Swansea City 3 Gillingham 1 match report: Carabao Cup first round defeat for 10-man Gills despite late Oli Hawkins goal

Gillingham were knocked out of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night on what proved to be a record-breaking evening for keeper Glenn Morris.

The contest proved a one-sided affair and the Gills were not helped by a red card early in the second half.

With injuries and the priority of a League 2 promotion challenge, it was no surprise that manager Mark Bonner made seven changes from the side that defeated Carlisle at the weekend.

Among those to come into the starting line-up were right-back Alex Giles, making his first senior start at the age of 19, and veteran keeper Glenn Morris, who became the club’s oldest-ever player at the grand age of 40.

An early wayward clearance for Giles nearly presented Swansea with an opener as the hosts dominated the early possession in a subdued stadium, with the competition failing to capture the imagination of the locals.

With rain falling, Swansea’s Brazilian, Ronald, forced a 13th-minute save from Morris after he found space in the penalty area.

With Oli Hawkins again named on the substitutes bench, Bonner opted for Joe Gbode up front and when he was fouled in the first 20 minutes, referee David Rock produced the first yellow card to Swansea’s Kristian Pedersen.

The deadlock was broken on 24 minutes when Ronald cut in from the left and was allowed time and space to bend his low right-foot shot beyond the reach of Morris into the far corner.

It took Gillingham 39 minutes to register a shot on target but Jayden Clarke’s low right-foot effort lacked any power to trouble Swansea keeper Lawrence Vigouroux.

But that was a rare foray forward for the Gills, who spent most of the first half closing down the possession-based hosts who dominated the ball for long spells.

Gillingham replaced Jack Nolan