Mindstya watching the performance at Peterborough last week did nothing to lift anyone’s spirit and fell way short of putting me in the right frame of mind for what was arguably one of the most crucial games of the last decade

I have to be honest too, I was never fearful of this game at all…I know that sounds soft now after the result but I had always been confident we’d not only be safe but that we’d beat Boro on the last day. I even said that to the Young Un and others (that were listening) before the Peterborough game when everyone was telling me we’d beat them at London Road…I was never confident in that game as we usually get stuffed by the Cambridgeshire Boro but knew it didn’t matter as we’d win this game against the Teesside variety…that’s very unusual for me because if there’s a chance for a bit of needless fretting I’m ya man!

With a big home crowd expected I was hoping that we could get an early goal and keep a good atmosphere going throughout the game to keep a positive vibe throughout because the alternative just didn’t bear thinking about so with my expectations high we walked over from the car park in the sunshine…

Whatever happens here I thought, there’s still plenty to like about turning up at Hillsborough on a day like this, with the sun shining and the pavements half a dozen deep with Wednesday fans, it takes me back to healthier and wealthier times when crowds like this were a regular occurrence.

I can’t help it but it always makes me wonder where they’ve been all season when we’ve really needed them.

A few more fans against the likes of Wolves or Ipswich might have seen us over the line a little earlier or even a few thousand more against Bristol City at home and perhaps we could have roared the team through those final few minutes that saw us cave in and hand the game to the visitors…crucial games this season that could have prevented the need for any hint of agony in the final game.

I understand and fully appreciate that folk have different things going on in their lives and we all have to pick and choose the games carefully these days as it’s not a cheap hobby anymore but we’re making a habit of getting over 30k for these season finales now and whilst I do love to see the old place stuffed with happy Wednesday fans, all trying to haul us to safety, we could do with a few more throughout the season and see if we can’t avoid this situation a little earlier.

As we went through the turnstiles for the last time this season in our now customary order I was still trying to shrug off the last dregs of apathy and get myself into the right frame of mind…I was busting…I needed to nip for a bit of relief first…walking into the gents didn’t help my mood at all, seeing the crowd of waiting blokes in there I decided to give it a miss and with a little bit more grumpiness and a bustin bladder I stomped up the steps towards the kop chuntering under me breath about part timers, taking all the parking, then all the space at the urinals and if one of the chuffers is sat in me seat I might just ex-chuffin-plode…

Soon as I got to the top of the steps it was almost as though someone had come along and removed the cloud of gloom from me…

We’d heard the noise building up from outside obviously but from the top of the stairs it seems to hit you a bit harder…with no more than 5 minutes to kick off, when you see the three sides filling up quickly and the noise building up like that, the sun lighting up the pitch and you feel the expectation of all those Blue and White fans it’s a great thing…I love it.

A quick glance at our seats…yeah the cloud had gone but it wouldn’t take much to bring a little bit back…no one sat in em…

Excellent!

Hopefully a gloom cloud free day!

We settled in only moments before the players were due out…the Tannoy going through the well-trodden repertoire of pre match songs and everyone really getting in the mood, when they did eventually come out and we hit the chorus of Hi Ho Sheffield Wednesday the volume was off the scale….
-
THE MATCH
-
We really needed to hit the ground running today and take the game to Boro, show them we mean business…

That’s exactly what we did, even changing ends and kicking towards the kop first half wasn’t going to dampen this day and right from the off we set about them, we were absolutely magnificent, especially JJ who was right at his very best….he was wanting the ball at every opportunity, he was full of running, he was full of fight as he wrestled the ball from Boro players at every opportunity and he was full of tricks and when you watch JJ playing like this you cannot, simply cannot help but love the fella.

He drives every single one of us nuts over the course of a season and we rant and rage about him…he drives us to distraction but every now and again you see what he CAN do and you just melt…

You simply cannot stay mad with the bloke. He’s like your kids, your grand-kids…when they do something that annoys you, you tell them off, you lay down the law and you tell them ‘THIS TIME I MEAN IT!’

But you know…you absolutely know that you’ll cave in before long…and here is the Sheffield Wednesday version of that, melting our hearts yet again and having every single one of us gushing and agreeing he deserves another contract…ANOTHER contract!

As early as the first minute, having created the chance himself, he was having a shot on goal …OK, so it was a ‘typical’ JJ shot and ended up closer to the roof of the kop than the roof of the net but it was a statement of intent from the enigmatic Jamaican…

It really did set the tone for our game as we seemed to attack non-stop in those opening minutes and moments later Olofinjana also blasted one over the bar with a difficult shot from inside the 6 yard box…

The good stuff on the pitch was having the desired effect on those in the stands and the noise was incredible at times as we really got behind the team  and any apathy or hint of gloom I had at the start was totally gone now…

When the ball came back to Llera just inside our half he looked up and saw Stevie Aaard on the shoulders of the Boro defence…He knocked the ball forward…

A wonderfully weighted, precision, semi-inducing pass that cut through the Boro defence like a knife and landed at the feet of the waiting Stevie Aaard…MY hero Stevie Aaard….

He took a touch…

I was on my feet…

He pulled the trigger….

My heart stopped….

He leathered it with the full, awesome power of the Aaard Ammer…..BLAM!

My eyebrows left the building….

As the ball shot through the air like a bullet, I stood there…

Heart stopped, eyebrowless, gawking like a lovelorn nipple…hoping…waiting…praying for the net to bulge….

He had hit the ball with everything he had, it was a picture of pure power and yet it seemed to be taking forever to reach the target…

I’m pretty sure I was drooling at this point and my face ready to change from a picture of elation to agony at a moments notice, just in case….

When it thwacked the underside of the bar and rattled into the netting my heart started again, I breathed again, and the drool and every other bit of moisture I had in my body hit the wall in front of us…my eyebrows were long gone and they weren’t coming back…

I turned to the Young Un…we both had the same slack jawed look on our faces…shock…sheer, sheer, happiness…we were both shouting like idiots….

HE’S DONE IT!

HE’S DONE IT!

STEVIE AAAAAAAAAAARD!

GET IN! GET THE CHUFF IN!

We hugged, we jumped up and down, we punched the air…I saw Ozzie Owl looking over at us…he knows how much I love Stevie Aaard….he was punching the air too…it’s a surreal moment when you’re sharing something like that with the cold staring eyes of a bulbous mascots head…

Oh man…oh man…oh man…

Anyone that knows me, knows how much I love Stevie Aaard….how long I’ve waited to see him in a Wednesday shirt…how long I’ve waited for this moment…it was everything I hoped it would be…a wonderful, wonderful moment for my hero to get the goal that sets us on our way towards retaining our Championship status…

When everything calmed down I was absolutely shattered…I was worn out…I had spent everything I had in the moment…I’d dropped me fruit bag multiple times…the bag was gone, fruit was everywhere…and I was a spent force now…I needed a few minutes to compose meself…perhaps a smoke after an occasion like this?

Within seconds of me sitting down my phone was going nuts….there were over 20 messages from folk making comments about Stevie Aaard scoring….and then another dozen on Twitter…is there anyone that doesn’t know how much I love that fella?

Of course the atmosphere was electric now and not that anyone needed that lift but the goal had raised everyones hopes and expectations even more…the players to a man were playing with confidence and it was a joy to watch and every single time JJ got the ball you could feel the expectation level go up yet another notch…

For all his failings is there another player that can do that to us?

He would pick the ball up and run at them…go on a mazy run…he would dip in and out of Boro players…and as he got forward everyone would lift out of their seat…

It wasn’t just JJ though, all the players were at it and on the opposite side H was giving his fullback a torrid time…every time he went forward he tore the lad a new one as he went past him with ease and usually finished the move off with a good ball into the danger zone…

The ball would come in, Stevie Aaard would distract the defence…every single time he went up for a ball he had 3 Boro players around him, one to tug his shirt and 2 to try and out jump him…and whilst they did that JJ, Lita and Helan…and every chuffer else had a bit of space and time to do their stuff…it was working a treat, it was wonderful football from us…

When JJ took up the ball in front of us from Lewis he had a couple of Boro defenders blocking his route to goal but he wasn’t fazed at all…he shimmied and he shammied and when he did the most delightful, wonderful, ridiculously sublime step over to leave them both wonderin’ ‘Which way did he go?’ there was an audible gasp from the kop, as everyone reached orgasm at the same time…

We were playing well, we were creating chances, we were getting shots off and we were easily great value for the lead but we needed to make it count and score whilst we were so much on top and settle things once and for all…

Scruffy as chuff

When we got a corner, taken from the North Stand side, the ball came in, landed amongst a gaggle of players and somehow found its way into the net…it was as scruffy as chuff but it had extended our lead…we’d played so well, we done some lovely moves and not finished them off and now we’d scored with the scruffiest piece of football all game…Lewis had taken the corner, Olofinjana had got a touch on it but it was Leroy that was celebrating as though he’d scored….

WE DIDN’T CARE!

We were now two goals to the good and deservedly so!

We didn’t sit back though barely a minute or so after the restart and H is going hell for leather down the left…what a magnificent sight he is at full pelt with the ball at his feet…he knocks it slightly too far ahead and the Boro defender puts in a truly superb tackle to come out with the ball…only to see Helan recover, go back, tackle him back, take the ball from him and continue forward as if nowt had happened and not only that but finish it off with a lovely cross into the heart of the box…

The ball rolls across in front of Stevie Aaard who missed it but it lands at the feet of the Boro defender facing the wrong way who manages to knock it back towards Aaard on his way into the back of the net and in doing so takes the keeper, who is sprawled out on the deck, out of the equation…this is it…it’s another…Stevie Aaard knocks the ball forward, calmly picking his spot and sliding the ball confidently towards a gaping goal…

OH NO! CAN IT BE?

ANOTHER STEVIE AAARD MOMENT?

We’re on our feet…our eyebrows are still nowhere to be seen…we’re ready to go nuts and as the ball rolls towards the goals we are almost at celebration point when a Boro defender appears from nowhere and blocks it on the line…

AAAAARRRRGGH!

How did that happen?
How could anyone stop us from having another Aaard moment?
Stevie Aaard stood there incredulous with his hands on his head…like the rest of us he couldn’t believe it hadn’t gone in.

It was agony but again we didn’t let it affect us and we continued playing good attacking football right up to the half time whistle but the closest we came was after a wonderful bit of interplay between H and Danny Pugh, both showing lovely individual skill which eventually saw Pugh shooting into the side netting…

The half had flown past and the Wednesday fans didn’t want it to end…

It was as good a 45 minutes as we’ve seen in a long, long time…slick, precise passing, everyone working hard, good attacking football where we were totally dominant throughout and there can’t be any arguments from the Boro fans about us having the lead and no one could have argued had we gone in 3 or 4 goals to the good, we were that dominant.

After such an exhilarating performance like that in the first half the second 45 was always going to struggle to match it and it did…overall it was a shadow of what we’d seen first half with some of that being due to us losing JJ…he was replaced by the smashing Kizza Lee but he just doesn’t have his spark at the moment…

To be fair to JJ one of the Boro players had gone through the back of him (Ref and Lino gave nothing of course) at the end of the first half and he came out the tackle holding his Achilles and wasn’t the same player after that, he’d stopped running but he’d done his job and run his race by then and with only a minute or so left he’d seen the half out…

When he goes off amidst this sort of form then it’s got to have an effect on the team and it did just that but the half was not without chances…especially at the start when a dreadful backpass by a Boro defender was pounced upon by Lita but instead of taking a touch and sidestepping the keeper he blasted it straight at him with the ball spilling just wide and the keeper able to recover enough to collect the ball.

