Few would have given Sheffield Wednesday a chance on Boxing Day; having lost five in succession they faced runaway Championship leaders Newcastle United who had won eight of their previous nine matches.
The Owls had slumped into the bottom three in the league table having failed to pick up a win in ten attempts and they had not scored in over six matches. Moreover the belief had seemingly been completely lost in the last handful of games and the team lacked any fight which was a major contributory factor in Brian Laws losing his job after the defeat at Leicester.
Wednesday however belied their lowly position and apparent lack of confidence in the early stages as they took the game to the league leaders, deservedly taking the lead through Luke Varney inside the first fifteen minutes.
Just five minutes later however the Toon were level as some slack defending allowed Kevin Nolan the space and time in the box to direct a header past Lee Grant and inside 25 minutes the visitors were in front when Shola Ameobi scored despite clearly receiving the ball in an offside position.
Wednesday fans would have been forgiven for fearing the worst and expecting a capitulation but to their credit almost to a man the players rolled their sleeves up and fought back to earn a thoroughly deserved point.
On the hour mark Varney challenged Newcastle keeper Steve Harper for a high ball and as his header came back of the crossbar James O’Connor was on hand to tap home as the visitors appealed in vain for a foul on the custodian.
Both sides had chances to win the game thereafter with Tudgay denied by a fantastic reflex saves from Harper but a draw was probably a fair result.
The point in itself is not a massive help to the Owls as they remain in the bottom three but to take a point against a team that have so far been head and shoulder above everyone else in the division should give the team renewed confidence and the manner of the performance will be an encouragement to the fans.
The midfield that had previously lacked bite played with energy, particularly James O’Connor who got stuck in, clearly rattled his opponents, created a goal and was rewarded for getting into the box by picking up a tap in for the equaliser.
At the back the team defended well in the second half against an in form attack and Frank Simek’s inclusion clearly aided this. There were faults to be picked at with the first goal and although the second was clearly offside it could have perhaps been prevented anyway. The positioning and distribution of Spurr at left-back continues to leave many wondering why Michael Gray hasn’t been given a chance in a position he is more than accustomed to but at least there are things to build on rather than no light at the end of tunnel as was previously feared.
Going forward it may not have been pretty at times as Wednesday tried to utilise Tudgay’s aerial ability to bring Varney and Johnson into the game but it did prove to be effective as the Owls finally put an end to their 10-hour-plus goal drought and created a number of presentable opportunities, the players seemed aware and comfortable with their roles in the system that Wednesday adopted.
Having shown such encouraging signs it is important not to let this go to waste and so Wednesday need to take this kind of display forward into Monday’s game at Blackpool and put an end to their all too lengthy winless streak. Some cynics leaving Hillsborough commented that the team raised their performance as playing the league leaders was like a cup final and they had nothing to lose so played without fear. This suggests that they will not be able to perform to the same level against lesser sides in the division and they have to prove that this is not the case.