Dee Dars 1 - Dingles 0

Last updated : 03 February 2014 By C. Morris

Sheffield Wednesday extended their unbeaten to ten matches in all competition thanks to a last gasp win against local rivals Barnsley at Hillsborough.

The Owls, affectionately referred to as Dingles by their neighbours due to their accent (everyone in Barnsley obviously speaks the Queens English in perfect tone) won an eventful South Yorkshire derby in the 7th minute of injury time thanks to Chris Maguire's low struck finish.

The Dingles, lovingly labelled due to their apparent likeness to a certain soap family, finished the game with 9 men after losing a midfielder in each half.

Wednesday started the match in bright fashion, Kieran Lee once again pulling the strings in midfield, but their neat build up play didn't materialise into many clear cut chances in the early stages. Benik Afobe, the on-loan Arsenal striker, showed some neat touches on his debut but rarely got a clear sight of goal.

Having barely got a touch in the first 15 minutes Barnsley finally cam into the game with a succession of corners that saw Proschwitz denied by a reaction save from Kirkland.

With 30 minutes on the clock the visitors made their task much harder for themselves thanks to a moment of madness. Midfielder Frimpong, another player making his debuted had kicked the Owls players more times than he had the ball in the opening exchanges and after a warning from referee Marriner, another foul just seconds later saw him cautioned. Little more time had passed before the ex-Arsenal player foolishly lunged into another ill-timed challenge leaving Marriner with no option but to show the red card.

Barnsley sacrificed former Owls striker Chris O'Grady, bringing on Dawson to make up the numbers in midfield and Wednesday continued to dominate possession with their numerical advantage but a header from Nuhiu on to the roof of the net was the closest they came to breaking the deadlock in the first half and they were almost caught out in stoppage time when Kirkland was forced to tip a powerful effort from Jennings around the post.

The second half followed a predictable pattern with Barnsley camped inside their own half but to their credit they were well organised and were keeping their opponents at bay without having to rely on their keeper too much. Maguire was booked for what appeared to be a dive in the penalty area, a deflected chip from Lee was tipped over the bar and Hunt struck his own post from a Wednesday corner.

The sense of frustration was clearly growing and with 10 minutes to go the visitors were given a further lift. Substitute Jermaine Johnson left a crude challenge on Barnsley's Shea and the Jamaican winger saw red for the second time this season.

Barnsley saw this as an unexpected route back into the game and belatedly pressed forward for a win that would see them close the gap on the Owls at the foot of the Championship table. As the match moved into 5 minutes of injury time Mellis advanced into the Wednesday penalty area but instead of opting to take a shot on goal he looked for contact from the leg of defender Llera. The Spaniard was clearly pulling out of a challenge and Mellis was lucky not to be cautioned in the same manner that Maguire had been earlier in the half. As play continued frustration evidently got the better of Mellis as he flew into a crude challenge on Maghoma. 

Marriner produced the third red card of the contest and when Mellis finally trudged off the Hillsborough turf the home side renewed their search for an important winning goal. Just as it seemed their search would be futile an errant clearance by O'Brien was controlled by Semedo and he picked out Maguire 25 yards from goal. The Scottish forward took a couple of touches forward and unleashed a low drive that evaded the dive of Steele to find the net in front of the Kop and send the Wednesday faithful home happy.

The win moves the Owls six points clear of the relegation zone though they face a tough trip to in-form Reading next weekend.