It was the chance that we needed to take and had he done just that then it really would have been party time as the game would have been over there and then…we’d done enough to finish Boro off but just couldn’t find that final blow to stop them picking themselves up again…

The half may not have been the Wednesday fest we’d enjoyed in the first 45 minutes but the atmosphere continued pretty much right to the final whistle with the noise becoming shiveringly good at times…

Perhaps the most appropriate chant and amongst the loudest of all was the praise for the beleaguered Wednesday manager…

Deserved praise

DAVE JONES BARMY ARMY!
DAVE JONES BARMY ARMY!
DAVE JONES BARMY ARMY!

He’s had his critics through the season but we were heading towards ‘job done’ time now and staying up would justify his decisions throughout the campaign…it really was booming around Hillsborough too and I hope he took it as the fans saying thank you to him…

The other chant that picked up pace and volume along the way was the one we’ve stolen from Leicester City and any other number of clubs…

Olé Oléééé
Olé Oléééé
Sheffield Wednesday Olé
Sheffield Wednesday Olé
Sheffield Wednesday Olééééééé

It may not be a Wednesday original but it still sounded fantastic as everyone joined in, clapping and belting it out..

I know it may seem very one sided this match report but that’s just about how it was…

OK, Boro did have a better time of it in the second half with a bit more possession but I can’t remember any shot on target for the whole 90 minutes and the few they had off target were really poor…this was a very pale imitation of the lovely football side that had beaten us at the Riverside earlier in the season, in fact it was a very poor imitation of any Boro side we’ve seen of the last 10-15 years and they look a sorry side as things stand.

You can certainly see why they’ve not won many away games and found themselves sliding down the table at an alarming rate in the second half of the season. If they’re to make inroads in this division as they’re probably expecting then even allowing for the fact they had nothing to play for they need to make some drastic changes as they look more like relegation fodder than many of the teams that have been down there all season.

As the game wore on it all started to have a feel of inevitability about it and no one seemed in any hurry to change things anymore but the ball came into the box towards Lita who went up for the header to try and lob the keeper…as he went up so too did a Boro defender and they clashed heads putting both of them sparko on the deck…one of the Boro defenders was very quick in his reactions and straight away rolled Lita onto his side and beckoned anxiously for a physio to come on before stepping away looking very worried at the prostrate Wednesday striker…

He did eventually get to his feet but he was replaced shortly after by Maguire…it was a pity for it to end like that for Leroy who had had just about his best game in a Wednesday shirt.

It was great to see during this period where the game was halted for Lita to get attention that Reda was on the touchline talking to each and every player, shouting them over and geeing them up, clapping and urging them on to see the job out…clearly telling them to carry on working hard and finish the task at hand…and of course with that huge beaming smile on face you just can’t say no to the bloke…you simply MUST do as ya told!

And they did…the players saw out the game in good style….good solid, composed style with barely a moments concern and with the clock ticking down the final few minutes, even when the board went up to signify 4 extra minutes no one batted an eyelid…we weren’t to be denied this time…there would be no heartbreak this season, no final kick in the plums and no sooner had the board gone up and the fans started to gather at the front of the stands ready for the now customary pitch invasion…no matter how much they are asked to return to the stands and NOT to go on the pitch and no matter how many extra stewards they employ each year they aint ever going to stop it and the look on the faces of the stewards in front of us said they really weren’t in the mood to try.

CHARGE!

As soon as the whistle went the players arms went up and the swarming began as the pitch became flooded with jubilant Wednesday fans…there was just time enough for players such as Llera to throw his shirt to a young fan before disappearing down the tunnel and that was it…it was all over and whilst it may not have had the same wonderful feel of last season’s promotion party it was still a happy moment that was well worth celebrating…

We’d kept our Championship status and deservedly so…it had been a long hard slog for the manager, players and fans alike but we had proven over the course of the season that we were at least the equal of most teams in this division and we had earned another crack at it….but we’d also seen that we needed to improve if we were to progress at this level and that may mean saying good bye to one or two fan favourites in this squad.

When the crowd cleared the pitch and the players eventually came back out there was no hint of daftness from anyone and no off-handedness as it all had the air of a good natured farewell and thank you party, as it should…

The players walked around with their kids, waving to everyone…JJ and Reda obliged with the JJ and Reda dance as we all sang the song to them and it may just be me reading too much into things but when Llera waved it had the look of finality about it…as though he knew this was his last time in front of us…

It was great to see Antonio take the applause of the fans in thanks for all his efforts, we’ve missed the lad more than we thought we would and noticeable by his absence was Gary Madine who didn’t come back out with the players

It was especially nice to see a handful of Boro fans hang back and applaud the players too…it may seem strange to a lot of footy fans but me and the Young Un did the same at Peterborough last week and it just seems right to me, no matter who ya support.

Thank you to everyone that’s contributed to this website this season when I haven’t been able to, especially Danny who has stepped into the breach at short notice many times, without him and everyone else helping out this place would have collapsed many times over and a big thank you to all of you for taking the time to read these rambles and previews and bothering to join in, whether agreeing with me or not, it’s all about opinions is football and you’re all allowed to be wrong…I’m kidding…it’s usually me that’s wrong and I thank you for putting up with me.

Have a great footy free summer and I hope to see you all next season and if you would like to join in and write for Owls Alive or contribute in any way at all then let me know, we are always looking for help.

Steve:Beastie
Owls Alive
E-MAIL: admin@owlsalive.com
TWITTER: @OwlsAlive or @beastie_

The Owls lost out in disappointing fashion at Peterborough and with results elsewhere not going in the Owls’ favour,a mere point separates Dave Jones’ men from the dropzone,can we secure our status against midtable Middlesbrough?

All stats come from Soccerbase and Soccernet.

The Owls were less than inspiring in defeat,a McCann free kick proved enough to defeat the Owls who squandered a couple of chances in the aftermath of the goal to grab safety.

Middlesbrough fought from 2-0 down to salvage a late point against Charlton,not for the first time this season did Chris Powell find his team throwing away points in the last 10 minutes.

The Owls are winless in four games and have scored just 4 goals in 5 games since putting 3 past Blackburn Rovers,add to that just one clean sheet since Leicester away in early March and things aren’t ideal at the moment for the Owls,on the plus side the Owls haven’t lost their last three Hillsborough encounters.

After defeating us in November,Middlesbrough’s form has deserted them,2013 has seen them gain just a trio of league victories,their road form has been woeful to say the least,their last away victory was at Peterborough on the 8th December.

LAST MEETING
9th November 2012,The Riverside Stadium, Att – 28229
Middlesbrough 3-1 Wednesday
(J Hoyte 13,I Miller 60,L Jutkiewicz 76)(G Madine 48)

The Sky cameras saw our last meeting and the Boro came out on top,the Owls did have a little spell in the second half after drawing level but conceding the second killed the game off.

The Owls first meeting with Middlesbrough was back in 1895 in the FA Cup,the Owls gave Middlesbrough a 6-1 shellacking with Harry Davis scoring a hat-trick and Fred Spiksley netting a brace.

Middlesbrough do possess the heaviest win in the fixture in the Owls dark decade of the 1970s,Owls fans still have nightmares about the Steve Burtenshaw era and those unfortunate enough to travel to Ayresome Park that day may still have flashbacks to the 8-0 humiliation Boro bestowed on the Owls.

THE DJ WILL PLAY………

Dave Jones may make a couple of risks that he might not have made had the Owls secured safety last weekend, Jermaine and Reda Johnson could both feature in this one, Jeremy Helan went off with a dead leg last weekend and he too could play a part,otherwise the Owls squad emerged unscathed from their trip to London Road.

Tony Mowbray has announced that loan players Sammy Ameobi,Josh McEachran and Ishmael Miller will not feature in this one as he looks to next season, Kieron Dyer won’t play a part either,his short term deal will not be renewed, George Friend is also doubtful for this one and is unlikely to play.

	BUXTON		GARDNER		LLERA		R JOHNSON
	PUGH		OLOFINJANA		PRUTTON		HELAN
			J JOHNSON		HOWARD

KEY PLAYERS

Jermaine Johnson frustrates,delights and annoys in equal measure but in the last month he has made a big contribution,it is foolhardy to rely on the inconsistent Jamaican but he seems to be the only spark in the Wednesday team in Michail Antonio’s absence.

Jason Steele is the final barrier that Wednesday need to break down in order to score,Wednesday haven’t tested the opposition keeper enough recently,we need to ensure that Steele has a busy afternoon.

THE BETTING BOX:5 OF THE BEST

BET	Wednesday WIN	Middlesbrough WIN	DRAW	JJ 1st Goal	Correct Score 2-1
BEST ODDS	20/23	7/2	11/4	17/2	17/2
BOOKIES

Given that Wednesday have something to play for and Middlesbrough don’t,the bookies have made Wednesday favourites for this at 20/23

Reda’s been a solid goalscoring threat when he’s been available and his price has dropped accordingly,33/1 was a regular occurence last term for him to net the opener,it’s over half that now with him being 16/1 at Ladbrokes and Coral to open the scoring with the latter having him 6/1 to score anytime.

I’ll end my betting season (which I’ve been notoriously horrible at) by giving you a bit of a daft one,Reda is 200/1 with Skybet to net a hat-trick.

HERE COMES D-JUDGE

We now know what we have to do,time has run out,we don’t have another chance after this,we have to win to secure our Championship status for another season. We can’t rely on Barnsley and Peterborough to lose,we have to secure our own destiny with a win or tempt fate which very rarely favours Wednesday.

A bumper crowd will be at Hillsborough,let them have something to cheer about,let’s go out there and play without fear but not without discipline and focus. Middlesbrough have nothing to play for but pride,everything’s on the line for us, we have to make it count. A return to the wilderness of League One is a real possibility if we play the same way we did against Ipswich and Peterborough,let’s raise it up and give it one last almighty effort.

It’s a rarity we do things the easy way but let’s win here and have a positive vibe heading into the summer after a long and trying season.

Let us have a bit of optimism heading into the summer rather than a nervous wait for the other results to come in.

VERDICT: Enough of the faffing about and making us nervous Wednesday! We’ll win this and we’ll win it 2-1.

Danny (D-Good)
Owls Alive
E-MAIL: admin@owlsalive.com
TWITTER: @OwlsAlive or @DGood83

With the destination being Peterborough and me being a Doncaster lad,the train seemed the only logical choice and with us being the late kick off,it made even more sense to head down early and join the Owls Alivers for several pre-match drinks and watch the results come in.

After the long walk from the train station to the Palmerston Arms, the original plan was to find a TV and watch the results come in, Creg and Baldy even scouted alternative venues, it didn’t matter in the end, everyone had a phone and we kept up with the scores that way and carried on having a natter in the world’s smallest beer garden whilst talking about the upcoming game.

