Wednesday may have hope against relegation after a strong performance on home turf on Saturday afternoon. The Owls secured much-needed points in their match against 12th-placed Bristol City.
Prematch
Sheffield Wednesday currently sit 23rd in the Championship, in danger of relegation. Nevertheless, spirits were high at Hillsborough following a commanding six consecutive home game wins and a history of consistent wins against Bristol. Ahead of kickoff, it seemed like the crowd could already smell victory.
The team remained confident from their win against Millwall with the same starting 11 but some changes on the bench. Cameron Dawson returned alongside Dominic Iorfa. Also added to the bench were Rio Shipston and Bailey Cadamaerteri.
The Match
Wednesday have a commanding history of wins against Bristol on SWFC home turf, and that history repeated itself once again. However, the Robin fans definitely showed up in numbers to support their team.
Jumping into the match, the Owls started with confidence, and despite some early pressure from Bristol, managed to stay calm and collected with the ball, focusing on not making mistakes under Bristol’s persistent pushes for ground. Bristol were focusing on attacking in the early minutes (possibly hoping that an early goal would disrupt Wednesday’s confidence they’ve brought from their last match win).
A long ball made its way to well-placed Tommy Conway, who turned out to be a relentless problem for Wednesday, who took it into position but shot it straight at the Wednesday keeper for an easy catch.
There was considerably more control from Danny Rohl’s side, who were able to counter every attack thrown at them by Bristol and returned the pressure. After a spur from Wednesday, a cross to the box reached Liam Palmer who sent a cross directly to Ike Ugbo, who turned well with the ball and planted it firmly into the left corner of the net far out of Max O’Leary’s reach. This first goal for Wednesday landed 16 minutes into the match.
The Robins responded rapidly and aggressively, trying to keep the ball out of Wednesday’s possession. Bristol kept up their unrelenting attacks and it paid off in the 25th minute, when Conway’s cross was blocked and resulted in a corner. Taken by Taylor Gardner-Hickman, the corner was the perfect position for Jason Knight to meet, resulting in a well-placed header shooting into the left corner of the Wednesday net to level the score.
After this equaliser, Bristol managed to settle into a consistent pattern, taking back control with more consistent possessions. Wednesday needed to avoid getting flustered; Bristol’s early retaliatory goal was not what the home team had hoped for.
Conway went down with a strong header towards the Wednesday goal, earning Di’Shon Bernard his first yellow of the match for the pulling at 28 minutes in. The free kick was taken by Gardner-Hickman but to no avail for the Robins. Bristol kept possession, allowing Mark Sykes to hit a ball into the box straight into the arms of Wednesday’s James Beadle.
Wednesday’s desperation started to set in with a shot from Marvin Johnson landing right in the Robins’ keeper’s hands, a half-baked shot that showed the team’s stress. However, the match was far from over as Wednesday kept possession. After a failed clearance by Bristol’s Sykes coupled with some passes through the box and a great header from Ugbo, the Owls put the ball right into the back of the Robins’ net, resulting in Wednesday’s second goal. It was a spectacular ending to a tense first half from both teams.
Bristol needed to keep up the pressure in the second half to have any hope against the home team.
Unfortunately for the Robins, Wednesday regained composure at the start of the second half with strong possession of the ball and more consistent passing to make the clock tick down till the final whistle. Knight made a solid pass to the middle of the Wednesday box yet no one was there to receive it. Bristol seemed to be getting flustered easily and Wednesday had no trouble retrieving the ball between attacks. There were some strong runs onto the Wednesday goal from Bristol yet nothing came of any of them; Sheffield’s defence was certainly commendable this match.
After a large scramble involving the Robins’ attempt on Wednesday’s goal, Conway went down after a tackle from Bernard. The referee indicated play on yet after a brief shot on goal from Wednesday, the referee caught up to Bernard who received his second yellow of the match and was sent off. Both teams and fans seemed to have forgotten the ruckus once Conway got back up and a sense of vague confusion settled in briefly.
The Owls made a quick substitution taking Anthony Musuba off in place of Bambo Diaby, in an attempt to fill up the gap left by the sending-off. Wednesday attempted to keep up the pressure, but it’s clear that Bristol were motivated to take advantage of the decrease in numbers.
Bristol made use of the undefended space but ran right into an offside flag, leaving Wednesday to take advantage of the pause to finish their substitutions. Ugbo, Pol Valentin, and Ian Poveda came off and were replaced by Michael Smith, Dominic Iorfa and Djeiji Gassama. A big cheer went around Hillsborough for Ugbo; he definitely won favour with the crowd with his performance.
All of the subs and fouls promised a decent section of added time, but only five minutes were added on, much to the delight of the home team who were still 2-1 up.
Bristol made a quick last attempt and pushed Wednesday into a faulty clearance. The mistake gave Bristol a final corner, but the shot was deflected and the final whistle blew. Bristol gave it their all in the final minutes but were swatted away by Wednesday’s mighty defenders, leaving them scrambling.
Focus on ourselves 🦉👊
Big week ahead. #swfc pic.twitter.com/cf5hnhDH6X
— Sheffield Wednesday (@swfc) February 26, 2024
Manager Interviews
Danny Rohl (Sheffield Wednesday)
Danny Rohl was happy off the back of Saturday’s victory, celebrating with the team and crowd after the match. He seemed pleased with the direction Wednesday is going at the moment, especially after he played the same starting team as last match. Rohl was impressed with the on-loan Ike Ugbo, (five goals in seven appearances for Wednesday) saying he’s “creating momentum”.
Rohl’s positive attitude must be rubbing off on the team as he said he is happy with their “strong mentality” and that their “self-confidence and conviction is growing” and “team spirit is fantastic”. Talking about the dangerous position that the club is in the league, the manager did not seem overly worried, saying “we’re still alive”. He acknowledged that the next couple of games are going to be difficult (like the South Yorkshire derby against Rotherham on 2 March) but following two wins, he’s hoping to carry the momentum and confidence the team has into the next match.
Liam Manning (Bristol City)
Bristol manager Liam Manning didn’t seem overly disappointed by the result, though it can’t have been the one he wanted for mid-table Bristol. Instead, he seemed determined to look ahead to what the team could improve and build on their weaknesses, recognising that the team was “not near the level we needed to be”.
He mentioned that the players need to learn from their mistakes and take accountability, explaining that the first Wednesday goal “rocked them” and despite the team’s strong start it’s “how you respond and stick together”. They may have pressed better in the second half, with more possession and the ball consistently getting dangerously close to Wednesday’s box but admitted “it comes down to the quality”.
Featured Image Credit: Sheffield Wednesday website