The excitement of Sunday after got underway long before the clash kicked off, with a morning announcement from the Owls confirming that Challinor has been appointed as Henrik Pedersen’s successor at Hillsborough.
He was in the stands watching on, all smiles, as we wait for another new era to begin at this football club of ours, watching on as an excellently observed Last Post played out as a huge poppy design was held aloft by the North Stand crowd opposite him. Lest we forget.
While the Challinor’s announcement was a bit of good news for Wednesdayites, there was some bad news that followed not long afterwards. Matt Hamshaw had alluded to some injury concerns, and when the XI was named it became clear who he was referring to as Reece James, Billy Mitchell, Ali Al-Hamadi and Liam Cooper all missed out on the squad. There was, however, a return for Jordi Liongola who took his place on the bench.
Hamshaw opted for a back five, potentially because of the absentees, with Liam Palmer and Sil Swinkels joining Ernie Weaver as Max Lowe and Yan Valery took their place as wingbacks. Jaden Heskey joined the midfield, and Mason Burstow led the line.
It took a while for Wednesday to find their feet, but they looked a threat when they did. Davis Keillor-Dunn had a couple of shots blocked, and Mason Burstow saw a headed effort go wide of the mark. Weaver made a strong block at the other end, and the Owls were in the ascendancy.
Then came the deadlock-breaker… Keillor-Dunn did well to win back a loose ball in the middle of the park, before driving at a Tangerines backline that seemed to be giving him all the space in the world. He picked his spot and drove it low past former Owl, Bailey Peacock-Farrell, sending the Kop into delirium. 1-0 Wednesday.
Hamshaw’s men were bossing possession, and pushing for a second… But then, out of nowhere, the tide turned. A lofted ball over the top caught Wednesday napping, and Swinkels couldn’t get ahead of Tom Bloxham, clumsily bringing him down as the last man and being given his marching orders. Not the return to the starting XI that he’ll have wanted, and Challinor was seen scribbling a few notes into a notebook.
The visitors got on the ball a bit more in the final five minutes or so, but Wednesday held firm. A couple of scrambles in the Owls box were dealt with, and Ashley Maynard-Brewer was up to every challenge when called upon.
Half time came and went, and Hamshaw opted not to change things up, sticking with the reversion to a back four that he made after Swinkels’ dismissal rather than bringing any fresh legs in.
Blackpool started the second half as they finished the first, and Wednesday couldn’t really find their feet… Blocks from Weaver and Barry Bannan stopped any chance of an early equaliser, and they got away with one after Hayden Coulson found some space in the box only to skew his shot wide of the mark.
They were under the cosh, but the hosts did come close to getting a second as the hour-mark approached. A mazy little run from DKD resulted in a cracking strike from the attacker, but Peacock-Farrell was on hand to make an equally good save.
Barring a handful of long-range efforts trying to catch Peacock-Farrell off his line, it was Ian Evatt’s side who were looking the most likely to get the best goal. Ex-Owl, Jerry Yates, was one of those introduced for the visitors, but they weren’t able to force any real saves out of AMB.
To his credit, Burstow was leading the line as well as he could under the circumstances, and probably should have had a foul on the edge of the box after being completely wiped out by Oliver Casey. Nothing given.
Ricardo Santos was introduced with just over 10 minutes left as Hamshaw looked to try and see things out, with the goalscorer making way after another good shift. Sadly, it didn’t work.
Seconds after coming on, the defender could only watch as a deep cross went over his head towards Yates - he got the better of Weaver and saw his poked effort creep under Maynard-Brewer. You couldn’t say it hadn’t been coming.
Tempers flared as we approached the final whistle, and Palmer had to intervene as Bannan and Josh Bowler clashed. The latter two were both booked for their troubles.
After a number of efforts from his teammates, Burstow thought he’d be the one to finally catch the Blackpool ‘keeper from way out, but he managed to track back quick enough to tip it wide… It was going in, too. Kieran Morrison came on to replace him shortly afterwards, with Max Lowe also replaced - by Harry Gray.
In the end it finished all square, which was probably about right, but boos rang around Hillsborough as the officials left the field - there’s no doubt that the red card changed things. Hamshaw will leave his post as interim both unbeaten and winless, but a new dawn begins tomorrow.
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DC will have learned from the chaos - what's going wrong is what needs fixing, not a tweak involved. We are far from the deluded 'win games in hand' mindset.