Wednesday can’t do enough to beat Terriers as gap to safety widens
Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield Town toiled to a 1-1 draw at Hillsborough on Wednesday evening, a result that leaves the Owls 9 points adrift of safety with just 10 games to go as Birmingham City picked up 3 points against Reading.
Darren Moore made just one change to the side that had been narrowly defeated by league leaders Norwich City at the weekend, Julian Borner replacing Osaze Urhoghide in defence.
The first half hour was bereft of quality, Fraizer Campbell getting a rare shot on target which Westwood saved and the striker also saw a penalty appeal waved away after he ran into Tom Lees. It was somewhat a surprise and a relief for the home side when they grabbed the lead ten minutes before half-time. A clever ball over his shoulder from Rhodes on the halfway line saw Windass race on towards goal and produce as assured finish to fire past Schofield in the visitors goal. The Owls then saw a penalty appeal of their own turned down when Rhodes appeared to beat a defender to the ball inside the box before the challenge seemed to catch him.
Town wing-back Pipa curled a shot straight at Westwood early in the second half but both sides continued to struggle to find any rhythm. On 72 minutes the Terriers found a leveller in a fashion rather in keeping with the game as a whole. A floated free-kick from Mbenza found Sarr inside the 6-yard box and although Westwood was able to save the defenders close range flick, the rebound was bundled into his own net by Owls substitute Callum Paterson.
The Scottish forward almost made amends late on when he latched onto a clever ball from fellow substitute Kachunga but Schofield was able to make a save.
A draw was probably a fair result with neither side able to lay claim to being good enough on the night to take all three points. The result brings to a end a run of seven defeats in succession for the Owls but the win for Birmingham means Darren Moore’s side need to find a huge upturn in form to stand any chance of avoiding relegation to League One.