The most talked about stat amongst the 2 sets of fans was that Brighton had never beaten Wednesday at Hillsborough, a fact that had a real chance of being scrapped this time round as The Seagulls come to Sheffield with ambitions of a playoff place. The Owls have seemingly turned a corner since their 2-3 home loss against strugglers Bristol City at the start of December - and go into the match in a rich vein of form. 
The game gets off to a quick start when only 4mins in and the home team are celebrating. A Michail Antonio cross from the left floats past debutant Matt Upson (on loan from Stoke City) and Leroy Lita meets the ball in mid-air to volley past the sprawling goalkeeper and fire Wednesday into the lead. The striker has made it 2 goals in 2 appearances and his 'massive' hand gesture goal celebration goes down well with the jubilant fans. Brighton force the ball upfield in an attempt to restore parity, only for Spaniard Miguel Llera to head clear compatriot Inigo Calderon's cross. The resulting corner is swung in by Marino David Lopez but the towering Anthony Gardner clears the pressure. On the 11th minute, Antonio is penalised for handball and Lopez crosses the free-kick for Argentinian Jose Ulloa to shoot and force Chris Kirkland into a good save. The resulting corner by Andrea Orlandi is quickly halted when Adam El-Abd fouls Kirkland. Wednesday relieve the pressure with a corner of their own, defended well from Danny Pugh's set-piece. The Owls fashion a chance on the 17th minute when an Antonio snapshot clears the crossbar before Orlandi sees his corner cleared by Llera at the other end. As Brighton push to equalise another chance goes begging - this time Lopez fires well over leaving the Seagulls frustrated. The first yellow card of the match is shown to Wednesdays David Prutton for fouling Ashley Barnes. Another Brighton corner is awarded when Lewis Buxton clears the ball in by Lopez but again the Owls back line stands firm and the danger is cleared. Just a minute later and Barnes is penalised for a foul on Llera and 5mins later the 23y old striker is shown a straight red. Kieran Lee shrugs away from Barnes in the corner and as the midfielder looks to cross, Brighton's #9 leaps 2-footed leaving Lee in a pile on the floor and the referee with no other option. Worse was to come for the away side as the resulting free-kick by Pugh evaded 8 Brighton players in the box and crept in from an acute angle to give Wednesday a 2-0 lead. In the very next attack, Ulloa fires an effort from just outside the box which goes narrowly wide of the right-hand post. As 10-men Albion attempt to reduce the margin of deficit, Gardner clears Calderon's in-swinging free-kick following Giles Coke's foul on Ulloa and the Wednesday defender is again at hand to clear the resulting corner. After a scrappy few minutes of cheap free-kicks, the home side pepper Brighton's box with crosses and force a corner which is defended well and cleared away.
HT. It's safe to say not many fans expected that! An action packed first half which leaves Brighton a 'massive' mountain to climb. Both teams have played some neat football but Wednesday seem more fluid and attack-minded. The closing down and work-rate in midfield is impressive as Coke & Prutton are going from strength to strength. A half time snack of a coffee and some mini Jammie Dodgers and I'm ready for the second half.
Gus Poyet looks to address the way the game has panned out by replacing Liam Bridcutt with club top scorer Craig Mackail-Smith at half time. The Seagulls look to get back into the game immediately and Ulloa fires a shot that Gardner deflects wide. The resulting corner is halted when El-Abd fouls Coke in the box and Wednesday have a free-kick which Kirkland takes. The ever improving Coke is again fouled just a few minutes later - this time by Ulloa which sees the new signing yellow carded. The Argentinian forward is quick to react in the box shortly after and narrowly misses the target with a shot that creeps wide. On the 53rd minute, a looped ball over the top finds Mackail-Smith out wide and he beats Lee easily before cutting a cross back into the 6-yard box, Buxton half-clears the ball only for the onrushing Orlandi to react first and slot home to give the travelling fans hope of comeback. That hope is quickly diminished as Wednesday force a corner immediately after and Pugh's corner catches out Tomasz Kuszczak and Antonio was on hand to put the ball into the net under pressure by 2 defenders. With the Owls firmly on top and in control, Prutton and then Lee fire shots from outside the box that both miss narrowly - looking to test the shaky Kuszczak. Ulloa is replaced on the 61st minute by Vicente just as Wednesday look to extend their lead, the impressive Lita firing wide from just outside the box. As Calderon hits yet another long-ball for Mackail-Smith to chase (as seems Brighton's only tactic this second half), a late Pugh challenge sees the loanee yellow carded. This infuriates the Brighton bench and a scuffle between benches ensues seeing Dave Jones and Brighton coach Charlie Oatway sent to the stands as Poyet looked on. As temperaments are high the away bench were yet again up raging at the referee to show Wednesday a red card when Llera fouls Orlandi, non given but Lopez has his free-kick is defended well. Three corners in quick succession ends when Lopez fires his shot over the bar as Brighton keep knocking at the Owls' door. Egyptian El-Abd enters the referees book when he sees yellow for fouls on Lita and then Antonio. Having not been tested for a while, Kuszczak does well to save a Coke volley following a Buxton cross. When Upson blocks Antonio's shot, the ball out of play enables Gary Madine to enter the game replacing Jeremy Hélan with 9mins to go. In his attempts to get into the game quickly and chase down every ball, Madine (who turned down 4 loan moves away from the club on deadline day) concedes 2 free-kicks for fouls on Lopez and then Calderon. Deep into injury time and Jose Semedo replaces Lita to close out the game and keep 3 points at Hillsborough.
FT. What a great result! I'm sure Brighton fans will go home shocked at their failure to beat a team battling relegation but they can have no qualms over the fact they were well beaten. A dominant midfield display dictated the game and with the addition of Lita, Wednesday look to be on the move up the table. Attendance: 22,044
Owls Man of the Match: Coke (won everything, tireless display - new man??)
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