Short grabs extra-time victory for Blackburn

Craig Short was Blackburn's unlikely hero last night as they secured a place in the fourth round of the Worthington Cup. The experienced central defender struck seven minutes from the end of extra time at Ewood Park with a deft header to inflict a 2-1 defeat upon Middlesbrough.

Craig Hignett opened the scoring for the home side after 31 minutes. Garry Flitcroft delivered a good ball into the area and the midfielder, making a rare start, eluded his marker to power a header into the roof of the net.

Middlesbrough drew level in the 39th minute when Szilard Nemeth, the Slovakian striker who caused the home side constant problems, surged forward. His shot seemed to be hit more in hope than anything else but it deceived John Filan and bobbled into the net.

After the second half saw chances at both ends, Blackburn grabbed the vital goal deep into extra time. The chance seemed to have gone when Damien Johnson slipped as he tried to tried to cross the ball, but he regained his footing to find Short, who supplied the finish.

Kevin Pressman was the hero for Sheffield Wednesday as they beat Crystal Palace to move into the last 16 at Hillsborough last night. The veteran goalkeeper saved three penalties to carry the Owls through at the expense of Steve Bruce's Crystal Palace.

The teams were level 1-1 after 90 minutes and 2-2 after extra-time, forcing the game into the shoot-out. Ashley Westwood and Tony Crane scored for Wednesday, with Simon Rodger and Aki Riihilahti twice giving Palace the lead.