Sheffield Wednesday WFC crashed to a 1-0 defeat at table topping Liverpool Ladies with the only goal of the game coming courtesy of Karen Jones. Despite the defeat and Owls somewhat precarious position near the foot of the table Wednesday can take plenty of positives from this game, having gone as close as any team to halting the home sides 100% start to the season.
It was Liverpool who started the brightest having a major share of the possession in the 1st half. As Liverpool pressed for the opening goal the Owls defence and their in form keeper Danni Maslin had to throw everything at the lively Liverpool front two to keep them quiet. But the home side some how scored the first goal on 28 minutes, a ball over the top found Karen Jones, some 5-6 yards off-side, as everyone stopped, the assistant linesman kept his flag down and Jones went on to score at the second time of asking after Maslin saved the 1st shot.
The second half was a completely different story as Wednesday raised the tempo and quality. With the back four equal to any Liverpool attack, the Owls pushed forward and 10 minutes into the second half, Rich found herself around the back of the Red's centre backs once again, and from a very tight angle couldn't just see the ball round the post. A lively Sarah Danby and Emily Scott gave the Liverpool full-backs a tough time as Wednesday created chance after chance, the best falling to Rich. A high ball found Rich just on the edge of the area, and without a second thought hit the ball with a swinging volley, which just went over the bar.
Wednesday continued to dominate, with the midfield of De Silva and Lee breaking up nearly everything and looking to go forward with a greater urgency, and with the impact of an in-form Rachel Skeemer in front of them, the Wednesday technical staff were hopeful of pulling a goal back, but it wasn't the blue and whites day, and in the last 10 minutes Liverpool broke quickly from a Wednesday attack, but Keeper Maslin, who was in fine form, produced two of the highest quality saves to keep the Liverpool strike force out once again, to the applause of both set's of supporter's. And so it finished 1-0, with Liverpool gaining a further 3 points for their promotion push and Wednesday coming away with nothing to show for their hard work and quality.
Assistant Manager Liam Kelly; “A game of 2 halves - Yes, Liverpool dominated the 1st, they had us on the back foot, we we're at sorts at times, they took advantage, got the goal and looked comfortable. I think we could sit here and talk about the decision to allow the goal, but it makes no difference to anything, we had enough chances to finish the game off. But I can see why the Fergies and Wengers of the world get wound up; one poor decision can ruin a week’s hard work, from one poor decision.
But credit to our players, they got on with it, listened to what was said at half-time and did everything that was asked of them. You look at the positives from the second half, did we create - yes, were our attacking players effective - yes; we won the battle in the middle of the park, so well dones must go to Lee, De Silva and Skully and we defended better. So the players should be happy with the direction they are heading; Danni Maslin played the game of her life, and yet again saved us at times. She's playing with great confidence, and is improving all the time and Emily Scott came through the second half with no negative effect on her knee injury, which is good, as Scotty will now be looking to produce and make an impact now, like she knows she can. We're not pressing the panic button, because we know with these player's and with the continued development we'll turn this corner, 3rd from bottom, yet it's a happy camp... Only in football.
Next up for the Owls is a home game against Yorkshire rivals Leeds City Vixens on Sunday 25th October with Wednesday still within touching distance of mid-table.