Milburn’s Send in the Boys played out from the Hillsborough speakers in the build-up to kick off, which seemed apt considering the fact that most of those taking the field in Wednesday colours were aged 21 or under. The bench was made up entirely of teenagers.
Such is the nature of the Owls’ injury crisis at the minute that they were always going to struggle to meet the quota of that had either start the amount of ‘qualifying players’ needed to avoid a fine of £5,000. Only Sean Fusire and Gabriel Otegbayo met the criteria, so unless two of tonight’s XI start against Plymouth Argyle there will be questions asked as per the EFL Trophy’s rules and regulations. It is understood, however, that there is room for mitigation and Wednesday can argue their case considering the raft of players actively unavailable.
With that in mind there were 11 changes to the starting XI from the one that took on Oldham Athletic over the weekend, with Connal Trueman between the sticks, Cole McGhee and George Brown making their return from injury, and a vast array of other youngsters all getting the nod from Dave Challinor. Fusire wore the captain’s armband, with Ernie Weaver the other player with proper first-team experience under his belt.
Elsewhere, the likes of Joel Akpobi, Denny Oliver, Louis Poland, Fortune Onoh and Sam Duruh were all given the green light to play despite being on loan at clubs further down the pyramid. It’s something that’s allowed in this competition.
In contrast, Accrington had a 39-year-old starting for them, a 38-year-old captain, and a player with over 250 English Football League appearances under his belt in their midfield. It was going to be a test for the young Middlewood Road graduates.
The opening stages weren’t exactly full of chances, but Denny Oliver went close from a free kick and the visitors fired just wide as Seamus Conneely went close. Probably the best opportunity fell the way of Fusire, but the defender did just enough to make sure he couldn’t hit the target after the ball fell to him at close range. Trueman, at the other end, was up to the challenge as Tom Moore and Alex Henderson got a couple of shots off.
Wednesday’s goalkeeper made the best of his saves as half-time approached, scrambling across his goal and diving to his left to keep out Shaun Whalley. Accy weren’t to be denied, though, and after Conneely hit the crossbar Josh Smith was on hand to fire past Trueman to make it 1-0.
To make matters worse, moments later it was two. This strike was a fine one, however, with Charlie Brown drilling an excellently struck effort into the inside of the far post to double the Reds’ lead with what was the final meaningful moment of the opening 45.
Challinor made just one change at the break, bringing on James Kay for his senior debut after Brown had run his race. It was a big moment for the midfielder, making his first-team bow days after celebrating his 18th birthday, and weeks after a long-awaited return from injury following foot surgery back in July.
Things did improve after the break, and Akpobi was managing to cause a few problems with some fast footwork down the left, but there was no real troubling of James Rogerson. John Doolan’s side still looked a threat, though, and Otegbayo had to make a good block on the hour as they pushed for a third.
Soon came the changes. Akpobi went off for Charlie Liddell, Duruh made way for Fortune Onoh, and McGhee was replaced by Kailen Hatfield… It was debuts for all three of them. Another came not long afterwards, albeit forced due to injury, with Kleven De Oliveira getting his first taste of senior football as he replaced Poland.
Ronan Darcy went close to making it 3-0 as we entered the final 15 minutes, before Liddell and Oliver almost got on the scoresheet at the other end. Rogerson was up to the challenge on both occasions, with this second save a particularly good one to keep out Wednesday’s number 38 and stop the hosts getting a foothold back in the game.
And there was to be no comeback. With five left to play, Charlie Warren made sure of that as Accrington capitalised on some loose Owls defending before sliding it past Trueman in goal. 3-0, and that would be that.
Seven minutes were added at the end of the 90, which felt unnecessary for the 5,472 watching, but it did give the visiting side a chance to get another goal. This one was scored by Charlie Caton, and was the final big moment of the tie. The result means that Wednesday finish second in their group, progressing into the Round of 32 where they’ll face one of the group winners from the Northern Section of the competition.
It wasn’t a clash to remember for those watching on, but for the youngsters out there it could prove to be a huge moment in their blossoming careers, and they’ll have learned plenty from it. Onto Plymouth Argyle at the weekend.
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