We even saw Liam and the Wakey crew all dressed as crayons, Liam quipped “We’ve come for the draw”, as kick off time drew nearer we knew that Burnley had done us a favour but Hull hadn’t, all we needed in this game to secure our status was a draw.

Shambolic!

The worst experience about this afternoon was getting into the ground, a 3000 strong away following needs more than 4 turnstiles and with the game having kicked off and a lot of folk still being outside,it turned nasty,there was loads of pushing and shoving and it could have turned really bad,really quick. It’s a small miracle no-one got seriously hurt in all that hubbub.

This was very poor and if Peterborough have fans with larger away followings,they really need to take a long,hard look at how they deal with these sort of crowds in the future, we got in when the game was about 20 minutes old and I joined Sally,JP and Baldy on the terrace.

THE MATCH

You’ll have to forgive me for not giving you a full lowdown on the 90 minutes and those who watched it on TV would have saw more than I did, the first action I did see was Danny Pugh denying Mendez-Laing an opportunity with a Posh player sending the follow up into orbit.

Despite the hassle getting in,it didn’t stop the Wednesday fans being in fine voice and the Moys Terrace was packed to the rafters full of singing Owls,some dressed up,some just trying to create an atmosphere,I did see the smoke bombs make an unwelcome return at the front of the terrace however.

Giles Coke had an effort not long afterwards but it wasn’t a problem for Olejnik in the Posh goal, Kirkland had to be on his toes at one point as a Posh corner looked like it could drift in but he punched it away.

This was scrappy stuff and Wednesday perhaps should have taken the lead on the stroke of half time as Gardner nodded into the side netting.

Always gives his best

Jones made a change at half time and sent on Kieran Lee for McCabe who I hadn’t really noticed from what I saw of the first half. It didn’t make a difference to the tempo of the contest as it continued to be ugly and both teams continued to slug it out, Peterborough had a half hearted shout for the penalty but the game changing moment came when Ant Gardner gave away a free kick in a very dangerous area.

It seemed to take ages for Peterborough to take the free kick and Salop said “you just know with how long it’s taking for them to set up this free kick,they’re going to score” – I told him to shut up,probably because deep down I knew he was going to be right and he chuffing was.

McCann took it and unleashed an unstoppable effort that cracked the post before nestling in the back of the Wednesday net.

We tried to rally after that and we had two chances to get level, the first was shortly after the goal when Maguire blazed over from a good position,the other came when the ball fell to Leroy Lita whose first effort forced the keeper into a save,the rebound fell to Lita,the goal was gaping but he lacked any sort of composure and sent the ball into the same orbit as Steve Simonsen’s penalty.

That was our chance and we didn’t take it, as the game wore on no Wednesday player seemed to want to make it happen and as we’ve seen so many times before over the years they retreated into their shells and couldn’t step it up, Lewis Buxton tried at times,he did but his crosses and final balls in were woeful.

The final whistle blew, the home fans invaded the pitch seeming to think safety was theirs, we were just utterly dejected and drained.

This was a game where we were far too conservative, I’m not slamming Dave Jones for that because it’s a tactic that has worked away from home in recent months but when we have no Jermaine Johnson and no Michail Antonio,we look very predictable and run out of ideas very quickly. We have a midfield that works hard but seems to lack an idea of how to make things happen in the final third, our only hope seems to be scoring from a setpiece but the Gardner effort aside I can’t remember many where we threatened from.

Let’s be right,Peterborough weren’t better than us,this was a crap game between two crap sides and the one moment of quality either side produced decided the game.

What we didn’t have after we conceded is that spark,that little bit of something that could get us back into the game,that player capable of producing a moment of magic, what we do have is a side that is tough to break down,is difficult to beat, what we don’t have is a source of goals, we’ve scored just twice in the last 4 games and it’s not enough.

Hmmmm

Dave Jones has a job on his hands that’s for sure,relegation would be an unmitigated disaster for this club and we’ve only got ourselves to blame, if you’d said in December that going into the last game we’d need a win to guarantee survival most Owls fans would have snapped your hand off, now we’re just upset that we haven’t secured it despite having chances to, we’ve seen sides overtake us and secure their status, a fortnight ago we could’ve gone 9th with a win at Leeds yet we’re still amongst the bottom dwellers,it’s a major disappointment.

We have to look at our squad in the summer,players need to be moved on,players of a better quality need to be brought in,players for the future need to be mentored and brought on to be the core of what potentially is a very good Wednesday side,potential don’t win you games though and we have to discover how to do that and to do it consistently.

I write this a year to the day where the Owls won at Brentford and overtook that lot from S2 in League One,we run a risk of undoing the season that kept on giving and this could be the season that kept on taking, it’s taken it’s toll on me that’s for sure and at the moment I’m not overly bothered about being absent from Hillsborough next week, I never thought I’d say that but this is where this season has brought me.

Wednesday always remind me of those femme fatales from the old style films, they disappoint you, they break your chuffing heart time and time again yet when you’re just about to give up on them,they give you that bit of magic to keep you going,that magic hasn’t come enough this time around.

I love this club, I genuinely do but I want this season out of the road, I need the summer off to recharge my batteries and rediscover my faith in Sheffield Wednesday.

Beat Middlesbrough next week Wednesday and give us something to be positive about going into the summer.

Please help us to keep the faith.

Danny
Owls Alive
E-MAIL: admin@owlsalive.com
TWITTER: @OwlsAlive or @DGood83

The Owls drew consecutive games for the first time since February and with 2 games to go,they stand 4 points above the relegation zone,can we secure safety whilst pushing the Posh closer to the abyss?

All stats come from Soccerbase and Soccernet.

The Owls got a point in an uninspiring contest against Ipswich,Miguel Llera will hang his head in shame when he looks back at the error that led to the Ipswich goal,Leroy Lita spared the Owls’ blushes.

Peterborough’s recent good run came to a crushing end at Pride Park, Derby ended their own winless run in a good display as Posh struggled to live with the Rams.

The Owls could have chosen a better period to go winless in three but earlier results against Blackburn,Barnsley and Millwall have proved crucial in maintaining their cushion,results went the Owls’ way last weekend and should Barnsley and Wolves lose,the Owls will be safe before they even kick a ball,that is no guarantee however.

The Derby defeat ended a 10 game undefeated streak for Peterborough but the main reason they haven’t climbed up the table is that 6 of those 10 games resulted in a draw,had Posh converted just two of those draws into wins they’d be in a similar position to Wednesday.

LAST MEETING
3rd November 2012,Hillsborough, Att – 22406
Wednesday 2-1 Peterborough United
(R Barkley 46,M Llera 76)(G Boyd 79)

The Owls recorded their second consecutive win in a clash of the basement dwellers last time out.

Our last trip to London Road was Alan Irvine’s last match in charge of the Owls, the Wednesday had led 3-2 but Darren Potter’s sending off saw the Owls crumble and lose 5-3.

The Owls and Peterborough have been infrequent adversaries but have only two wins at London Road to their name, Shefki Kuqi secured Chris Turner’s side a 1-0 win in August 2003 but before that it was in November 1976 as a Tommy Tynan brace saw the Owls defeat the Posh in the season after the worst year in the Owls history.

The first meeting between the two sides was in the FA Cup in 1960,Bobby Craig’s brace saw the Owls advance to Round 5, Manchester United and Sheffield United would fall to the Wednesday before they were defeated in the semi-finals by Blackburn Rovers.

THE DJ WILL PLAY………

Stuart Holden has returned to Bolton Wanderers following his loan spell.

Dave Jones has a few injury worries ahead of this one, Jermaine and Reda Johnson are both doubtful but on the plus side Gary Madine could play a part this weekend.

Peterborough have a few worries too, Michael Bostwick and Mark Little are both doubts for this game, Gabriel Zakuani went off at half time against Derby but is hopeful of making the starting lineup.

	BUXTON		GARDNER		LLERA		PUGH
	LEE		OLOFINJANA		PRUTTON		HELAN
			LITA		HOWARD

KEY PLAYERS

Leroy Lita has chipped in a few goals and they’ve all won us points,if his final contribution is the goal that secures safety,the Owls fans will wish him all the best in the future,he can have an anonymous

Lee Tomlin may not take the plaudits like teammate Dwight Gayle but his contribution is just as important, the Posh’s second leading scorer and the leading creator,our back line will have to be on form to keep the duo quiet.

THE BETTING BOX:5 OF THE BEST

BET	Wednesday WIN	Peterborough WIN	DRAW	Lita 1st Goal	Correct Score 2-2
BEST ODDS	11/5	7/5	5/2	13/2	15/1
BOOKIES

The bookies make Posh the favourites but not convincing ones,the Owls are 11/5 with the home side being 7/5 and the draw 5/2

with Reda and JJ doubtful,I look to others capable of netting the opener for the Wednesday, Llera is 22/1 at 888,Steve Howard is 9/1 with the same firm while for a longshot Anthony Gardner is widely available at 40/1.

If you want something absolutely nailed on this weekend go with both teams to score,that’s 13/20 with BetVictor

HERE COMES D-JUDGE

We could be safe before this game kicks off,on the other hand we could need to win to avoid needing something on the final day against Middlesbrough.

I’m fed up of hearing Owls fans go on about what Barnsley do,what Wolves do,what Huddersfield do – let’s forget about them and realise it’s all on us to secure our status not them. Huddersfield,Barnsley & Wolves means jack if we do the business here.

Let’s forget about others and focus on our own game,we’ve stuttered of late and I’m sick of saying we need to regain focus because in recent weeks the sloppy goals we were conceding early season have started going in of late, the Ipswich goal last weekend has to be up there for the worst goal we’ve conceded this season.

We’ve built a basic formula for success and it needs executing to perfection for us to win, we can’t have these sloppy defensive mistakes,these lackadaisical passes and a failure to convert the chances we make if we are to win this one. We have to cut out the errors,do the basic stuff right, it’s easier said than done but we have done it at times this season.

The team will be backed by a large following,we’ll do our part and roar the team on, the team can do their part and make us a more relaxed bunch ahead of the final game.

VERDICT: Heart says win,Head says draw, I’m going with my head – 2-2.

Danny (D-Good)
Owls Alive
E-MAIL: admin@owlsalive.com
TWITTER: @OwlsAlive or @DGood83

The Owls drew at Blackpool and now have 54 points,they’re 3 clear with 3 to play,can they secure Championship status against Ipswich?

All stats come from Soccerbase and Soccernet.

The Owls got a creditable point at Blackpool and had it not been for the heroics of Matt Gilks in the Blackpool goal,they could well have taken all three.

Ipswich capitalised on a late first half collapse by their opponents scoring three goals in a ten minute spell,two Nouble strikes were split by a stunning Cresswell goal.

The Owls kept their first clean sheet since the Leicester game in March but were also shut out,the end result was the Owls’ first goalless draw since their trip to Birmingham in mid-February,with just 3 games to go,the Owls have 54 points which usually is good enough for Championship safety but this season is a different beast.

Ipswich have been in decent nick of late losing just one of their last seven but their away form is still patchy,their win at Pride Park their first away from Portman Road since their last game of 2012.

LAST MEETING
27th October 2012,Portman Road, Att – 17738
Ipswich 0-3 Wednesday
(R Barkley 2,58,M Antonio 81)

The Owls recorded their first away victory of the season at Portman Road as back to back wins over the Tractor Boys and Peterborough gave Owls fans a brief respite in our desperate run of the autumn.

