left it to each other to clear the danger.

The ever-awake Church did not need a second invitation and three sides of Hillsborough suddenly fell silent as the one-time Huddersfield Town loanee diverted the ball into the back of the net.

Twenty five minutes remained at that stage and Wednesday gave it everything.

Nuhiu hit a post after getting across his marker to meet Maguire’s free-kick.

As the ball bounced off the inside of the upright, the crowd shouted ‘Goal!’ and a few other expletives, but referee Mark Clattenburg was unmoved as he signalled that Hamer had dropped on the ball before it could cross the line. Wednesday were again left ruing their luck four minutes from time when Giles Coke’s goalbound shot was inadvertently blocked by the prone Best in the goalmouth and then, right at the end, Hamer clawed to safety a shot that had taken a wicked deflection off Michael Morrison.

The game was up for the Owls, who can now only watch with envy as rivals United try to book a trip to Wembley.

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Sheffield Wednesday: Martinez; Palmer, Loovens, Llera, Mattock; Maguire, Gardner (Nuhiu 58), Coke, Maghoma (Lavery 58); Best, Afobe (Helan 74). Unused substitutes: Kirkland, Buxton, Onyewu, Hutchinson.

Charlton Athletic: Hamer; Fox, Morrison, Wood (Dervite 89), Wilson; Cousins, Poyet, Ajdarevic (Hughes 90), Jackson; Harriott, Church (Ghoochannejhad 85). Unused substitutes: Thuram-Ulien, Green, Sordell, Nego.

Referee: M Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear).