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| Sheffield Wednesday captain, Reda Johnson. |
Attendance: 22,328
With previous form for Wednesday being LLDDD and promoted Yeovil Town having a previous form of WLLLL, both teams were looking at getting points on the board as soon as possible. A stuttering start to the season for the two teams and the majority of home fans were expecting a first win of the season at the expense of The Glovers. Gary Johnson has bolstered his defence with the recent loan acquisition of Bristol City defender Liam Fontaine after Swansea City loanee Alan Tate has been sent back to his parent club with an injury. The Owls themselves have made the loan signing of Roger Johnson from Wolverhampton Wanderers in the build up to this game after sending Martin Taylor to Brentford and seeing Gary Madine found guilty in his court case (awaiting sentencing).
The visiting team makes the early running and force the Owls back-line into three clearances, first Jordan Spence and then the recalled Spaniard, Miguel Llera before Kamil Zayatte clears the danger with James Hayter ready to pounce. After that flurry of action the game becomes scrappy early on until the first shot at goal is registered by Edward Upson in the 6th minute - only to be blocked before James McAllister finds Zayatte standing in the way of his follow-up effort. A 9th minute cross by Liam Palmer is met by the 6ft 6" Atdhe Nuhiu, whose header towards goal is well claimed by Wayne Hennessey. The Glovers do well to move up-field quickly and efficiently as the home midfield goes missing and they are almost rewarded when a Joe Ralls drive is parried away by Chris Kirkland. The visitors are making the most of the ball so far and only a Llera clearance prevents another shot being registered before the momentum is broken by a Daniel Seaborne foul on Michail Antonio. Jeremy Helan is handed the responsibility of a good delivery but he fails as Seaborne makes amends by clearing the set-piece.
The former Southampton defender is in the thick of the action so far and he is on hand to clear Llera's 13th minute free-kick following a Luke Ayling foul on Nuhiu before his defensive partner Byron Webster clears a Nuhiu free-kick minutes later. A 15th minute Palmer cross is met with the head of Antonio only for the former Reading winger to head harmlessly over the crossbar. The earlier flatness of the game returns as the two teams find each other hard to break down, with needless free-kicks conceded in the centre of the pitch by both. The lull in the action is met with a lull from the crowd as the usual Hillsborough faithful lose their voice.
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| Yeovil Town midfielder, Joe Ralls. |
After a failed cross by Ralls in the 22nd minute the Cardiff City loanee fires a shot that Kirkland parries for a corner. The resulting set-piece sees McAllister rifle a shot wide of the target. Only two minutes after that let-off and Wednesday take the lead. A cross from wide by Antonio is finished by Nuhiu when his right-footed shot evades Hennessey and nestles into the net. This goal comes with controversy though as the linesmans flag was raised in the build-up, only for the referee to wave play on. After a long consultation with his assistant surrounded by away players, the goal was given as Nuhiu was not interfering with the first stage of the play and not offside at all in the move. With the goal coming against the run of play, Yeovil to their credit don't sulk at their missed opportunities but step up again - forcing Zayatte into a clearance before Kirkland prevents an equaliser when he parries Andy Williams' header. A 30th minute yellow card is shown to Llera before new team captain Reda Johnson (in the absence through injury of Anthony Gardner) is forced into two quick succession clearances.
Giles Coke - largely unnoticed so far, is upended by Hayter earning a free-kick which Palmer delivers - only for Webster to meet it first and clear the danger. The former York City defender is on hand again moments later, clearing a R.Johnson hanging cross before Williams wastes a good opportunity at the other end by firing wide. As the game looks to be livening up it again goes flat, misplaced passes and lack of options sees both sides go as quiet as the stands but that lull is almost broken in the 36th minute when Nuhiu heads an Antonio cross just wide. A 38th minute corner by Helan is cleared by Upson before Edwards clears the return ball. When Zayatte concedes a free-kick for a foul on Williams, Hennessey hits the ball long, only for R.Johnson to clear the danger and as he does that the referee blows the whistle. A straight red card is shown to Webster as the Championship newcomers find themselves a goal down and a man down before the half-time whistle. Replays show that the defender swung an arm at Nuhiu who reacted angrily -having to be held back by team-mates, earning himself a yellow card in the process.
With the dismissal Yeovil sacrificed their second striker, Hayter - by replacing him with new signing Liam Fontaine on the 42nd minute. Wednesday look to end the half by pressing their advantage but find a stout defence preventing the score from increasing, clearances by McAllister and Upson in particular frustrating the home side. After a shot wide by Coke and a fine save by Kirkland, the referee brings the half to a close.