Ipswich have had a good record at Hillsborough since the Owls dropped from the Premier League,Carlos Edwards scored the only goal in our last Hillsborough meeting.

The Owls last win was when we were making a charge for the playoffs in the 2006/07 season,Whelan and Maclean scored the Owls goals in a 2-0 victory

The first meeting between the two was in 1958, Gerry Young & Roy Shiner scored the Owls goals in a 2-0 victory at Portman Road.

THE DJ WILL PLAY………

Dave Jones returns to the dugout for this one after his two match touchline ban.

The Owls are hopeful that Seyi Olofinjana and Gary Madine could force their way into contention after their injury problems. Reda Johnson also missed out midweek and will be hopeful of making a return.

Ipswich are hopeful of having Jay Tabb back after his injury, Lee Martin and loan striker Aaron Mclean are doubtful however.

	BUXTON		GARDNER		LLERA		R JOHNSON
	HOLDEN		PUGH		PRUTTON		HELAN
			LITA		J JOHNSON

KEY PLAYERS

Jermaine Johnson is playing for a new contract and has looked extremely lively in recent outings,his pace is always troublesome and if he has his shooting boots on he can wreak havoc amongst the Ipswich defence.

Richard Stearman is on loan from Wolves to the East Anglian side and may be the one charged with the task of stopping JJ, he’s an experienced defender at this level and could be a thorn in our sides going forward.

THE BETTING BOX:5 OF THE BEST

BET	Wednesday WIN	Ipswich WIN	DRAW	J Johnson 1st Goal	Correct Score 2-1
BEST ODDS	5/4	13/5	12/5	17/2	19/2
BOOKIES

The Owls are favourites to bring the win home but Ipswich are 13/5 with the draw being 12/5

Reda is 18/1 to open the scoring with Ladbrokes and Llera is 20/1 with Betfred, both teams to score is 19/20 with Coral whilst the Owls or Ipswich failing to hit the net is evens at Paddy Power.

I fancy the Wednesday/Wednesday HT/FT bet,you can have that at 14/5 with 188bet.

HERE COMES D-JUDGE

Nervous times? I’ll have none of that, despite being just 3 points above the drop zone,we still have it in our own hands to secure our status and I’m confident we will.

A win over Ipswich will ease tension and stop the Peterborough game being a tense affair. It won’t be easy though, we’ve fought and clawed our way to every single point we’ve earned and we have to do just a little bit more to secure our status and start planning for the future.

We need to stop worrying about Barnsley,Wolves,Huddersfield,Peterborough and Blackburn and realise that we can do it ourselves. Let’s just go out there and play our own game and play to win, forget about the rest, it’s about what we do.

We can beat Ipswich if we execute our game plan correctly, we can’t afford to self destruct like we have on occasions this season, we need to take chances that come our way, cut out the sloppy passes and create a bit of quality to win this,it’s something we can do to stop a nerve jangling end.

VERDICT: Ipswich are tough cookies but I think we can win this – 2-1 to the Wednesday.

Danny (D-Good)
Owls Alive
E-MAIL: admin@owlsalive.com
TWITTER: @OwlsAlive or @DGood83

The original plan was to sneak out of work a bit early,go home,get changed and make my way to the seaside, a text off Beastie offered a lift but I needed to be at the rendezvous point pronto,something which I barely managed, Beastie was just driving away before collaring me and stopping, I got my stuff,locked my car up,hopped in his and was on the way to the seaside.

The journey passed by in no time and as soon as we parked up and found a bite to eat before wandering past those same deserted chippys and hotels to find the ground.

It’s been a while since I was at Bloomfield Road and it’s changed since, they’ve taken a leaf out of that lot across the city and built a hotel on the grounds,the away end’s changed too with a roof being put over the scaffolding that used to house away fans. They have another shiny new stand as well and the older two sides that housed home fans pales in comparison with the faded tangerine seats.

That was once we found our way round of course,the away turnstiles weren’t as obvious as they were last time around!

There were a couple of changes from our trip to Leeds, Reda & Lita dropped out of the side with the returning Danny Pugh & Steve Howard taking their place.

THE MATCH

Unlike recent matches I’ve seen us play where we’ve been sluggish to start with, the Owls started brightly and we had a chance within a minute,good work by Howard set up JJ who forced Gilks into a save.

and it was JJ again who took advantage of the dodgy pitch and Blackpool’s dithering defenders to carve open an opportunity for himself, Gilks was equal to it but the ball looked like it was just going to squirm into the net but it rolled inches wide……………..it put the travelling contingent into fine voice but “If ya don’t f****ng bounce” got limited airings probably due to the Wednesday fans fearing the rickety stand would give way if we did bounce!

From this point on their 39 MacKenzie took every opportunity to stop JJ.

He probably realised that a Donkey on the beach would do a better job than him and consequently every chance he got,he was niggling JJ,stopping him jumping up for headers,going down when JJ tried to win the ball, it was like seeing King Kong getting knocked out by Kermit the Frog,it was embarrassing but the referee didn’t see it that way and I lost count of the amount of free kicks given against JJ over the course of the game.

Giles Coke was the next to force Gilks into a save,his fizzing effort being put round the post by the impressive Gilks,some Wednesday fans thought it had squeezed in with the netting rippling but unfortunately it wasn’t in,it was a corner.

Back on form

There was no question we had the better of the opening exchanges but eventually the hosts settled and they started to put their stamp on the game, Ince had a sighter that went wide but Sylvestre forced Kirkland into a save.

Good work from Delfouneso cut apart our defence and saw the ball fall to Ince who forced Kirkland to rival Gilks in the top notch save stakes.

After that the game got a bit tense and cagey, I didn’t see the incident but JJ was irate with their left back Crainey over something and the referee promptly booked him after Donkey 39 had his say.

There were no more real incidents or action before half time bar Donkey 39′s antics.

With our game kicking off later than all of the other Championship fixtures, the news that Barnsley,Blackburn & Wolverhampton were all winning gave the travelling Owls fans a bit of nerviness.

That nerviness seemed to translate over to the team at the start of the second half as Blackpool roared out of the blocks and Donkey 39 had the best chance of the match, his header crashing off the crossbar before it was cleared by our defence.

Not long after that, DJ started to make changes, Holden came off to be replaced by Kieran Lee. He’s got a bit of stick over his time here has Stuart Holden and after an early mistake, he regained his composure and had another quiet,efficient outing. He’s quality is Stuart Holden but after so long out of the game we’re merely getting glimpses of it, a fully fit,fully firing Stuart Holden will be an asset for whichever club he’s at.

JJ was also hauled off much to the chagrin of the travelling supporters, this was 100% the right move, he’d got absolutely nothing off the ref and was treading a fine line thanks to Donkey 39, if he hadn’t been taken off, he’d have been sent off, nevertheless this is JJ at his liveliest and the Blackpool defence must have breathed sighs of relief after he’d been taken off. He was replaced by Chris Maguire.

As the last 10 minutes approached, the Owls fans had multiple mood swings, from collar jerking and sheer anxiety when the ball was in our final third to roaring the lads on when we attacked.

We conceded a ridiculous free kick as Coke went for the ball in a 50/50,as the ball went out,the lino signalled for a goal kick but the ref inexplicably gave a free kick against Coke.

We also saw the usually unflappable Gardner lose his rag with Taylor-Fletcher too and that incident saw a few handbags,the ref booked both of them.

We could have snatched the three points as well last off, Maguire carved open an opportunity but Gilks pulled off another cracking save.

We settled for the point after that and the ref blew for full time.

This was a well earned point and had one of the golden chances we created been taken,we’d be talking about a comfortable end to the season, that isn’t the way the fates conspire for us Wednesdayites though and we go into our final three games just three clear of the danger zone.

100% for 90 minutes

I saw Steve Howard getting stick after the game on the boards and twitter and quite frankly I was a bit flabbergasted, say what you want about him, his age, his signing from a relegated League One club but since he’s been here he’s always given it 100% and he did it again here, he ran himself into the ground for the cause and was so close to getting on the end of crosses,he won most of his headers,brought others into play,even started off a few of our attacks and gave their back four a hard time all night. He was shattered at the end and anyone who thinks he was crap last night and offers nothing to the team needs their eyes testing.

JJ was a livewire again as well, He’s always like this this time of year when he’s playing for a contract and he caused their back four no end of problems, had the poor ref given him a bit of protection who knows what carnage he could have caused?

Now for the ref himself, he was poor and some of the decisions made were inexplicable,he really spoiled the flow of a game for me.

The pitch also lived up to expectation,cutting up early on and often,to say Blackpool have had a recent flirtation with England’s elite in the top flight,you’d think some of the money from that one season could go into pitch maintenance, I have to credit them with still trying to play their brand of football on that poor pitch when it’s so easy to be tempted to hoof it, I think you could get a better flowing game on the nearby beach.

This was a hard earned workmanlike point but with results yet again not 100% going our way, we’re still looking over our shoulders, as Paul Ince said post match the struggle down at the bottom is madness and the competitive nature of this league means that 54 points, a mark that I can’t remember any team getting relegated with still may not be enough!

That being said,It is still in our hands to secure our divisional status for next season and we can do that, it’ll be tough but in December a lot of us thought it’d be nigh on impossible to be in this position with three to play,we had 15 points from 21 games,we now have 54 from 43, we’ve more than doubled our points tally in the last 22 games but we’re still in the mix, we’ve fought and clawed for every single one of those points,now we have to fight and claw for a few more to look forward to next season.

It’ll be a nervous last few games but it has become a regular occurence over the years at S6 hasn’t it?

We never do it the easy way at Sheffield Wednesday but we’ll continue to work hard and we’ll earn our spot in this division for next season.

Keep the faith.

Danny
Owls Alive
E-MAIL: admin@owlsalive.com
TWITTER: @OwlsAlive or @DGood83

The Owls lost at Leeds and need one more win to see the season out comfortably,can they make it happen here?

All stats come from Soccerbase and Soccernet.

The Owls fell victim to a few minutes of madness as they conceded twice in 6 minutes,both to headers,the Owls did take the lead through Jermaine Johnson but lackadaisical defending was costly as the Owls pushed in vain for an equaliser.

Blackpool came out on top in the Lancashire derby and it took a moment of quality from Ludovic Sylvestre to take the spoils in a tightly contested game.

The Owls 4 match unbeaten run came to an end as Leeds defeated them but with just 4 games to go, the Owls are 4 points clear of the drop zone,it could be enough but one more win would make the final three games more relaxing for edgy Wednesday fans.

Blackpool and Wednesday were the top two in late August but both have had slumps,whilst Blackpool’s wasn’t quite as severe as the Wednesday one in the autumn,they have just 7 wins to their name out of 27 played since the reverse fixture in November.

LAST MEETING
6th November 2012,Hillsborough, Att – 19978
Wednesday 0-2 Blackpool
(T Ince 18,L Sylvestre 83)

Blackpool were the better side in the last fixture and deserved to win in what was the first defeat of a 7 game losing run for the Wednesday.

