Rover and out, Brian?
1 -v- 0 
After two dismal home defeats a trip to Donny was surely exactly what we needed to get back on track. Despite rumours of resignation and calls for his dismissal Brian Laws was still in charge at Wednesday but the consensus amongst Wednesdayites was that another hammering would see him on his way out of Hillsborough long before Saturday’s trip to Leicester.
For my sins I’ve witnessed every goal-less minute of football since JJ bagged a 13th minute equaliser against QPR. We outplayed Rangers for long periods but a late winner for the visitors was predictable and Gorkss’ unchallenged header was a sign of things to come. The point at Ipswich has been described as a good one due to the conditions but I said at the time it would only seem a good point if we got owt against West Brom and Reading! Most expected a defeat to the Baggies but the manner of the defeat and the lack of fight left a bitter taste in the mouth; the Reading defeat was even worse not for the scoreline but because we made a poor team look like Holland in their changed strip of orange.
By my reckoning after 350 minutes without a goal we were due one at the Keepmoat...
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Most of my Tuesday was spent umm-ing and ahh-ing about how early to get to Doncaster. As is often the case university commitments were conspiring against me with a two-hour seminar at 1pm potentially derailing my plans to get to Donny nice and early. A hastily thought-up email excusing myself on the grounds of emergency dental treatment (cheers for the idea, Salop!) meant I was free to head down to the station.
I’d agreed to meet Southy on the way down which meant getting the creaky old train which stopped at all of South Yorkshire’s favourite backwaters like Rotherham and Swinton and took twice as long as the fast train. Not to worry, we got to Doncaster in good time and headed towards the town centre for a few bevvies.
 | Unfortunately we did a Beastie and managed to get lost in the Frenchgate Shopping Centre. Frankly the signage for ‘EXIT’ was inadequate and when we turned round a corner we’d just gone round five minutes earlier we realised we’d gone wrong somewhere. Eventually we found some stairs which saved us from potentially spending an evening doing our Christmas shopping, although in hindsight that might have proved more fruitful... |
Once we’d got into the town centre itself Southy dug out his fancy lah-de-dah iPhone which he informed me had built in GPS and would lead us to the nearest pub. We headed for Walkabout and as we walked it informed us we were getting closer...except after a while we began getting further away from where we were meant to be despite following the directions. Eventually we stumbled upon a Wetherspoons and decided our directional woes would be best cured by getting a pint down our necks. We got a text from Walkley saying that him and ‘the lads’ were at a pub called the Yorkshire Gray and despite initially going the wrong way down the street, and seeing an old fella have some sort of stroke next to a bus stop, we made it to the pub. After several pints and the usual tomfoolery from the Wakey lads we hopped into our taxis for the Keepmoat...except somehow there weren’t enough taxis for all of us despite Walkley doing a headcount before ordering! JP and Southy were left stranded but I assume they made it to the ground!?
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| I visited the Keepmoat last season and my opinion of the place hasn’t really changed. It’s a nice enough little place but it’s just a miniature version of the Walkers Stadiums and Ricoh Arenas of this world. I made for my seat which was right at the back right in the left-hand corner and by some fluke I ended up next to the Speakups who were next to Beastie and Hollie and in front of us were Ante, JBO and Leroy. Anyway I didn’t have chance for much of a natter as kick-off was fast approaching but Mr Speakup assured me Rose didn’t have her eye on my seat this time! |  |
The changes that had been hinted at since Saturday were made with the experienced but much-maligned Darren Purse coming in at the back in place of Hinds, who was at fault for one of Reading’s goal at the weekend while Sean McAllister came in for Michael Gray in midfield. There were two changes up top as well with JJ and Clarke in for SAS and Varney.
Laws went for the tried-and-tested away 4-3-3 formation and though it wasn’t particularly pretty it was certainly effective in the first-half. O’Connor and McAllister were snapping at the heels of the Donny players and they just weren’t getting any time or space to stroke the ball about as is their wont. Purse was in commanding form at the back winning plenty of headers and clearing the lines effectively however despite all the hard work there was little in the way of penetration up top which proved to be the case for the whole 90 minutes.
The noise from the travelling support was excellent and there was apparent support for Brian Laws which chants of ‘Brian Laws’ Barmy Army’ and ‘Brian, give us a wave’ early on. To be fair whatever anyone’s views are on whether he should have been dismissed before last night’s game or not, every one of us was determined to get behind the team and that included the manager for the next 90 minutes at least.
Billy Sharp got plenty of stick from us especially when he took a poor touch in the first half and gifted us a goal kick. As Wednesdayites launched into the familiar anti-United chant Sharp started ‘conducting’ with his hands and it was somewhat inevitable that he would later on be calling the tune by scoring the decisive goal. Donny’s support in contrast was surprisingly muted considering it was meant to be a local derby despite the Wednesdayites’ best efforts to coax them into some sort of banter. A lad to our immediate left copped for some stick (‘Fatboy, fatboy, give us a song’) etc...although it was a bit harsh on the lad as Beastie pointed out he must only have been about 8 or 9 stone soaking wet!
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The first half came and went and the highlight of the break was having a piss next to Tommy Craig who used to be in that Corrie as he announced he’d been on the piss since 4pm. Sadly if Wednesday had been playing since 4pm we’d still not have scored...I knocked back a quick pint which tasted like chemicals as ever at the footie and decided for a change of location for the second half, this time right behind the goal next to Walkley as he said he’d be able to sort us a lift home!
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The second-half continued much in the same vein as the first with Wednesday showing plenty of endeavour but lacking any cutting-edge and indeed luck. Time ticked away and with twenty minutes left Laws replaced Clarke for Varney. Referee Alan Wiley made a baffling decision when he awarded Donny a goal-kick despite Donny defender O’Connor clearly knocking the ball out for a corner. He showed his ineptitude was not reserved for us alone as soon after he gave us a throw-in when it was clearly Donny’s ball.
A matter of minutes later Donny went ahead and it was a carbon-copy of goals we’ve seen at Hillsborough in recent weeks with the ball coming in from the right and the unmarked Sharp heading home.
| It had to be Sharp who won the game and he nearly did an Adebayor by running most of the way down the pitch before turning to the home fans rather than rubbing our noses in it. The Donny fans were suddenly alive and the chants of ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning’ could be heard from a despondent away end. Esajas and Soares were brought on but the change was made far too late and they had no chance of making any real difference. One of Wednesday’s best chances of the game came in injury time when Beevers volleyed over the bar but it would be harsh to criticise the defender who worked so hard for 90 minutes. |  |
Seconds later the whistle was blown and the visiting Wednesdayites were left to reflect on another defeat, another game without a goal and another nail in Brian Laws’ coffin.
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The players were given a good reception and they deserved it for their application.
However, the lack of penetration in the final third is a massive concern at the minute and if we don’t turn it around very soon we are in big, big trouble.
The players played for their manager last night as far as I’m concerned which is more than they did against West Brom and Reading. However, hard work isn’t enough to win a football match. Putting away your chances is how you win football matches and climb this league and that’s exactly what Donny did.
It seems unlikely that Laws will be sacked before the weekend with Strafford reluctant to pull the trigger especially after an apparently improved performance. However, there’s only so long we can put up with defeats like this and if a fourth successive defeat comes on Saturday then our chairman is surely left with no other option.
If something doesn’t change soon all the hard work of the past five years will be undone and we’ll be back in League One.
Creg
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