Saturday 26th February 2022
EFL League One
At Hillsborough Stadium
Sheffield Wednesday (2) 2
George Byers 5, Paterson 45
Charlton Athletic (0) 0
Attendance: 21,845
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Sheffield Wednesday:
Peacock-Farrell; Storey, Hutchinson, Palmer; Hunt (Gibson 78), Bannan (C) (Sow 90+3), Byers, Luongo, Johnson (Brennan 84); Berahino (Kamberi 71), Paterson
Unused subs - Wildsmith, Iorfa, Brown
Charlton Athletic:
MacGillivray; Gunter, Lavelle, Famewo; Matthews (Jaiyesimi 30), Gilbey (C) (Fraser 70), Dobson, Morgan (Stockley 46), Purrington; Lee, Burstow (Leko 60)
Unused subs - Harness, Pearce, John
"Well, Rob, what the ****ing hell are we supposed to do to salvage anything out of this sh*t show!?" Asks my long suffering and highly agitated pal from Bexleyheath who follows 'the Charlton, over land and sea' (and Leicester!).
I suggested that maybe his favourite team could get Akin Famewo to sit on Barry Bannon for the second half.
"What!? You're kidding me, you actually think Akin Famewo is good enough to man-mark Bannon?"
My friend, I said nothing about marking him, I meant quite literally, wrestle him down onto the deck and then get Famewo to sit on him.
Unless of course the referee is going to allow two balls on the pitch for the next forty-five minutes; one for Bannon to play with and the other for everybody else to share a kickabout with.
And on the evidence of the first-half that is only a very slight exaggeration of the way things had been going so far.
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| A programme shop close to the away end. |
The game was only five minutes old, when George Byers headed the Owls in front from six yards out when he got on the end of Barry Bannan’s precision free-kick delivery.
Elliot Lee, Ben Purrington and Albie Morgan tried making in-roads into Wednesday territory, but they drew a blank as Jordan Storey put up a human barrier.
Bannan could and probably should have doubled the hosts lead when he was afforded roughly half an acre of space just outside the visitors area, but he curled a crisply struck shot narrowly wide of the right hand side upright.
With Bannan orchestrating the bulk of the play, which in the main was all happening in the Addicks half, it was something of a mystery as to why the Owls didn't score a second goal until right on the stroke of half-time, when Callum Patterson nudged in Marvin Johnson's left wing cross from close range.
Jayden Stockley, returning from an injury lay-off, came on in place of Morgan for the second-half and he helped to swing the balance of play, so that Charlton carried a bit more of a threat than they had done in the opening forty-five minutes.
Diallang Jaiyesimi created an opening for Mason Burstow who shot straight at Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Wednesday's on loan Northern Ireland international keeper (from Burnley). The Charlton fans celebrated like they had just won the game and filled the air with joyful strains of: "We've had a shot! We've had a shot!""
Chris Gunter's last-ditch block denied Marvin Johnson from adding a third, that if truth be told wouldn't have flattered the hosts score-line wise.
Late in the day Elliot Lee put a free-kick into the Owls box that Akin Famewo met with a crashing header that Peacock-Farrell did well to keep out and in the scramble that ensued the ball ended up in the back of the Wednesday net. Alas, the referee's assistant had his flag raised and the goal was ruled out.
Who got the final touch there? I asked. Either Stockley or Leko, replied Mr Perplexed.
In case you aren't familiar with the appearance of Charlton players, let me just say, that the only similarity between these two Addicks strikers is the colour of the shirts they were wearing.
FT: Sheffield Wednesday 2 v Charlton Athletic 0
Positives for the Charlton faithful today:
1) The programme shop on Leppings Lane had a very reasonably priced 1947 FA Cup Final programme in the window,
2) Jayden Stockley and Scott Fraser both played a part in the second half and came through it unscathed.
3) Err... that's it!