It’s been over 3 years since the Owls last went to Bloomfield Road for a league game, Tom Soares and Leon Clarke scoring the goals to give the Owls a win as Alan Irvine made a good start to life at Hillsborough. Our last trip to Bloomfield Road was last season in the FA Cup, Clinton Morrison’s opener was cancelled out by a late Kevin Phillips penalty.

The Owls and Blackpool have become familiar with each other in the last decade, Blackpool beat Wednesday four times in one season back in 2003/04, the Owls did the double over them in 2004/05 and 2009/10 as Blackpool got promoted to the top flight and Wednesday got relegated!

THE DJ WILL PLAY………

Dave Jones serves the second match of his two game touchline suspension.

Danny Pugh is available again after being ineligible for the Leeds game but Giles Coke,Seyi Olofinjana and Jermaine Johnson are all doubts.

Gary Madine will miss this one but is hopeful of making this weekend’s game against Ipswich.

Blackpool could well stick with the eleven that beat Burnley at the weekend,

	BUXTON		GARDNER		LLERA		R JOHNSON
	LEE		PUGH		PRUTTON		HELAN
			HOWARD		LITA

KEY PLAYERS

Reda Johnson put in arguably his best defensive display of the season in at Elland Road and if selected may need another colossal effort to keep Phillips and Ince quiet,if he can get up the other end of the pitch and get a goal,it’ll be a bonus.

Tom Ince has pretty much carried the load for the Seasiders this season, leading the goal scoring charts with 18 and the assists charts with 13, it’s easy to see why he’s courting interest from top flight clubs.

THE BETTING BOX:5 OF THE BEST

BET	Wednesday WIN	Blackpool WIN	DRAW	R Johnson 1st Goal	Correct Score 1-1
BEST ODDS	5/2	13/10	12/5	20/1	13/2
BOOKIES

The home side are favourites in this one being 13/10 to take the win, the Owls are 5/2 with the draw 12/5

Reda Johnson is 7/1 to score anytime with Coral whilst Miguel Llera is 9/1 to haunt his former club with an anytime goal at BetVictor, Ince is 9/5 with the same firm.

Wednesday are 11/8 to nab the opener with bet365.

HERE COMES D-JUDGE

Defeat was a setback but we have to be strong in reacting to it.

The Wednesday face a nervous final fortnight of the season should they lose here but we need to stop the little things that have slipped into our play in recent weeks, we’ve been making sloppy mistakes all over the pitch and Leeds were the ones who finally punished us for them.

We’ve all heard the tales about Blackpool’s pitch and folk saying we’d be better off playing on the beach but we have to deal with it and it won’t stop Blackpool trying to play football on it, what we have to do is cut out the silly little errors,be a bit more disciplined in ball retention, stop giving up silly chances,retain our focus and of course take the opportunities that come our way.

It’s all easier said than done of course but when we have executed that plan,more often than not we’ve taken the points.

I don’t think we’ve quite done enough to secure our divisional status but a win here should do the job. A draw won’t be a disaster either

VERDICT: 1-1 by the seaside as the Owls earn a hard fought point.

Danny (D-Good)
Owls Alive
E-MAIL: admin@owlsalive.com
TWITTER: @OwlsAlive or @DGood83

Normally I enjoy my away games but with what happened at our place in the reverse fixture and all the posturing and chest beating going on online I was having second thoughts about going. The Young Un had told me ever since the game against Leeds at Hillsborough  that there was no way she wanted to go to this game…I’d done my best to convince her that nothing would happen and it was all just a load of keyboard warriors from both clubs sounding off….even though I wasn’t convinced by that myself.

I’d been in contact pretty much nonstop with our great friend and Leeds fan Carol (Slix) who had been updating us on any news about bother on their messageboards, so if it looked dodgy I would decide at any point for us to sit the game out.

It would have narked me more than it already did having had to pay £36 a ticket to watch the game only to have paid the cash to NOT watch it.

I hate this ya know…I hate having to think like this…I hate having to think to myself is it worth it? Are you prepared to put yaself and more importantly your Young Un in danger like this?

This isn’t just down to Leeds fans but Wednesday fans too generating a feeling of anxiety and doubt that is unnecessary and should be a thing of the past. We’ve been to Elland Road in the past without any of these uncomfortable feelings and that’s how it should be. We have friends on both sides and games like this should be about good natured banter and nothing more.

The Young Un was still adamant that we shouldn’t go right up to the day of the game but having checked one more time with Carol and fretted her into the middle of next week with my concerns she convinced me to go…so we did…

We were running a bit late but it’s not that far for us to drive there and with a parking spot already planned at Adams workplace on Gelderd Road we got under way.

By the time we parked up it was clear we were very late and with a good walk ahead of us and no sign of any other fans heading in that direction it was clear we might struggle to make kick off.

We can’t have been far off the last fans into the ground and we hurried to our seats…
-
THE MATCH
-
Our seats…Oh yeah…Right at the front, pitchside and bang next door to the players tunnel.

Have we scored yet?

People take the piss about our view at home games but this was ridiculous…for a start the front seats are in a slight recess and the old fella sat at the side of us who couldn’t stand up, had a great view of the advertising hoardings in front of him…I felt it for him…until I realised our view wasn’t much better.

Whenever the play went to our left, over the halfway line we couldn’t see a thing. Not because of the recess or even because of the advertising hoardings but purely and simply because of the stewards and police segregating the fans.

Had they stood ‘just’ between the fans it wouldn’t have been a problem but because they extended their security barrier onto the apron of the pitch it meant viewing anything over the halfway line was nigh on impossible…we’d just have to hope that all the goals were at the other end…obviously second half seeing how we were kicking towards the blind spot in the first half.

When the play was down the other end and Leeds attacked us we had a smashing view, only because we were stood up, but it was a good, up close and personal view, which is just how we like it.

What we don’t like whoever is Wednesday allowing their opponents more possession than they should have and far more free kicks in and around the box than they deserved.

It’s been a problem for us of late, gifting the opposition possession with weak tackles and poor passing, Giles Coke being the main culprit in midfield and the two centre halves guilty on both counts at the back.

It seemed as though we were content to absorb the pressure and hit them on break which never helps my nerves at all…
Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all Leeds, far from it and when we did get forward we looked dangerous too but we weren’t helping ourselves in defence at all and it was getting irritating to say the least…in fact I lost count of how many times we allowed Austin a free shot on goal. Fair enough most were from distance but we can do without heaping pressure on ourselves unnecessarily like that.

With 25 minutes gone Kirkland hoofs the ball up field and H heads it on towards JJ…

JJ is on it in flash, running in behind the Leeds defender and without thinking, with one simply touch…one simple wonderful touch he lobbed the ball over the stranded Paddy Kenny in the Leeds net and we were ahead…

I don’t need to tell you we went chuffin nuts…we were going absolutely mental…

OH AYE! GET THE CHUFF IN!

HAVE THAT!

It was a great moment, as good as we’ve experienced this season and we were making the most of it in the stands…

On the pitch you’d have thought it would lift us but it didn’t…it was still Leeds who did most of the attacking as we continued to gift them possession.

Giles Coke was really off it here and on one occasion after we’d weather yet another Leeds attack he strolled confidently out of defence with the ball but he was a little confident and way too lackadaisical as the Leeds player simple stepped across him and stole the ball…it was another frustrating moment amongst many that he’d been involved in and not long before half time he drew a yellow card as he fouled McCormack yet again in dangerous area…he needed to be subbed at half time, if not for his good then for my health as he was really doing my nut in and with every touch adding to the shredding of my nerves.

I’m not gonna dwell too much on the poor taste chanting that went on by both sets of fans other to say it was out of order…even moreso when you consider that around that poor chanting was some really good banter and singing, helping to create a good atmosphere…The Wednesday fans shone at their best through this at times with the best spur of the moment songs for many a season…

With this being Brian McDermotts first game in charge of Leeds he was clearly keen to be seen on the touchline, prowling, shouting and roping at his players…his lovely new suit and shiny bald head gleaming in the sunshine…

The Wednesday fans were eager to make him feel at home and the first of 3 great chants went out…

HE LOOKS LIKE AN EGG…HE LOOKS LIKE EEEEEGG…
BRIAN McDERMOTT, HE LOOKS LIKE AN EGG

I’m told he smiled and acknowledged this chant but I couldn’t see obviously due to the barrier of law enforcement holding me back…he was only 10 feet away from me but I couldn’t see what he was doing

That was quickly followed by (To the same tune as the Reda and JJ song)

HUMPTY, HUMPTY, HUMPTY, HUMPTY
HUMPTY, HUMPTY, HUMPTY HUMTPY DUMPTY

Which sounded belting from our little corner of Elland Road….

And just to finish off a wonderful round of spontaneous comedy chanting…

HE FELL OFF THE WALL, HE FELL OFF THE WALL
BRIAN McDERMOTT, HE FELL OFF THE WALL

Spontaneous football chants at their very best and proof there was never any need for the nasty crap that was sung through the game.

I knew half time was coming because they pulled the canopy out from the tunnel…it wasn’t enough that my view had been obscured throughout the half, now I couldn’t see anything at all to my left.

When the teams came out for the second half, I could tell they were about to take to the pitch because yet again my vision became impaired…in fact ya could say I had tunnel vision! (I’m here all week)

A few changes were made, notably Kizza Lee on Giles Coke for us and some Leeds player off to be replaced by Diouf.

I was pleased with our replacement but less so with theirs….he’s not a player I like to watch at all, not just for Leeds but anyone.

Hmmm…Doggy style view

The game seemed to be about to follow the now well-trodden path of the first half where we let Leeds attack us, they flatter to deceive by shooting wildy from distance and we cope reasonably well with whatever they throw at us…I could take this though, we were in front after all.

As one of the Leeds players burst past our defence I leant forward to get a better view…this is the first time I’ve ever watched a football match ‘doggy-style’ but that’s what it required if I was to see any of the play down that end…

Fortunately I leant forward just in time to see the most magnificent tackle come in from Reda Johnson…it was breathtaking and it needed to be, the slightest mistake and it was a penalty, the follow up shot collected easily by Kirkland who, despite the Leeds pressure still hadn’t been really tested as yet…good stuff, but let’s keep em out further up the pitch Wednesday!

No such luck!

Diouf gets in again down the right, Reda covers him but he passes the ball back to McCormack on the edge of the box who wellies it goalwards…Kirdkland pulls off a brilliant stop but it falls to a Leeds player…they scramble to get in in but Gardner recovers and comes to the rescue to clear behind…a mad minute or so that almost put them in but for the sheer brilliance of our outstanding keeper…

It didn’t end there though as Leeds kept up the pressure throughout but it has to be said, they still didn’t look like scoring and mad moments aside we seemed to be able to hold them at arms length…

For a while anyway…

With about half an hour to go…yes I’d been watching the clock way before this…Leeds cross a ball that looks for all the world like one of those airy fairy crosses that big centre halves eat for breakfast and as we have two of the biggest in the division that’s exactly what they shoulda been doing…snapping it up…for Luke Varney to sail in totally unmarked and get a free header at goal is unforgivable…to watch him sail away towards the home fans celebrating afterwards was heartbreaking…

Some of our players were whinging about sommat…the whisper was that it hadn’t crossed the line…whether it did or didn’t it stood and they were level…how can he get between two mountains like Gardner and Llera like that and have an uncontested pop at goal?