HT REVIEW: A poor showing from Wednesday in that first half but somehow come into the interval 1-0 up and against 10 men! There seems to be a lack of enthusiasm so far but I'm sure with the position the Owls find themselves in, the performance will improve as the first win of the season is on the cards. There was no half-time snack this week as this armchair-fan was sat in a pub, a pint of John Smiths in hand.
The away side start strong and within 5 minutes of the restart the Wednesday back-line have had to clear 5 crosses as Yeovil look to restore parity early. Wednesday took these warnings and almost put them to bed when Nuhiu headed a shot over the crossbar in the 50th minute. That doesn't quell the Yeovil pressure though as R.Johnson, Zayatte and Coke all make good clearances before Ralls sees Zayatte block his goal-ward bound effort. The resulting corner again ends when Zayatte blocks a shot at goal - this time McAllister being denied. A 57th minute shot by Antonio is saved by Hennessey with relative ease before Ayling does very well to clear the danger following an Antonio cross into a packed Yeovil box. Coke blocks a Ralls shot at goal on the hour mark before Jermaine Johnson enters the play - replacing Palmer. 15 seconds later and the scores were tied - the ever increasingly involved Ralls getting on the score sheet as he latched onto Aylings long free-kick that wasn't dealt with - a brilliant first touch with his left foot opening up space for him to volley home neatly beyond the sprawling Kirkland. Substitute J.Johnson tried to spur his team-mates on and he almost restored the lead - only to fire wide in the 65th minute. Joe Edwards receives a yellow card for dissent before Upson upends Antonio, resulting in a Helan free-kick that is easily cleared by Williams.
The Owls look to pressure their 10 men opponents but good defensive clearances by Seaborne and Upson prevent any way through before Joel Grant has a 70th minute shot charged down again by Zayatte. The resulting corner is cleared by 25 year old 'Beast of Benin' R.Johnson before a ball back in by Upson is dealt with by Zayatte who is playing one of his better games. Wednesday almost take the lead on the 73rd minute when West Ham United loanee Jordan Spence delivers a ball to Antonio whose half-volleyed shot is fumbled by Hennessey, only for the keeper to react quickly and dive onto the ball after it had squirmed away and rebounded off the post. The unimpressive David Prutton - barely involved in the match, is replaced by Jose Semedo which baffles the Wednesday fans. With players such as the quick Jacques Maghoma, the technically gifted Rhys McCabe and young striker Coalan Lavery on the bench, one of those options would have been better suited to replace Prutton in a bid to press 10 men Yeovil and push for a winner, instead the defensively minded Semedo is the replacement. The Glovers make another substitution themselves when Grant is replaced by Irish midfielder Kevin Dawson.
A cross by J.Johnson is cleared for a corner by Fontaine but Helans set-piece quickly halts when Nuhiu is penalised for a foul on Williams in the box. A Ralls cross is cleared by R.Johnson before Dawson lashes a shot over the crossbar under pressure. That break in play allows Jacques Maghoma to get some much wanted game time as he replaces Helan in the 79th minute. Guinean defender Zayatte concedes a free-kick against Williams but when Ayling connects well with Ralls' set-piece, the defender redeems himself with the block before Spence fails at clearing the ball allowing Ayling to fire wide of Kirklands goal. Seconds later and J.Johnson enters the book and sees yellow for an unfair challenge on Edwards but McAllisters free-kick is cleared by R.Johnson much to the relief of the home fans.
With only ten minutes to go both teams look short on ideas, harmless crosses into the box dealt with easily by both defences before corners are wasted and keepers remain untested. A 90th minute substitution for Yeovil sees Kieffer Moore replace Ralls in the last noteworthy piece of action before the final whistle is blown.
Statistics: (home / away)
Shots: 9 / 17
On target: 4 / 6
Corners: 5 /7
Fouls: 10 / 10
Possession: 49% / 51%
FT REVIEW: Shattered confidence and what seemed to be a lack of effort sees Wednesday surrender the lead for the 4th time in a row. More worryingly is that this time it was against a 10-man recently promoted team and had a full 45 minutes to settle the game. The Yeovil players got a round of applause from the home fans as they showed effort and determination to get back into the game against massive odds and then they looked likeliest to take all 3 points. As a side-note, my first visit to Hillsborough in over 5 years is for our next home game (against Doncaster Rovers) - if that performance matches this one it will spoil what has been a long term target of mine. You can read why here.
Owls Man of the Match: Reda Johnson.
Managers reaction:
Dave Jones: "Its frustrating for everybody. I felt we froze a little bit. We didn't get it down, we didn't pop it about, we didn't get down the sides of them, too many people weren't looking for the ball and our decision making was poor. We have to hold our hands up and say that was a poor, poor performance from us in the second half."
