SKY BLUES ON THE KASE AS OWLS GO OUT
Coventry 4 Sheffield Wednesday 1
KASEY PALMER let his feet do the talking – before the midfielder made his point on the racism row that has overshadowed this tie.
The former Chelsea trainee, 27, needed less than 150 seconds to open the scoring as a heavily-changed Sheffield Wednesday side found the play-off chasing hosts in a mean mood.
This replay was the fourth time since Boxing Day that these two had been matched together and Palmer, along with a double from Callum O’Hare (above, celebrating) and Haji Wright ensured the Sky Blues reached the fifth round for only the second time in the past 16 years.
A three-goal blitz inside eight minutes after the interval wrapped up matters as Mark Robins’ men booked themselves a date in the last 16 with minnows Maidstone United.
Despite that avalanche of goals, it was Palmer who deserved to take the plaudits after suffering abuse at Hillsborough in the league meeting between the two – and was booed during the FA Cup tie that followed.
After scoring his opener, he raised his shirt to reveal the message, ‘Less talk and more action,’ referring to the ongoing battle to remove discrimination from the game.
His third of the season came – as so much has – from O’Hare picking up the ball in a dangerous area. He fed his colleague who skipped in front of three Owls defenders before firing the ball into the bottom corner.
The early strike set the scene for a cracking 45 minutes of action as these two threw caution to the wind.
Wednesday drew blood minutes later when Will Vaulks’ cross was cleared by Wright to team-mate Josh Eccles. The ball bounced up and when it came down, Bailey Cadamarteri squeezed a shot home.
But the visitors’ goal always looked the more vulnerable. And when one goal came after the interval, another two followed.
Palmer returned the favour by setting up O’Hare, who sidefooted into the bottom corner.
The playmaker then created space for himself with a delightful stepover before curling home.
Coventry made sure of the tie when Wright netted as Jay Dasilva crossed from the left, booking a place against a side ranked 93 places lower than them in the pyramid.