JP ON THE JP: A new Wednesday emerging?

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The oldest league club in the world and the original bianconeri visited Hillsborough on Wednesday night as Sheffield Wednesday entered their second knockout tournament of the season with a winning start and a rare double goal brace for James O’Connor. The win is on the back of jubilant 5-0 away win at Hartlepool at the weekend, the like of which supporters of Wednesday are less familiar with. Supporters are more familiar with toil and graft than the professional ruthlessness that was on show at the weekend.

Thus there was hope after the weekend that a new professional, ruthless Wednesday side was emerging to replace the old, bad Wednesday teams that we are used to. So which side was it against Notts County in the Johnson’s Paint Trophy?

The opening twenty minutes appeared to suggest a continuation of the ruthlessness on show in the North East at the weekend. The Wednesday wasted no time in taking the lead in the first two minutes, after good work by Teale and Otsemobor creating the opening for O’Connor to open the scoring and the persistent midfielder doubled the lead soon after. The new Wednesday appeared to have a confidence in manner and control of the game that has not been prevalent in recent years, as Wednesday stroked the ball around with an ease and effectiveness not familiar to regular watchers. 

Good Wednesday

However, as the first half progressed there was a sign that the new Wednesday still have elements of the old Wednesday. The new right back, Jon Otsemobor appeared to struggle against the opposition’s left flank and conceded a questionable free kick on the left hand edge of the Wednesday penalty box. Notts County did not waste this opportunity to get back into the game. Thus it was a well taken free kick by Ben Davies that halved Wednesday’s lead less than ten minutes after the lead was consolidated.
                 

                 
From there on the game descended into a scrappy affair as Wednesday looked to kill the game and Notts County looked to get back into it. Towards the end of the first half a series of rash challenges to Wednesday players went unpunished, whilst the referee seemed to have an inconsistent attitude towards fouls. There were various heavy tackles against home players going unpunished and yet Marcus Tudgay was punished after using a brilliant piece of skill to beat a defender and head towards goal, was adjudged to have fouled, according to the referee. This led to the referee being roundly booed by the home crowd at half time and gave the game an uneasy taste.

The second half continued in a similar manner, Wednesday had lost Sedgwick in the first half and was replaced by Tommy Miller on the right hand flank, as the side lost the shape and width that had been so effective early on.

Bad Wednesday

The game meandered on and the bad old Wednesday appeared to remerge, as the home team toiled on and Notts chased an equaliser. In the last twenty minutes Wednesday missed various chances to kill the game and the opposition various missed opportunities to level the tie. Neil Mellor replaced the energetic, if off pace, Morrison, and bought some much needed pace the attack, whilst Nicky Weaver was in good form to keep the visitors at bay. The feeling of relief at the final whistle had a depressing familiarity about it. Wednesday had won and progressed but it was not without some toil and fear of a two goal lead being squandered. Thus, the game started with a feeling that the home crowd were watching a new ruthless side emerge, whilst it ended with a familiar struggle of the bad Wednesday of old.

It should be stressed that there was much to like from this Wednesday performance. The goal against came about from a dodgy dive by the Notts winger for the free kick, which was brilliantly taken. At the other end it only required some more clinical finishing late on to make the latter stages easier to watch. There were some excellent moments going forward from the likes of Teale who combined well with the pacey Daniel Jones on the left flank. Specific note should also go to Tudgay, O’Connor, who nearly got a hat trick, and the ever present Darren Potter, all of whom are clearly part of this evolving Wednesday side. 

This new Wednesday is a work in progress, but the signs are that it is developing very nicely indeed and the good elements are outnumbering the bad ones. So it’s onwards and upwards in JP Trophy, in what represents our best chance to ensure a trip to Wembley and become the last South Yorkshire team to visit Wembley in its new form.

JP
Owls Alive


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