FA CUP REVIEW:Portsmouth kept their defence of FA Cup on track against Bristol City this evening, but only just after they were outplayed for large portions of the third round replay by the Championship side. West Brom also needed another shot at beating Peterborough but were a lot more convincing as they too avoided embarrassment with a 2-0 away win.
The Baggies cruised, in truth, thanks to first-half goals from Jay Simpson and Paul Robinson.
On-loan Arsenal striker Simpson dented Posh’s hopes of a cup upset when he fired home from 20 yards in the 18th minute and Robinson headed a second eight minutes before the interval.
Peterborough’s best chance fell to Charlie Lee in the sixth minute but his chip fell the wrong side of the post.
In the 87th minute Albion almost made it three but substitute Craig Beattie was denied at the near post by the agility of Posh goalkeeper Joe Lewis.
The holders were a lot less comfortable but after a period of scrappy defending they took the lead thanks to Peter Crouch’s 13th goal of the season after a swift counter-attack from Armand Traore.
They created little after that and were camped in their own box for much of the second half but another concise counter resulted in Niko Krancjar sealing their place in the fourth round.
The home side were denied even a consolation goal, which was the least they deserved, when David James kept out Nicky Maynard’s stoppage-time penalty.
Wolves recorded their first win at St Andrews for almost eight years as they put in a solid performance to beat Midlands rivals Birmingham 2-0.
Wanderers had not won in three prior to the match but took the lead seven minutes before the break when Andrew Keogh raced onto a Michael Kightly through-ball to slot past Maik Taylor.
Sam Vokes then doubled Wolves’ advantage shortly after the break when he latched on to a Kightly pass just inside the area and finished from close range to book a fourth-round tie with Middlesbrough.
Sheffield United survived a first-half scare to breeze past Coca-Cola League One side Leyton Orient 4-1 at Brisbane Road.
JJ Melligan gave Orient a shock lead from the spot after 38 minutes before United hit back through Greg Halford and Billy Sharp.
Kyle Naughton’s second senior goal put the Blades 3-1 up before Halford sealed the win with a header 12 minutes from the end.
United will face Charlton in the next round after Darren Ambrose’s goal helped them beat Norwich 1-0 at Carrow Road to register their first win in 19 matches.
Swansea will play Portsmouth in the next round after they ran out 2-1 winners at Bridge Road despite a spirited effort from non-league Histon.
The Swans broke the deadlock with a 25-yard screamer from Gorka Pintado before Guillem Bauza added a second.
The Blue Square Premier side sensed a way back in to the game when they pulled one back through Josh Simpson but could not find an equaliser.
Millwall set up a fourth-round tie with either Newcastle or Hull as they beat Crewe 3-2 at Gresty Road.
Crewe took the lead through Luke Murphy but were immediately pegged back by a Scott Barron strike before Neil Harris restored the visitors’ lead — and broke Teddy Sheringham’s club scoring record.
Shaun Miller broke free in the box to put Crewe level with a right-foot strike shortly afterwards before Zak Whitbread’s header put the Dons through with four minutes left.
Cheltenham and Doncaster will replay after playing out a goalless draw at Whaddon Road.
A 120th minute strike from Jay Rodriguez sealed a 2-1 win for Burnely over QPR who took the lead through Samuel Di Carmine before Steven Thompson forced extra-time.