Of course the Leeds fans were giving it some now and we were stunned into silence…it hurt…big style.

There was more pain to come…

My Granny could do better

A few minutes later and they work the ball back into the box…once again another…ANOTHER chuffin rubbish, nothing, easy to deal with, bread and chuffin butter cross that our chuffin defenders should have snaffled eagerly and spat back out in derision!

There YET AGAIN was chuffin Luke Varney to head home…HEAD CHUFFIN HOME…the easiest of rubbish crosses…he’s smaller than Tiny McShrimptitch by comparison to our centre halves and he’s made them both look like mugs…My Granny can put a more dangerous cross into the box than the two that beat us and she’s been dead over a decade and I guaranchuffintee you she wouldn’t have let Varney in as easy as that!

He was loving it was Varney…the Leeds fans were loving it….and the Wednesday fans were absolutely hating it!

I used to love Luke Varney…love him…but that love was fading fast now…almost gone in fact and when he squared up to Prutton in the middle of the pitch for a bit of handbags…obviously telling Prutts, ‘I was Wednesday before you’ who was clearly replying ‘I was Leeds before you were chuffin born sunshine’…’Oh yeah?’….’Yeah!’….’Oh yeah?’…’Yeah!’

The looks on both of their faces was a clear indicator of schoolboy playtime stuff….silly sods….you coulda taken him anyway Prutts…we all know that!

We were gutted…the Leeds fans did that silly scarf waving thing they do that looks so daft you’d have been embarrassed to do it at Kindergarten…followed it up with some really poor chants and the whole mood in that corner went down several notches…it didn’t reach nasty status but the great vibe was gone…

We needed a boost now…we needed to get back into this game and back in quick…I’ve no idea how that was gonna happen when we’d been second best for such a long part of this game, certainly as an attacking threat…

Fortunately we made a change…a cracking change too…we brought on Chris Maguire to replace Stuart Holden and straight away we had more impetus about us.

What we’d failed to do in the previous hour or so we were now doing with every touch, we were attacking and attacking with purpose…the football played by us as the game drew to a close was excellent and we really took the game to Leeds who were starting to shake…at last!

The quartet of Maguire, Buxton, Lee and Stevie Aaard were excellent…moving for each other, passing the ball accurately and with pace…it was good to watch but why had it taken so long?

If we could get back into this game now though we wouldn’t really care…

In those closing moments we had more great goal scoring chances than we’d had since we scored nearly an hour ago…we got the ball into the box at every opportunity from corners and free kicks and from our good attacking play…there was a smashing bit where Llera took a corner from right in front of the Wednesday fans…we chanted his name as he placed the ball…we urged him on…we lifted him…and put in a pathetic cross…absolutely rubbish…

Maguire agreed and let Big Mig know in no uncertain terms…he really got stuck into him…a moment or so later and Maguire had a great chance only to fluff his lines and put a high ball way over the bar…he hid his face in his hands…I couldn’t see Big Mig but I’m guessing he was nodding sagely at him and suggesting ‘Oh so mine was rubbish was it?’ Obviously in his super sexy Spanish accent…

We had a chance cleared off the line, we had a mad scramble in the box and best of all before those, with 10 minutes to go we had a wonderful sweeping move down our right involving that quartet of Wednesday players who were now playing so well and it ended up with a wonderful, wonderful volley from Stevie Aaard….when the ball went in we saw him shape his body and make a perfect connection with the ball and for all the world it looked in…me and the Young Un were ready…forget that…we were already celebrating…our eyebrows were over the stand along with those of all the Wednesday fans…this was the wonder goal, the beautiful flowing footy that was getting us back into this game and we were gonna celebrate like there was no tomorrow…

THWACK!

Sooo close!

The heartbreaking sound of ball bouncing back off the woodwork.

AGONY!

AAAAAAARGH!

Oh sweet baby Jeebers!

That was it…that was the one….with that THWACK! Our hopes, our dreams were gone….shattered….

We still tried and we went close as I said but that, THAT right there was our chance…

If we coulda found one of those ref’s that sticks 20 minutes onto the end of our games when we don’t want it and we’re hanging on grimly to a one goal lead I’m sure we’d have found a way through…the longer this game went on now the more it looked likely we’d find an equaliser but as it is with these things, when you need the extra time the ref never finds it and when he blew that whistle the Leeds fans celebrated and the Wednesday fans slumped gutted into their seats…

What a load of chuff!

It was hard to take…I didn’t have a problem losing…I didn’t have a problem with it being Leeds that had beaten us to be honest…I just wish we’d set about them as we did in those final few minutes a little earlier…I wish our defence hadn’t defaulted to how they’d been in the early part of the season. If they’re on their game Leeds don’t score…what a game to revert back!

After the final whistle we were told to stay where we were…we wouldn’t be let out of the ground until later in an attempt to prevent any trouble flaring up as the two sets of fans met each other outside the ground…there were a few fans not happy about the situation and one of the stewards, a supervisor no less, wasn’t helping things around us as people complained and he chose to get into an argument with Wednesday fans and goad them about Kirkland and the lad pushing him over at our place…it wasn’t bad enough that he had been one of those blocking our view of the pitch but now he was arrogantly goading our fans, not in a joking manner but in an arrogant tosser kinda way…fortunately for him…and us…those around us weren’t of a mind to react angrily to his comments, we just wanted out. He should be there to help fans and keep the peace not try and make things worse by a pathetic attempt at piss poor misplaced banter.

Most Wednesday fans remained calm and patient during the half hour or so we were held there and whatever anyone says, when we came out of the ground the streets were clear and the measures to diffuse any bad feeling had worked. Kudos to the police and the stewards for this….it may be a ball ache having to stay in like that but it was worth it.

We made our way round the ground, pausing just long enough to wave to Carol slumming it in one of the boxes…she’s changed she has…she used to be a proper footy fan and now here she was swanning around with the hoypoloi sipping champagne instead of John Smiths…she’s changed she has….she’s not one of us anymore….she’s one of them prawn sandwich eating fannybags

We made our way back to the car stopping briefly for a chilli burger which ended up more down me shirt and round me chops than inside me gob, oh and a pasty at Greggs before making our way home on the short drive back…

Other than the result this had been a smashing day and I mean that…a really smashing day.

Something I hadn’t expected at all…now what was all the fuss and mithering about?

And by way of a bonus here Carols (Slix) Leeds United version of events

How much of a far cry off did Saturday seem to the last time we met at ER?

Leeds and Wednesdayites in the Dry Salters enjoying banter and a sing song; walking to the ground together with Mr Loverman (Shabba!) himself with a Leeds lass on either arm? How different then to the lock down on Saturday by West Yorkshires finest and overzealous stewarding.

After Aaron Crawley bitch slapped your keeper and Dave Jones in the heat of the moment carelessly labelled us all as vile without a thought to what it rhymed with, it didn’t seem the best idea to be organising meet ups which saddened me greatly.

Butch Dingle: Not a Wednesday fan

Anyroadup, Lou and I were in corporate for this one, invited along with a group of Wednesdayites by one my London Whites friends….well it just had my name all over it dintit? Much to my initial celeb induced shyness, one of them turned out to be him that used to be on Corrie, Tommy Craig.

The shyness lasted as long as it took me to down the first glass of champagne before I was shaking his hand and saying “how nice it was to finally meet you Finchy”.  Finchy of course, being our own celeb actor fanatic. I can’t repeat the sweary words Tom used but he eventually got used to being referred to as Finchy and went along with it (mostly).  He was none too pleased later in the evening however when some bloke in a bar asked him if he was Butch Dingle!

So the game….well this was our 18^th in a row without a first half goal so it was always on the cards that we were never going to score in the first half even if it lasted 90 mins (we’ve since made it 19 games).  Brian McDermott (or Humpty Dumpty to you lot (oh how we laughed across the way from you in the corporate seats)) took charge of his first game. A worrying looking defensive line-up minus Tom Lees and featuring three full-backs did little to dampen the mood in which we Leeds fans find ourselves, once again, looking forward to a new dawn.

The first half was poor with Steve Morison (swapped with our B Team in Norwich for Becchio) fluffed what had to be an easier goal to score than miss. Rudy Austin also had a shot that went wide.  It was a stop start 20 mins with the ref taking control blowing his whistle every time it took his fancy meaning neither side really got going. Then came the hoofball (Colin would have been proud) from Kirkland which was headed onto yer man Johnson who put a lovely chip over the head of Paddy Kenny. WTF our defence were doing I have no idea, but I had to doff my corporate cap at a chip like that, beautifully taken (The bassad!). We had a couple of free kicks taken by Ross McCormack, one of which was nodded just wide by Jason Pearce (the bassad). Paddy made a couple of saves before half time but we went in 1-0 down at half time which I can only put down to the “no goals in the first half” curse which is currently stalking us.

During all this, I’d managed to establish contact with Beastie and clocked that in true media whorage stylee, he had managed to get himsen on the front row.  Don’t let him moan about his view cos he’ll have had the best of the lot of you (felt for those of you on the far end of the stand). We waved at one another across the pitch before we went in for our half time steak and chips (true story). Coming back out for the 2^nd half, I established through “Finchy” who this Reda was that was definitely going to get us but felt quietly confident that we would come out a better team and turn things round.

And so it came to pass that our newest Messiah showed why we are excited at his appointment in that he made changes at exactly the right time and knew what needed doing despite being in charge for only 24 hours.  On came El-Hadji Diouf for Norris who immediately exuded composure and passed the ball about injecting a spark into the team.  Still chance for Morison (the bassad) to fluff another great chance before Humpty Dumpty got off his wall and brought him off and put Aidy White on. Another great substitution (first time I’ve written that this season). Luke Varney went to centre forward position and this changed the game IMO.

Within minutes of the formation change, El-Hadji Diouf linked up with Ross McCormack who delivered a cross from which Luke Varney headed home a brilliantly taken equaliser. Those seconds that it took for the now strangely silent whistle to blow to signify “GOAL” seemed to last a lifetime.  We of course knew it had definitely gone over the line, but that’s because we are always right and the away fans are always wrong. It DID go over the line though…honest!!

Within six minutes of the first goal, the Champions of Yorkshire took the lead. Ross McCormack showing his class once again and proved too much for Wednesday to deal with when another cross was provided by him for Luke Varney to head into the net again.

20 mins left and I thought we sat back a bit too much.  Rudy had to move into defence through injury to Stephen Warnock which had me worried to no avail – he patrolled that defence like it was his rightful position. (I heart Rudy I do.) SWFC gave it their all searching for an equaliser and once again, the nerves jangled as we also have a bad habit of letting in injury time goals of late.  I think there were at least 2 attempts on our goal, possibly a third with Jason Pearce scrambling one attempt off the line in the dying minutes.  It could so easily have been the 2-2 that I had predicted in our fansonline league.

She’s changed she has

Never have I been so glad to hear the final whistle.  Those 3 points were absolutely vital to us in so many ways.

Back into the box we went to chew the cud (and left over chips) where we all agreed it had been a fair result. I was amazed at how long they kept you all penned in, I can appreciate why they felt the need but….it was way too long.  My fern rang and it was Beastie from where he was stood outside the East Stand. I left my champagne in the corporate box and walked to the window where I waved to him and Hollie.  How I wish we’d been able to have that great big hug I owe him.

