ROY KEANE had promised to respect the traditions of the FA Cup, but his team had a funny way of showing it yesterday, generously ushering their opponents into the fourth round by every conceivable means available. A free header, an own goal: you name it, Sunderland appeared to do it in what looked like a concerted effort to depart the tournament at the earliest opportunity.

Keane, who claimed to have selected his strongest possible side, resting only those who had been carrying injuries, could not conceal his disgust at their second 3-0 defeat by Wigan this season. “A Sunderland fan shouted towards the dugout that we should be ashamed of ourselves, and I can’t argue with that,” said Keane. “I am ashamed. We could have played until next week, and we still wouldn’t have scored.” Wigan deliberately fielded a weakened side, but they at least went about their business in a professional manner, and might have won by four had Craig Gordon not tipped Michael Brown’s late effort. In the end, Paul Scharner’s header, Paul McShane’s shot past his own goalkeeper and David Cotterill’s spectacular late strike were more than enough to put Wigan in the fourth round for only the second time in more than two decades.

Steve Bruce, who used the occasion to check out fringe players Cotterill, Salomon Olembe and Josip Skoko, was rewarded by each of them, as his side enjoyed a more comfortable time than they could ever have anticipated at the home of another Premier League club. The Wigan manager said that a crowd of just 20,821 might have added to their hosts’ lethargy. “I never thought I would see half-empty grounds for the FA Cup,” said Bruce. “It costs an awful lot to watch Premier League football now, and a lot of people just can’t afford to pay again after Christmas.

“The third round used to be fantastic, but I don’t think we can ever get that back. It’s not until you get to the later rounds that it has that spark we used to enjoy.”

Keane, who won this tournament four times as a player, has lost all three of his cup-ties as a manager. One of them was Sunderland’s third-round exit to Preston North End a year ago, when Jonny Evans first appeared on loan from Manchester United. The defender, back for another temporary spell, had no more luck on his return, joining in the kind of calamitous defending that has become customary on Wearside.

It required only 19 minutes to surface here. Skoko sent in a free kick to the back post, where a gaping hole opened between McShane and full-back Nyron Nosworthy. Scharner, doubtless wondering what he had done to deserve such freedom, could only head the ball past Gordon. It was the kind of haplessness that went on to afflict more than just the two teams. Referee Mike Riley invited ridicule with a manoeuvre so deft that he landed on his backside, the Wigan physio took a tumble as he raced behind the home goal, and Bruce was forced by injury to make two substitutions before the interval. By the time former Sunderland player Kevin Kilbane was stubbing a toe in his own penalty area, it was almost too much to ask of the home side to capitalise.

Sunderland’s ineptitude was only just beginning. Shortly after the break, their defending went from bad to worse. When Evans was short with a backpass, substitute Julius Aghahowa dashed on to the opportunity, and wasn’t even required to shoot. McShane spared him the responsibility, sliding in with a tackle that sent the ball skidding into the bottom corner, a more accurate effort than his teammates had managed at the other end.

After Keane had made his substitutions, Sunderland briefly responded with a flurry of activity, but it amounted to little more than a polite attempt to show willing. When Cotterill carried the ball towards the penalty area, his opponents were inexplicably reluctant to close him down, and he took advantage with a pot shot from 25 yards. Struck with the outside of his right boot, it swerved beyond Gordon’s outstretched arm and inside the left-hand post. At which point those Sunderland fans who had shown the decency to turn up made their excuses and left.

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