Any Owls supporter that travelled to Newcastle on Wednesday evening can have few complaints about the majority of the team’s performance and this was reflected in the way the sell-out away end backed the boys and showed their appreciation at the end.
Unfortunately, despite plenty of possession and encouraging build up play Wednesday didn’t create too many clear cut chances and were undone by one sloppy moment at the back which was capitalised on by a clinical piece of finishing.
Player ratings:
Lee Grant: 7, made a couple of smart saves but wasn’t called upon too often. Beaten by a tidy finish but his poor free-kick gifted the ball back to Newcastle and they went route-one and scored when Wednesday didn’t look set.
Lewis Buxton: 5, admittedly he came up against a player in Gutierrez who has a greater pedigree than the level he is currently playing at but even in possession he was sloppy and contributed little going forward.
Tommy Spurr: 5, As with Buxton, Spurr has looked off the pace so far this season. He did offer more going forward than the right-back but is lacking assurance and looks nervous defensively at the moment.
Richard Wood: 7, Other than one lapse for the goal the Owls centre back pairing didn’t let the Newcastle front two get on top of them and Wednesday look much tighter in away games than they did at almost any stage last season.
Darren Purse: 8, As with Wood had just one ultimately costly lapse but it is clear that he has added a great deal to Owls defence. His experience helps him to read the game effectively and he was able to keep the threat of the home side at bay for most of the game, taking up good defensive positions and making timely blocks and interceptions.
James O’Connor: 7.5, as with last season, O’Connor has started the campaign as well as anyone in the midfield and kept the play ticking over with tidy passing. Was often the Owls furthest player forward, finding himself in the box along with Tudgay on a couple of occasions when JJ caused problems with his running.
Darren Potter: 6.5, Linked play up well but was sometimes more sloppy than we have come to expect of him when trying to make incisive passes, was unable to get as far forward as maybe would have been ideal in order to get into scoring of assist making areas.
Sean McAllister: 6.5, typically energetic performance but lacked the composure to make the most of a couple of decent chances and doesn’t offer the threat of an out and out winger.
Michael Gray: 6, Not at his best, seemed to slow play down too much by coming in side when in possession and didn’t offer as much of an outlet as Wednesday needed. Almost came up trumps with a well struck free-kick that was tipped over the bar.
Jermaine Johnson: 8.5, Stood just above Purse as Wednesday’s best player. His movement and directness caused problems to all off the Newcastle defenders, particularly in the first half on the break. In the second 45 it seemed as though he had been singled out by the home team at half-time as Wednesday’s main threat and they defended better against him although he was still causing problems.
When playing up front he doesn’t seem to have developed a partnership with Tudgay and when he pulled out wide to threaten the back four the Owls did not get enough players into the penalty area to make the most of his work.
Marcus Tudgay: 5.5, Made a few decent runs but his first touch let him all too often and generally the Owls probably have fair reason to expect more from him as he doesn’t look anywhere near last seasons form.
The introduction of Miller and Esajas with 20 minutes to go had little impact with Newcastle looking to close out the game. The arrival of Jeffers with ten minutes to go allowed Johnson to move out wide where he again caused problems with direct running and Jeffers almost earned Wednesday a deserved point late on. The striker showed good to control and touch to get into a scoring position but Harper was out quickly to smother the opportunity that may have been taken on another day had Jeffers been sharper.
All in all a good display but too much of the play was in front of Newcastle and when the Owls did get in behind – mainly through Johnson, there was not enough of a presence in the box to capitalise. It is easy to see why Brian Laws is in the market for a goal scorer and if Akpo Sodje and Leon Clarke are not yet close to a return this needs to be sorted sooner rather than later as Wednesday remain without a league win this season.