So yet more SWFC friends made on Saturday but then you know me….always a fan of Sheffield Wednesday fans.

Now chuffing well get your fingers out and secure your safety so we can do it all again next season – hopefully with a beer thrown in too.

Carol (Slix)

Steve:Beastie
Owls Alive
E-MAIL: admin@owlsalive.com
TWITTER: @OwlsAlive or @beastie_

The Owls got the full 3 at Millwall and go into this game ahead of our Yorkshire rivals,can we finish the game ahead of them?

All stats come from Soccerbase and Soccernet.

The Owls conceded early on in a flashback to many games earlier in the season,the Owls somehow managed to equalise and grab a last gasp winner after Millwall bombarded the Wednesday goal,the Lions were tamed by Chris Kirkland in the Owls goal though.

Leeds’ misery continued even after Neil Warnock’s departure after conceding  a last gasp goal to give Charlton a rare home win,the result means after much of the season spent with playoff aspirations,the Whites are beginning to nervously look over their shoulder.

The Owls victory at the Den made it 4 games without defeat but the Owls have not kept a clean sheet since the Leicester game a month ago,the Wednesday can make it three consecutive league wins for just the second time this season with victory here,the first run was in December when the turnaround started with wins against Barnsley,Charlton & Bolton.

Leeds come into this game in awful form having lost the last 4 and being winless in 7,this led to the departure of Neil Warnock but form has yet to improve and it could be a nervous end to the season for a team that hasn’t had much interest in the battle down at the bottom.

LAST MEETING
19th October 2012,Hillsborough, Att – 28582
Wednesday 1-1 Leeds United
(J Bothroyd 44)(M Tonge 77)

A superb Michael Tonge strike saw Leeds grab a leveller and a point they scarcely deserved,Jay Bothroyd’s only Owls goal saw the Wednesday take the lead but the visitors were extremely lucky not to be down to 10 men as Becchio handled in the box.

The antics of Aaron Cawley caused the game to be remembered more for what happened off the pitch than what happened on it as both sets of fans engaged in unsavoury behaviour to say the least.

This is the Owls first trip to Elland Road since March 2007, Marcus Tudgay,a superlative Chris Brunt strike and Jermaine Johnson’s first Owls goal saw the Wednesday lead 3-0 but Leeds clawed it back to 3-2 late on.

That was the Owls’ first win there since 1998 where Jon Newsome and Andy Booth scored the goals needed to give Wednesday a 2-1 victory.

The first meeting between the two sides was in October 1920, Johnny McIntyre scored twice to give The Wednesday a 2-0 victory

THE DJ WILL PLAY………

Dave Jones won’t be in the dugout for this one,his antics at Bristol City have landed him a two match touchline ban.

Danny Pugh isn’t available under the terms of his loan spell so Stuart Holden could feature after missing out midweek,Dave Jones stated one or two players are carrying knocks and will be assessed before the squad is named,Gary Madine could make the 18 if he recovers from his hamstring problem.

Leeds have Tom Lees & Michael Brown missing through suspension,otherwise Lee Peltier,David Norris & Steve Morison are all injury doubts for the Whites.

	BUXTON		GARDNER		LLERA		R JOHNSON
	LEE		HOLDEN		OLOFINJANA		HELAN
			HOWARD		LITA

KEY PLAYERS

Lewis Buxton has become Mr.Dependable,his consistency on the right side of our defence has been one of the plus points of this campaign especially given his struggles at this level in 2009/10,he’s chipped in with a handful of assists too.

Ross McCormack may not score the goals the departed Luciano Becchio did but he certainly creates his fair share of chances leading the Whites’ assist charts.

THE BETTING BOX:5 OF THE BEST

BET	Wednesday WIN	Leeds WIN	DRAW	Buxton 1st Goal	Correct Score 3-2
BEST ODDS	85/40	29/20	12/5	45/1	40/1
BOOKIES

The home side despite recent form are favourites being priced 29/20, Wednesday retain their 85/40 odds of victory whilst the draw is ranked at 12/5

Chris Maguire is 29/10 with BetVictor to net anytime with Llera 25/1 with Betfred,should Reda Johnson take the field he’s 20/1 with Betfred as well.

I fancy the Both Teams To Score bet,that’s widely available at 4/5

HERE COMES D-JUDGE

We got the victory midweek but we were far from convincing in it.

Much improvement is needed for us to coast out the season in a comfortable manner and finish in a top half position,something which would have been the stuff of fantasy in December.

We seem to have faltered from the formula that has brought us success,we make mistakes in possession,we’re sloppy in the pass and we invite far too much pressure onto ourselves. We need a calmer approach,more focus and more discipline.

Dave Jones will feel we owe Leeds one after the meeting at our place and we play them at a good time,they’re winless in 7 and short on confidence,what we cannot afford to do is concede another early goal,we have to frustrate the hostile crowd and keep them subdued,we do that, I really fancy our chances here.

VERDICT: I have a feeling there’ll be a few goals in this – 3-2 to the Wednesday.

Danny (D-Good)
Owls Alive
E-MAIL: admin@owlsalive.com
TWITTER: @OwlsAlive or @DGood83

We still wanted to make this game though.

I couldn’t really be bothered with driving down there and the train was way too expensive so if we wanted to get to this game then it would mean using one of the club coaches…

I’ve only been by coach once before and it wasn’t the most enjoyable trip me and the Young Un have ever had, in fact we vowed never to do it again but I’d heard good things about the Wednesdayite coach so we booked with them.

It meant setting off exceptionally early but at least we could chill on the way down there…

Well to be fair to Wednesdayite and those that put the effort in to make this happen for away games it was quite an enjoyable experience. A couple of pickups on the way but before ya know it we were on our way down the M1 and having a ‘Topical Football Quiz’.

The only thing I know less about than ‘topical football’ is Wednesday related stuff so me and the Young Un fully expected to finish last and knew we’d be lucky to get a single point…You’d think that would be enough to treat it as a bit of fun but the Young Un never sees things quite like that as she is ultra-competitive and gave me the hard word before it started…

‘YOU BEST WIN OR YOU’RE CUT FROM THE TEAM YA LOSER!’

No pressure then.

I’d love to be able to tell you all that we rose to the challenge…that despite our misgivings we rattled off correct answer after correct answer to complete a famous if unlikely victory…we didn’t.
We did exactly as we expected and failed….miserably….

I even managed to convince the Young Un to change some of the answers to what I thought…only for them to turn out to be the answers she put down originally…as ya can imagine, that went down very well.

2 fat ladies: Wolves

I don’t think this quiz team has much of a future in it if I’m being honest.

With the quiz behind us and a game of footy bingo following the journey passed by really quickly…we even managed a bit of a snooze before we got to London….

Once there it’s always easy to spot a tourist isn’t it?
A coach full of Northerners is no different…as we gaze open mouthed at the wonders of our illustrious capital…

Is that The Shard? I ask pointing out of the window

No says the Young Un…That’s a block of flats!

A short while later I ask…Is that the Shard?

No. That’s a church the Young Un replies.

Is that the Shard? I ask once more.

No she says…that’s a tree!

Is that the Shard?

Not pointy!

NO! STOP IT!
THAT’S THE CHUFFIN O2 ARENA!
IT’S NOT EVEN POINTY!

OK, OK…no need to get tetchy!

Before ya know it we’re at the ground, parking up and inside the ground nice and early…early enough for a pint and a pie. I can’t remember the last time we were early enough for that.

As we get to the front of the queue I ask the attractive girl serving, what pies they have and to tempt me with em…REALLY sell em to me!

To be fair to her she didn’t bat an eyelid and went straight into it and even included enticing hand gestures, almost like she was a model on Sale of the Century…

‘This is a lovely and tasty chicken Balti Pwie…it’s very nice and very tasty’

Yes, she actually said ‘Pwie’

She flashed a lovely broad beaming smile my way…the Beastie charms were working big style here…and hers on me…but I’m any chuffers for a good pwie

She continued…’then you’ve got yoh meat and poe-tay-toe pwie…and finally a lovely and tasty Steak and Ale Pwie’ she indicated seductively….

OK I told her…you’ve sold the Steak pie to me….

We paid and set about finding a spot to tackle the ‘pwie’

It soon became very clear we needed a spork or sommat to help…we didn’t bother trying to find one, we just blundered on…what a mistake that was.

The Young Un was already in pain after a steam burn from making a hole in the crust but I ignored her…she was a whimp anyway…it wouldn’t bother me and I wrapped me gob around the pastry…

Hotter than the sun?

HOT! HOT! HOT!

I dropped a bit on me hand and then burned me finger trying to get it off…

AAAARGGH!

CHUFF ME THAT IS CHUFFIN HOT!

I had a problem now…

The inside of the pie was oozing out of the crust and I had no way of picking it up…I decided to use the crust as a spoon and shovel it into me fat gob…the thing is the pastry was a bit nice and before I knew it I’d eaten the spoon…I was now left with a foil bowl of red hot steak and ale soup…I’d burned me mouth and me hand and now I was spooning it into my face with my burnt senseless finger, licking gravy and meat from me finger, all the way up to me knuckle…there was gravy everywhere…I have to be honest…this wasn’t my finest hour and I looked like an escapee from a retirement home who’d not been fed…or washed…for weeks

Of course I got no sympathy from the Young Un.

We made our way up the stairs to the seats and got ready for the game….
-
I know it’s cool (as you kids like to say) to say Millwall is a dreadful place to go but it really isn’t as bad as everyone makes out…I know they have a reputation and a lot of their fans may not like me playing that reputation down but I saw no bother, no hint of bother and I like this place a lot…the few Millwall fans I’ve ever met have been great folk and even though there wasn’t many of em at this game, obviously saving the cash for bigger games to come, when their tails were up early doors they made plenty of noise…in fact I was surprised at how well the noise reverberated around the ground and the view from the away stand is probably one of the best views of a footy pitch you’re ever likely to come across.
-
THE MATCH
-
It wasn’t a bad turnout from Wednesday and we were really looking forward to what was gonna be an important game…our optimism didn’t last too long.

Barely a minute gone on the clock and Millwall were a goal to the good.
Chuff me this was gonna be a long old game.

We’d lumped the ball forward from the off and then made a series of half hearted, piss-poor tackles and passes that gifted the ball to Millwall who were only too happy to have the ball and move it with pace towards our goal.
We had chance after chance to stop them but failed on every count as they came down our left side…

Taylor danced between Helan and Pugh and then nutmegged Gardner with a peach of a ball into the 6 yard box that left the rest of the defence as flat as ya like…it just needed a gentle tap home for the goal and that’s exactly what it got from the unmarked Abdou…

CHUFFIN HELL!

To say the 1100 traveling Wednesday fans were stunned would be an understatement and the home fans who may have been low in numbers were making plenty of noise now.

I wish I could say it galvanised us…I wish I could say that goal was exactly what we needed to wake us up…

I can’t…rather than buck our ideas up we got worse and Millwall were able to control the game at their leisure as we set about putting in one of the worst performances of the season.

We were slow, we were second best in every challenge and Millwall were exploiting every weakness we had.

