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 with Aaron Rowe at the interval and he had an immediate chance to deliver a telling cross into the box but he was unable to pick out a team-mate as the visitors aimed to catch Swansea cold.
Hawkins also came on at the break and lined up in defence alongside skipper Max Ehmer.
Any hopes the visitors had of getting back into the contest were given a major blow just six minutes into the second half when debutant Euan Williams saw red for a challenge on Kyle Naughton.
Swansea added a second on 69 minutes when Josh Key was played in down the right and he crossed to give substitute Liam Cullen the simplest of tap-ins at the far post.
Another Swansea substitute Jisung Eom then forced Morris into more action before the Gills keeper saved low down from Cullen with 10 minutes remaining.
Brilliant footwork from Eom nearly created a third Swansea goal as the Gills struggled to get out of their penalty area late on with Morris brilliantly denying Azeem Abdulai.
Gillingham showed plenty of character and pulled a goal back with three minutes left when Robbie McKenzie’s delightful right-wing cross was headed in by Hawkins.
With the Gills pushing bodies forward looking for a late equaliser to take the tie to a penalty shoot-out, Swansea added a third goal in the sixth minute of stoppages. Eom unselfishly squared for Abdulai who tucked the ball home from close range.
Swansea: Vigouroux, Naughton (Cullen 66mins), Cabango, Pedersen, Tjoe-A-On (Key 66mins), Grimes, Fulton, Abdulai, Cooper (Franco 73mins), Vipotnik (Tymon 66mins), Ronald (Eom 73mins). Subs not used: Broome, Darling, Watts, Thomas.
Gillingham: Morris, Giles, Ehmer, Ogie, Clark (Hawkins 46mins), Nolan (Rowe 46mins), E Williams, McKenzie, Clarke (Wakeling 78mins), J Williams (Lapslie 60mins), Gbode (Wyllie 66mins). Sub not used: Turner.
Referee: David Rock.