Gary Johnson: "Nobody understands these offside rules, especially these referees. They seem to make it up as they go along. I was very proud of my players but I was disappointed with our vice-captain who got sent off. We can't afford to go down to 10 men, he's apologised to the lads and we've accepted that but then the 10 men had to give 10% extra in the second half."
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| Yeovil Town manager, Gary Johnson. |
The away side start strong and within 5 minutes of the restart the Wednesday back-line have had to clear 5 crosses as Yeovil look to restore parity early. Wednesday took these warnings and almost put them to bed when Nuhiu headed a shot over the crossbar in the 50th minute. That doesn't quell the Yeovil pressure though as R.Johnson, Zayatte and Coke all make good clearances before Ralls sees Zayatte block his goal-ward bound effort. The resulting corner again ends when Zayatte blocks a shot at goal - this time McAllister being denied. A 57th minute shot by Antonio is saved by Hennessey with relative ease before Ayling does very well to clear the danger following an Antonio cross into a packed Yeovil box. Coke blocks a Ralls shot at goal on the hour mark before Jermaine Johnson enters the play - replacing Palmer. 15 seconds later and the scores were tied - the ever increasingly involved Ralls getting on the score sheet as he latched onto Aylings long free-kick that wasn't dealt with - a brilliant first touch with his left foot opening up space for him to volley home neatly beyond the sprawling Kirkland. Substitute J.Johnson tried to spur his team-mates on and he almost restored the lead - only to fire wide in the 65th minute. Joe Edwards receives a yellow card for dissent before Upson upends Antonio, resulting in a Helan free-kick that is easily cleared by Williams.
The Owls look to pressure their 10 men opponents but good defensive clearances by Seaborne and Upson prevent any way through before Joel Grant has a 70th minute shot charged down again by Zayatte. The resulting corner is cleared by 25 year old 'Beast of Benin' R.Johnson before a ball back in by Upson is dealt with by Zayatte who is playing one of his better games. Wednesday almost take the lead on the 73rd minute when West Ham United loanee Jordan Spence delivers a ball to Antonio whose half-volleyed shot is fumbled by Hennessey, only for the keeper to react quickly and dive onto the ball after it had squirmed away and rebounded off the post. The unimpressive David Prutton - barely involved in the match, is replaced by Jose Semedo which baffles the Wednesday fans. With players such as the quick Jacques Maghoma, the technically gifted Rhys McCabe and young striker Coalan Lavery on the bench, one of those options would have been better suited to replace Prutton in a bid to press 10 men Yeovil and push for a winner, instead the defensively minded Semedo is the replacement. The Glovers make another substitution themselves when Grant is replaced by Irish midfielder Kevin Dawson.
A cross by J.Johnson is cleared for a corner by Fontaine but Helans set-piece quickly halts when Nuhiu is penalised for a foul on Williams in the box. A Ralls cross is cleared by R.Johnson before Dawson lashes a shot over the crossbar under pressure. That break in play allows Jacques Maghoma to get some much wanted game time as he replaces Helan in the 79th minute. Guinean defender Zayatte concedes a free-kick against Williams but when Ayling connects well with Ralls' set-piece, the defender redeems himself with the block before Spence fails at clearing the ball allowing Ayling to fire wide of Kirklands goal. Seconds later and J.Johnson enters the book and sees yellow for an unfair challenge on Edwards but McAllisters free-kick is cleared by R.Johnson much to the relief of the home fans.
With only ten minutes to go both teams look short on ideas, harmless crosses into the box dealt with easily by both defences before corners are wasted and keepers remain untested. A 90th minute substitution for Yeovil sees Kieffer Moore replace Ralls in the last noteworthy piece of action before the final whistle is blown.
Statistics: (home / away)
Shots: 9 / 17
On target: 4 / 6
Corners: 5 /7
Fouls: 10 / 10
Possession: 49% / 51%
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| Sheffield Wednesday manager, Dave Jones. |
Owls Man of the Match: Reda Johnson.
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| RED CARD! Yeovil Town player Byron Webster. |
Dave Jones: "Its frustrating for everybody. I felt we froze a little bit. We didn't get it down, we didn't pop it about, we didn't get down the sides of them, too many people weren't looking for the ball and our decision making was poor. We have to hold our hands up and say that was a poor, poor performance from us in the second half."
Gary Johnson: "Nobody understands these offside rules, especially these referees. They seem to make it up as they go along. I was very proud of my players but I was disappointed with our vice-captain who got sent off. We can't afford to go down to 10 men, he's apologised to the lads and we've accepted that but then the 10 men had to give 10% extra in the second half."
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