Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 Newcastle: The Owls cause a huge cup upset as Darren Moore’s League One side hold on to beat Premier League high-flyers thanks to a Josh Windass brace

It speaks for the reserves of goodwill that Eddie Howe has in the bank at Newcastle United that his second FA Cup Third Round defeat to League One opposition in 12 months will soon be forgotten. But for Sheffield Wednesday and two-goal match-winner Josh Windass, this will live long in the memory, and rightly so.

Before the start of this week, the Owls forward had only scored six times this season. But after a treble in a 5-0 win over Cambridge United on Monday – the team who beat Newcastle at this stage last January – he followed up with a pair of deadly finishes here. Swap Windass with any of Newcastle’s misfiring frontmen and the result is reversed.

For Howe, what this proved is that, beneath his strongest XI, the depth of his squad runs into shallow waters very quickly. He knows his group is not good enough to compete on three domestic fronts and so, while of course protesting otherwise, this first loss in 16 matches was not the worst outcome for the Newcastle boss. It also exposes the need for reinforcements.

The last player to score against his side had been Southampton’s Romain Perraud in early November. Since then, they had gone nearly 10 hours without concession, shooting to third in the Premier League. Windass netted twice in 13 minutes after half-time, and on each occasion he made it look easy.

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The 28-year-old was aided by some slack defending and that, you suspect, would not have been the case were this Newcastle’s Premier League starters. Still, he took both goals beautifully.

The first, on 52 minutes, was a cute hook across Martin Dubravka after stealing ahead of Jamaal Lascelles to connect with substitute Dennis Adeniran’s delivery into the six-yard area.

Then, when freed by striker partner and Newcastle fan Michael Smith – who had profited on a mistake by Joelinton – he bent first time into the bottom corner from 20 yards. Dubravka was helpless, so prompt and precise was the strike.

Howe – who had made eight changes – responded by introducing his big guns and within minutes the artillery had, belatedly, hit their target. 

Kieran Trippier’s corner was helped on by Chris Wood and Bruno Guimaraes followed up on a save by Cameron Dawson to score from close range. 

Windass then cracked the crossbar in pursuit of a hat-trick and, at the other end, Wood swept hopelessly over when presented with a glorious chance to force a replay late on. It was a horrible miss that just about captured Newcastle’s desperation in front of goal. It was to be the last of 21 shots from which they failed to score.

Darren Moore’s hosts duly held on for a victory that was deserved, if not in terms of chances created then certainly by the ruthless manner in which they took the two that mattered.

‘I think that is Josh’s most complete performance since I’ve been here,’ said Moore. ’It was a special night for us. Eddie is doing a great job, so to beat them in the form they’ve been in, it makes it a special night. We need to savour the moment.’

For Newcastle, fit-again club-record signing Alexander Isak – last seen in September before tearing a thigh muscle – could have had a couple of goals during his 45 minutes on the pitch.

The decision to start the £60million striker was a surprise. Howe has preached caution with the Swede in recent weeks and, on the surface, this felt like a gamble, especially as doubts continue to linger about the fitness of Callum Wilson and form of Wood. Allan Saint-Maximin was also missing because of illness.

But perhaps it is for that reason Howe feels the need to get Isak up to speed as quickly as possible. To that end, this was a worthwhile exercise, if only because it exposed his need for minutes.

He was not poor – he got into several scoring positions, and that is always a good sign – but his execution in applying a finish was far from convincing.

A free header on seven minutes was straight at goalkeeper Dawson and so was a 12-yard shot soon after. His final act of the half was for his legs to fail him when attempting to burst clear of the home backline. His race was run and, come the end, so, too, was Newcastle’s in this competition.

They have, of course, ducked out of the cups in previous seasons so as to prioritise survival. Now, they are calculating the exertions of a cup run against the very real prospect of qualification for the Champions League. After all, winning the FA Cup does not buy you a new striker, but a top-four finish does.

And with a League Cup quarter-final also on the horizon at home to Leicester on Tuesday, this shock result will not feel all that shocking on Tyneside.