Goals from Daniel Kanu and Darius Lipsiuc did the damage as the hosts beat the Owls in Nottingham for the first time 1991, but the 2-0 defeat wasn’t the only blow on a miserable evening for Henrik Pedersen’s side. There could be further repercussions to come, too.
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Wednesday were unchanged as they visited Meadow Lane for the first time since 2012, and Henrik Pedersen will have been hoping for more of the same after the 5-0 thumping of AFC Wimbledon over the weekend.
The early signs were good, with the Owls zipping the ball about nicely. The combination play and movement was good, even though the visitors weren’t able to fashion any real chances of note.
Unfortunately, the first notable moment was a sad one to see. Di’Shon Bernard, who only recently returned for a long-term injury, bravely threw himself in the way of a goalbound effort to make a good block - but looked immediately uncomfortable as he stood up. Wednesdayites held their breath as he went down holding his knee.
Looking for positives, the knee that Bernard was holding as he went off tonight wasn’t the one that he had all the issues with before. It could just be a tweak/impact issue after his block… Fingers crossed, anyway.
He was replaced by Gabriel Otegbayo, and moments later another blow of a different kind. Callum Slattery, fresh off his goal against Wimbledon, was booked for a challenge just outside the Owls box - it means that he’s now suspended for the next game, so will miss the trip to Doncaster Rovers.
Wednesday couldn’t seem to recover themselves after the stoppage, and it gave the hosts a boost. Martin Paterson’s men started to have some joy, and with seven minutes of normal time to play they got their big chance from the spot after Otegbayo clumsily brought down Kanu. The Magpies’ number nine stepped up to take it himself and fired confidently past Ashley Maynard-Brewer in goal.
Tempers flared with a few late challenges, and former Owl, Conor Grant, was shown a yellow for a late challenge on Jamal Lowe. Harry Gray fired goalwards before the break after some good footwork, but it rolled wide of the mark. County led after 45 minutes, and deservedly so.
Ali Al-Hamadi was introduced ahead of the second half, with Slattery making way. It was no surprise as things threatened to bubble over given that he was on a booking, and it certainly felt like a game where the Iraqi international could make a difference.
But things went from bad to worse within five minutes…
Lowe’s touch was loose as he looked to get up the pitch, and his lunging tackle on Jacob Bedeau looked dangerous. Stephen Parkinson didn’t think twice, and handed the Owls’ striker his marching orders. An already tough task had just gotten tougher, and Lowe will miss the next three matches.
Pedersen looked to his bench, bringing Max Lowe - who took the captain’s armband - and Billy Mitchell into the mix in place of Reece James and Barry Bannan. There was a mountain to climb, and Wednesday weren’t looking like a team that looked like they had the right gear for the hike.
Wednesday huffed and puffed, but couldn’t seem to string anything prominent together. Touches were poor, passing was innacurate, and heading into the final 10 minutes or so it was only really Maynard-Brewer and Liam Cooper that were going to come out of this game with any real credit.
Kieran Morrison came on for Otegbayo as one final roll of the dice for the visiting side, but the momentum wasn’t shifting. And moments later came the killer blow.
AMB had performed admirably in difficult circumstances, but there wasn’t much he could do as Lipsiuc was given the freedom of Nottinghamshire to fire into the back of the net. 2-0, game over, and the quicker tonight is forgotten, the better. Jaden Heskey went into the book late on, and it was the last event of note.
Wednesday were as bad against County as they were good against Wimbledon, and could have no complaints as they trudged off the field on a wet Tuesday night. They’ll need to be light-years better if they’re to make up for this one at the weekend against Doncaster Rovers.
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Poor performance but why is it every single time Giddings commentates we are below par, he makes us sound even worse, and the co-commentators never contradict him? It wasn’t a penalty by the way
Dish getting injured was the most predictable thing in history. 3 games in a week was never a good idea. Nailed on either he or Cooper would come off injured.
I’m interested to see how things look without Lowe playing as I just don’t think he helps us at all (aside from penalties).