Gillingham stun Premier League side Cardiff to produce biggest FA Cup third round upset so far

Gillingham overcame the two division gap that separates them from Premier League Cardiff City to claim a place in the FA Cup fourth round thanks to Elliott List’s goal nine minutes from time.

List fired home to complete a shock victory after Steve Lovell’s side had weathered sustained Cardiff pressure. Not that Gillingham hadn’t posed a threat before List’s effort finally divided the two teams with the third tier side had served warning of their threat long before the final moments

Gillingham last beat Premier League opposition in 2004 when they beat Charlton Athletic in the third round of this competition. Fifteen years on, manager Steve Lovell delivered a clear sign he believed his side were capable of pulling off another shock when he made just one change to the side that lost 20 at Southend United on New Year’s Day.

That loss - Gillingham’s third in the last four games - left Lovell’s side just one point about the League One relegation places but Neil Warnock was wary enough of the threat posed by the hosts to name a relatively strong side. The Cardiff manager made seven changes after the 3-0 defeat to Tottenham on Tuesday but his line-up was by no means packed with fringe players.

An early opportunity fell to Elliott List, included because of an injury to Billy Bingham, suggested Warnock was right to be concerned his side could easily slip up as the game settled, Cardiff began to dominate as Gillingham settled in for what looked likely to be a long afternoon protecting keeper Tomas Holy.

The visitors began to create openings from the 15th minute when Joe Bennett, the Cardiff left-back, found space on the left hand side of the Gillingham box, but wastefully shot too close to Holy. The rebound fell to Bobby Reid whose shot was drilled in to a bunch of hastily retreating defenders before Kadeem Harris’ misdirected shot drew a line under the chance.

Holy was called into action once again five minutes later when he did well to get across his goal to keep out Sean Morrison’s stabbed close-range shot after a corner had caused confusion within the Gillingham defence.

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The home side’s defensive efforts were impressive but they offered little as an attacking force until the final five minutes of the first half when Tom Eaves, Gillingham’s 15-goal leading scorer, twice unsettled Cardiff. The supply line on both occasions was provided by Bradley Garmston, the left back and Eaves should certainly have done better than direct his second effort over the bar.

The chance served as a warning for the top-flight side when began to look increasingly vulnerable after the break, while at the same time managing to spurn a succession of scoring opportunities. Eaves was again close to adding to his goal tally when he was unable to connect with Luke O’Neill’s drilled cross but the most glaring miss came from Gillingham’s Josh Parker who lifted his shot over the bar from close range.

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At the other end, Holy continued to defy Cardiff, helped in no small way by Gabriel Zakuani who cleared off the line after Josh Murphy, the Cardiff substitute diverted Joe Rall’s ball in past the keeper.

Connor Ogilvie, the Gillingham defender, produced a good block to deny Callum Pasterson and when Nathaniel Mendez-Laing’s shot struck the bar, it became clear this would not be Cardiff’s day.