An ugly match ended in defeat for the Reds with their South Yorkshire rivals gaining the advantage through a fairly controversial O'Grady strike. Wednesday ended a run of seven straight defeats despite Barnsley throwing the kitchen sink at them later on.
Reds 0 Sheff Wed 1 (O'Grady 35)
Att: 12,484
Subs: Bywater, Taylor, Mattock, McGuire.
Sheff Wed: Kirkland, Buxton, Helan, Gardner, Llera, Prutton, Lines (Sidibe 90), O’Grady, Madine (McCabe 68), Antonio, Johnson (Mayor 58).
Subs: Hassell, Wiseman, Alnwick, Done.
Reds: Steele, Golbourne, Foster, Dawson, Davies, Cywka (O'Brien 62), Greening (Harewood 67), Cranie, Tudgay, Stones, Buzsaky (Perkins 48).
Teams
Barnsley threw the kitchen sink at the Owls but couldn't find a way through the backline.
minute before Harewood's lofted attempt sailed just wide of the top corner. Five minutes of added time was shown.
th
Davies cracked a volley at Kirkland in the 89
Foster had an effort cleared off the line as he met O'Brien's corner, Wednesday were clinging onto the ropes with six minutes to go. It was breathless, end-to-end stuff.
Harewood was working hard chasing the ball down but it was at the other end when Stones got the ball caught under his feet but recovered well to deny McCabe on 85 minutes.
Perkins zipped a decent strike just wide with Kirkland stretching away to his right as Barnsley continued to dominate possession and Wednesday happy to try and break on the counter.
The Reds were keeping possession well and working their way up to the Wednesday box well but needed a killer touch. Marlon Harewood was potentially the man to provide it as he came on for Jonathan Greening with 23 minutes remaining.
A good shout for a penalty was waved away when Davies was tugged to the ground when he tried to meet a decent Stones delivery on 64 minutes.
The visitors then made their first change, Danny Mayor came on for the winger Jermaine Johnson. The Owls' swap was soon followed up by the introduction of O'Brien for the Reds as he came on for Tomasz Cywka.
The Owls had a glorious chance for a second but Madine could only direct his header straight at Steele when he rose well at the back post. It was the scorer O'Grady with the cross who found his strike partner at the far stick.
After Tudgay won the Reds a free kick on the edge of the box, Davies stepped up to smash it at goal but Kirkland got down well to keep out the equaliser.
David Perkins replaced Akos Buzsaky just three minutes into the second half. The midfield dynamo didn't wait long to get into the action as he found Tudgay who then fed Davies to fire just over from 20 yards.
Second half
The Reds responded immediately but Tudgay blazed a free header over the bar as he rose perfectly to connect with Golbourne's left-wing delivery.
On 35 minutes the opener came and it was for the visitors. Buxton sent in a deep cross and Steele came to claim but dropped under pressure from Madine, with O'Grady on hand to tap in. Steele protested but the goal stood with replays seconds later showing Madine only had eyes for Steele.
Buzsaky worked wonders to thread a neat through-ball into Cywka down the left-hand channel of the box but the Pole sliced his shot wide from 15 yards.
The midway point of the first half had kind of fizzled out into a scrappy slog, with both teams barely giving each other an inch.
On 18 minutes Davies got lucky as a shot deflected into his path inside the box, but then his shot was deflected wide for a corner.
On 11 minutes Kirkland was tested by Dawson's 25-yarder, palming away to his right after Davies had brought down a long ball and teed up the Irishman. Foster was booked after he practically slipped into a challenge on O'Grady down the far side. It was harsh on Foster with the ball out of touch anyway.
Wednesday managed to squeeze a ball forward for Antonio to cross into Steele's path early doors as the atmosphere was cranked up to eleven inside Oakwell. The Owls won a corner from Antonio's delivery but Cranie cleared well at the near post on four minutes.