Having played a series of cracking games of late, Big Mig didn’t let that hold him back tonight as he was the worst of a whole set of bad performances and it seemed as though everything he touched turned to crap. He gifted the ball to Millwall at every opportunity. He was poor in tackles, he dithered and dallied and was at his most indecisive throughout the 90 minutes creating even more unnecessary pressure at the back.

He gave Rob Hulse a great one-on-one chance when it almost looked as though he’d slipped him the deftest of passes to enable him to score…fortunately for him and us, Chris Kirkland was in incredible form tonight and he was quickly out of the blocks to smother the ball before Hulse knew what time it was.

It didn’t stop there for Llera though and it was painful to watch at times…there was another moment later in the half, when he tried to shield the ball in the corner thinking he could use his size and strength to prevent the Millwall player getting to the ball…he was made to look a mug in no uncertain terms as it was stolen from under his nose and once again we were right under the cosh…FROM NOTHING!

It wasn’t just the big Spaniard that was off his game, most of them were…in fact in this first 45 minutes I can only think of three players that made a fist of it…the incredible Chris Kirkland, the solid Lewis Buxton and the tireless workhorse Stevie Aaard…in fact Stevie Aaard got a bit of a half chance himself when the ball was laid out wide for him at a very acute angle and he rifled the shot straight at the keeper…not an easy chance by any means but just about the only respite we had from game of constant Millwall pressure.

I tell a lie, it wasn’t the ONLY respite we had…just before that chance from Stevie Aaard we also got a free kick just outside the box and both Buxton and Llera stood over it…there was a bit of a conflab amongst the pair before Lewis stepped up and took a stab at it…it wasn’t far off either, just over the bar but much better than the stuff Llera had served up for most of this season.

Straight away the Young Un turned to me and said…

‘That’s a plan that is. Next time Llera will take it and score’

Yeah alright…of course he will…I sang me little Llera song to her…

’HE’S VERY, VERY TALL, HE HITS IT INTO ‘WALL…LLERA…WOAH’

Millwall were unimpressed by our fleeting break to their campaign and set about us all over again going very close to doubling the lead when they got a corner in front of the away end and Mark Beevers, as he’s done many times for us in the past snook in to head at goal. The Wednesday fans gasped with relief as the ball flashed narrowly wide of the post and Beevers held his head in frustration.

We were being mauled here and it needed our midfield to get a grip and defence to wake up…

For 40 minutes we were given a footballing lesson and barring a couple of rare moments of respite we’d not looked like bothering the Millwall goal or having any impact on the game at all other than helping Millwall on their way to a very easy 3 points….

Then we got another free kick…

A similar position to the last one, maybe a bit further out and the same two players stood over it, Lewis and Big Mig…as they shaped up it looked for all the world as though Lewis was gonna take it again and the Millwall keeper set the wall up for just that instance…

This time though Llera decided to take it and with the wall set up for a right footed shot he hit it left and curled it round the wall…the keeper clearly wasn’t expecting that at all…none of us were…everything screamed for the kick to go the other way and with Big Mig stepping up this was obviously a free kick that wasn’t gonna bother the keeper…his free kicks never do.

Well, to be fair, the kick DIDN’T bother the keeper…as it curled low and around the wall and into the back of the net…

Rubbish Free Kicks

It wasn’t just Wednesday eyebrows that shot up in surprise it was every chuffers in the ground…

HOW THE HELL DID THAT GO IN?

More to the point…

WHO CHUFFIN CARES?

It was in and we went chuffin nuts…we couldn’t believe it…a couple of minutes to half time and we were level in a game we’d been outplayed in from the off.

Of course, the Young Un was giving me it by the bucket full…

‘Toldya…toldya what was gonna happen…I said he’d score…I said it’

OK…OK ya little git…shut the chuff up…how annoying is it when ya kids are right?

She wasn’t just right…she was bang on the money and scarily so.

If you thought that would put us back on track and make our players pick their game up to see the half out confidently, you wouldn’t be alone in thinking that, but it didn’t happen like that and Millwall resumed where they’d left off and had what appeared to be a great shout for a straight red card…there can’t have been many in the ground that didn’t think it was at least a foul.

The Millwall lad is tearing down our left again and once more we’re caught out of position and things are looking really dodgy…Ant Gardner is trudging his way back at a rate of very slow knots without ever looking likely to catch the lad when he comes across and puts in a challenge that has every Wednesday fan taking a sharp intake of breath through clenched teeth…

OH LORDY!

The tackle looked ill timed to say the least and as Gardners leg came across the lad went down…

We all looked at the linesman…. He was barely 10 feet away from the challenge…nothing.

We looked at the ref…nothing.

It was one of those moments where it seems to happen in slow motion and you get through a dozen or more things really quickly…

Gasp – sigh – resigned to a red card – slump – sigh – look at linesman – sigh – hopeful – look at ref – can’t believe he hasn’t blown – look at Millwall players going crackers with officials – look at Gardner carrying on as though nowt had happened – sigh the hugest sigh of relief ever and then of course…tell the complaining Millwall players and fans to ‘gerron wi it, there was nowt wrong’ and explain to them how they were mistaken as it was an oustanding challenge that we never doubted for a minute…

What’s more, the officials backed up that theory.

Chuff me there was some loosening of collars in the away end…that just had to have been a red card surely?

We weren’t complaining…Millwall players and fans were doing enough of that and had it been the other way round we’d have felt exactly the same.

Even Kirkland had that look on his face and I’m sure he loosened his own collar at one point….

We were now going in at half time level in number of players and goals in a game that had basically passed us by and only moments ago seemed impossible on both accounts.

Once again when the players came out for the second half we expected Dave Jones to have got them whipped up and back on track, that’s how these things usually happen isn’t it?

Solid performance

Well we did get a good early chance when a smashing bit of skill by Lewis Buxton down near the corner flag saw him turning their defender inside out, he had the beating of the lad all through the game but we just didn’t get to utilise him enough in that area…after turning him left and right 483 times he got a cross into the box which was only half dealt with by their defence and the ball dropped on the toes of Prutton on the edge of the box, he lashed it at goal but it was blocked on the line…

So surely THAT was the moment that galvanised us then?
We’d got the goal, we’d gone in level and now come out and started well…NOW we could take the game to Millwall?

Nope.

We reverted back to how things were before we scored…how things had been throughout the game…allowing Millwall plenty of possession and gifting them shots on goal that should and could have been cleared up easily.

Once again the main culprit was Llera…to add to his nasty footwork we was now finding it difficult to jump and if you’re 6 foot 5 inches tall, jumping to a height of 5 foot 9 inches isn’t gonna work, you really have to be able to beat a midget in the air…when you don’t, it gifts the opposition a chance…that’s exactly what it did, fortunately the shot went wide but that wasn’t the last shot they had…

We needed the fantastic Chris Kirkland to be at his very best on several occasions this half and I cannot underline just how good he was at times with at least 4 or 5 stunning stops…one of them after some really good passing play by Millwall that put them through on goal…don’t get me wrong Lewis Buxton got across and did enough to put the player off which enabled Kirkland a little bit of time to make the save but it was great stuff by the Wednesday keeper…

There was even better to come from the lad…

Another attack from the home side saw a a perfectly executed overhead kick inside the box that Kirkland was able to get good hands to and push away….shortly after that a well hit shot through a crowded box and he must have seen the ball very late indeed but he managed to push it wide…he was breathtaking and almost single handedly keeping the score level.

As the half wore on we brought JJ on and straight away he lifted the side…not by doing a great deal but we seemed to have a bit more zip about us…of course it wasn’t long before he really got into the action…

A ball hoofed clear from deep in our half and he was on it just over the halfway line…he controlled it well and there was only one thing on his mind…head down and off towards goal…

Obviously he’s not gonna be left to his devices and eventually had the attention of 3 Millwall players trying to keep him at bay but it didn’t stop him rifling a shot towards goal…

All the Wednesday fans leaned forward as one…it looked for all the world a carbon copy of the goals against Blackburn, as though it was arrowing its way into the bottom corner…it delicately brushed the paintwork on the outside of the post on its way past and we all held our head in our hands…great stuff…

Again to their credit Millwall didn’t let it distract them and kept applying the pressure…we got away with it again when a howler by Gardner where he mistimed and misplaced his control allowing the ball to bounce towards goal, Kirkers ran out but dropped the ball and it was tapped towards a now empty Wednesday net…

To redeem himself in this half, as the ball rolled towards goal looking for all the world like Millwall were going ahead, Big Mig managed to get a foot across to deflect it away…

Blimey O Riley…for a bloke who had, had an absolute mare of a game he’d had plenty of say on how this game was going and keeping us in it….

With 10 minutes to go Helan went off to be replaced by Maguire…it’s the way of things of late isn’t it?
Maguire comes on and he helps hold the ball up for us, easing the pressure on our midfield and defence…a good move by the Wednesday manager. He’s been excellent for us whenever he’s been given the chance…it may only be a few minutes in each game but they’ve been quality minutes and he’s no makeweight…you know he can hold the ball up and take players on when required to do so…

As the game drew to a close with Millwall still pressing and applying the pressure we were starting to believe we were going home with a point…a little like the Bristol City game the other week but just like that game, even though we’d stood an onslaught here it felt as though were gonna get the sucker punch any moment now…we nervously hurried the final whistle on…eager to take the valuable away point home with us….

Deep into the four minutes of injury time we got a corner…

Who cares? He cares!

Danny Pugh takes it….he delivers a good ball with plenty of pace…Maguire comes to near post and somehow…I have no idea how, manages to guide the ball past the Millwall keeper and into the net…

WE WENT CHUFFIN MENTAL!

We were jumping up and down, huggin anyone that was close by…Baldy took a smack to the gob…no one cared…somehow, we’d clawed our way back into this game and now…NOW, with seconds to go we were ahead!

What a moment…I just cannot tell you how incredible it felt at that moment…

We’d been absolutely battered…for most of the game second best…make that third best…and yet we were ahead…we’d no right to be…

WHO CARES?

WHO CHUFFIN CARES?

GET IN! GET IN! GET IN!

The players celebrating below us, were lovin’ it but the Wendesday fans even more so…

The Young Un again turned to me…’I told you last week they’d been trying something like that…they tried it against Blackburn but it didn’t work and you whinged at em…I told you they’d been practising’

She did as well…cocky little chuffer!

As Desperately as they tried in those last few seconds, to get the equaliser there just wasn’t enough time for Millwall and we weren’t to be denied…not for the first time we’d come away with the points that we didn’t deserve…
-
At the final whistle the players all came over to celebrate with us…punching the air…applauding…huge smiles all round…what was not to like about this?

Yeah, yeah we’d been poor for most of the game but at this stage of the season the only thing that matters is the points…THE ONLY THING!

This division is so tight and no one will remember performances in a season like we’ve had, only that we stayed up…or went down and this has gone a long way to securing our Championship status.

After all the games earlier in the season when we played well and got nothing, we’re entitled to a few games like this and what’s more we’ll take em…without fear or embarrassment we’ll take em.

I feel it for Millwall because it was a very good performance by them and but for our excellent keeper it could have been a convincing victory for them…I hope they do well in their upcoming cup match…but for now, we’ll enjoy the moment.

The journey home was tiring and uncomfortable…they don’t make coach seats with enough space for fat sods like me but those 3 points made it a little more bearable.

Steve:Beastie
Owls Alive
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