After seeing off Ipswich 6-0 in their last outing, Leicester were full of confidence heading into Sheffield to play strugglers Wednesday on a chilly Saturday at Hillsborough. A cautious start by both teams meant the first action came after 5mins when Danny Drinkwater fired an effort at goal from outside the box, flying wide of the net - giving the plentiful travelling fans an early buzz. They almost had a chance to cheer moments after when the linesman's flag prevented Vardy a run on goal, to the relief of all in blue & white. The game kicks into life in the 8th minute and a Jay Bothroyd shot is blocked by Zak Whitbread and the counter attack ends when Chris Kirkland saves Marshalls attempt at goal. Following that Wednesday create a chance for Michail Antonio, only for keeper Kasper Schmeichel to make the save. A spate of free kicks break up any momentum when fouls on Bothroyd and debutant Jeremy Hélan stunt any Wednesday progress. By the 18th minute, the Owls are more than matching the Foxes and an ambitious long distance effort by Bothroyd keeps the visiting back line on their toes, wide this time. SWFC fan Vardy bears down on goal and only a perfect tackle by Martin Taylor prevents the former Owl scoring against his former employers. As the Foxes up the tempo, Martyn Waghorn gets fouled by Hélan and Leicester have a free kick that is crossed in by the fouled player, only for Wednesday to clear their lines. After some neat Leicester play, Waghorns cross gets cleared for a corner and the resulting ball in is brilliantly cleared by captain Martin Taylor on the 33rd minute. With the away side building momentum, a number of crosses and corners by Waghorn are all dealt with by Kirkland much to the Owls relief. Eager to get a foothold in the game again, Wednesday make some tough tackles and concede free-kicks, first debutant Mamady Sidibe and then Jermaine Johnson. From the JJ foul on Lloyd Dyer, Waghorns delivery is headed over by Vardy. In the 40th minute, Leicester take the lead, Ben Marshall feeding Danny Drinkwater and the former Barnsley-loanee fires home from the edge of the box, across the goalkeeper into the far right corner of the goal. The half comes to a close following bookings for Sidibe, Whitbread and Jeffrey Schlupp.
HT. The Owls have matched the Foxes for most of the half but Leicester have an added edge and confidence that Wednesday are sadly lacking. A half-time snack of a coffee and bacon sandwich with a renewed sense of optimism brings in the second half.
The influential Marshall starts the action when his 47th minute shot is blocked by Lewis Buxton for a corner. Marshall takes the corner but in the packed penalty area, Whitbread is judged to have challenged Kirkland unfairly and a free kick is awarded. Anthony Gardner then does well to block a Lloyd Dyer cross - another corner for Leicester, Marshall's near post cross easily dealt with. Moments later and the ex-Wednesday loanee shows his defensive qualities in blocking a Bothroyd shot on goal. As the Foxes look to double their lead, Gardner clears a Marshall cross and the resulting corner by Waghorn sees that man again Marshall head over the crossbar. Is he destined to score against the Owls?? On the 59th minute Bothroyd is called into defensive duty when he clears a Waghorn corner following a terrific save by Kirkland, denying Waghorn a goal. On the 65th minute, Chris Lines makes his eagerly awaited comeback from injury, replacing the ineffective Rhys McCabe. Then Gary Madine replaces Bothroyd 2mins later. When Lloyd Dyer fouls Sidibe, Lines puts the free kick into the box and Leicester scramble it away for a corner... easily cleared. When Dyer and Waghorn both have shots blocked (by Buxton and then Gardner) a sense of a second Leicester goal grows. On the 74th minute, Rodri replaces Sidibe who has had an uninspiring debut. Only one minute later, the away crowd are cheering. The ball hits the back of the net when Waghorn neatly passes to the goal scorer, who from the edge of the box brilliantly bends a shot into the top corner. Maybe it was destiny after-all, or maybe just the sheer quality of Ben Marshall shined through yet again as his name is added to the scoresheet. In respect of his former club, a muted celebration follows. A unanimous round of applause follows the England U21 star off the field when he is replaced in the 80th minute by Anthony Knockaert. After another spate of needless free kicks, JJ manages to test the Foxes back line but Ritchie De Laet gets the block in. Lines' cross is cleared with ease. The game closes out with no more incidents and Leicester leave with a well earned 3 points, confining the Owls to a place in the relegation zone. Boos greet the final whistle and the disgruntled twitter Owls begin the now weekly slating. How much more can we take?
FT. In large proportions of the match Leicester showed some real quality but i feel we matched them in the first half. Ben Marshall was good for us but he's improved since and is definitely a star of the near future. We need to go back to the drawing board and return to basics, we are in a real struggle now.
Attendance: 24,664
Owls MoM: Kirkland (with 10 shots on target it could have been much worse!)
Regarding the Nigel Pearson part at the beginning, Pearson was the last Wednesday captain to lift a 'major' trophy, I believe. This isn't including the promotion trophies lifted since as they aren't classed as 'major competition' trophies.
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