Friday 21 September 2012

Match Report: Sheffield Wednesday 1-3 Huddersfield Town

The West Yorkshire side travelled into South Yorkshire in a feisty affair which saw both teams end with just 10 men on the pitch as well as bagful of yellow cards being issued out. Sheffield had just come off a heavy defeat away at Brighton but back at their home ground they will always be a force to be reckoned with whereas the terriers had kept a clean sheet against Derby as well as picking up all three points.

It was Huddersfield Town who started the Yorkshire derby the better as Jack Hunt had his heels clipped in the penalty area to give the visitors the chance to take the lead from the spot. Norwood stepped up to take the penalty but a tame shot was easily saved by Kirkland but the young midfielder was first to react and made no mistake with the rebound to give the terriers the early advantage.

Things got even better for Huddersfield Town just moments later when Danny Ward arched a cross into the box for Lee Novak to superbly head into the top corner and double the visitors lead. The Town faithful were in full voice at Hillsborough but Wednesday started to fight themselves back into the game and were rewarded before half time when Reda Johnson rose well to head at goal and squeeze it into the gap between Smithies and his left hand post.

What followed in the final moments of the first half was on the border of 'crazy' as both sides were reduced to ten men with a bucket load of yellow cards being issued out by the referee. First up was Joel Lynch as he timed his tackle late to send Antonio crashing to the deck on the left hand touchline. The referee immediately pulled the tall defender to one side and sent him off the field of play with a straight red card to the disbelief of the Town fans. Grayson showed his anger at the fourth official and so did the majority of the Town players which resulted in both Peter Clarke & Anthony Gerrard receiving bookings.

The second sending off came for the Owls just minutes later as Joe Mattck clipped the ever dangerous Danny Ward and was given a second yellow to send him trudging down the tunnel. The referee had lost the game by now and both sets of fans boo'd the officials off at half time.

Half Time: Sheffield Wednesday 1-2 Huddersfield Town

Dave Jones changed things around at half time by introducing Nejc Pecnik for Madine who had been kept very quite in the first half. Pecnik was immediately into the action and just seconds into the second half he shot just over the bar as the terriers struggled to keep up with his pace. The game started to get stretched out and it was benefiting the Owls as Bothroyd sprinted down the flank before crossing to the back post for Johnson to head inches wide.

Pecnik was causing the terriers a lot of problems since being brought on by Dave Jones and he broke through the visitors back four onto the lobbed ball from Bothroyd. Peter Clarke struggled to get back but Pecnik made the mistake to turn inside which forced him to rush his shot agonisingly wide. Huddersfield were soaking up a lot of pressure and trying to catch the home side on the counter attack and they got their reward when Jack Hunt's cross hit the hand of Rhys McCabe in the penalty area.

The referee waved play on but the linesman refused to stop waving his flag and after a minute of discussion the referee blew his whistle and pointed to the spot. Clayton grabbed the ball to the annoyance of James Vaughan and stepped up calmly to slot the ball away and give the terriers back their two goal lead.

Dave Jones threw on his big players in a last ditch attempt to get something from the game and the Owls nearly did but Reda Johnson just couldn't get his second goal of the game as he missed an open goal from just six yards out!

The last five minutes saw Wednesday pressure Huddersfield Town back into their own area as the Owls refused to give up hope. They hammered the terriers with crosses from all over the pitch but the entire Town team were coping with them and clearing their lines before Wednesday could create any goalscoring opportunity. Alan Lee came on in stoppage time for the terriers to gain his first appearance for Town in The Championship and he helped the visitors watch the game out for a well deserved three points.

Full Time: Sheffield Wednesday 1-3 Huddersfield Town


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