FA Cup round-up: Halford gets on his bike to deny Orient an upset

Greg Halford was the star as Sheffield United managed to avoid an FA Cup upset at Orient last night. Halford scored twice as the Championship side came from 1-0 down at half-time to run out 4-1 winners.

JJ Melligan gave Orient the lead at Brisbane Road, converting a 38th-minute penalty after United's Matthew Kilgallon had been penalised for handball. However, the struggling League One side could not live with the Blades after the break, Greg Halford equalising in the 59th minute and goals from Billy Sharp and Kyle Naughton putting United 3-1 ahead before Halford added a fourth with 12 minutes to go. Halford, on loan from Sunderland, almost capped his night by netting a hat-trick late on but his effort went narrowly wide.

United will face Charlton in the fourth round after Phil Parkinson's side ended their club-record run of 18 games without a win by beating Norwich City 1-0 at Carrow Road.

Charlton, who last won in early October, needed just six minutes to take the lead against their fellow Championship strugglers. They almost opened the scoring moments earlier when Deon Burton's 25-yard volley was kept out by City goalkeeper David Marshall but Darren Ambrose, who to make matters worse for the home side is on loan from Ipswich, made no mistake from 12 yards, his first goal since March.

Zak Whitbread hit an 84th-minute winner to earn Millwall a trip to Newcastle in the next round as they won 3-2 at Crewe.

With the prize of a home tie against Aston Villa at stake, Cheltenham and Doncaster could only draw 0-0 at Whaddon Road and will replay next week.