Careless Owls are fading fast
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY seem hell-bent on chucking away their Premier League dream after an agonising 17-year exile.
The Owls had a precious win over their bitter local rivals in the palm of their hand.
Then they carelessly pressed the self-destruct button to leave them looking at a worrying record of just one win from their last seven league outings.
Angus Macdonald’s dramatic stoppage-time leveller earned the Tykes a point they richly deserved.
But it was a brutal kick in the teeth for Hillsborough manager Carlos Carvalhal and his players.
And no one can deny that it was a selfinflicted blow to their fading promotion hopes.
A place in the playoffs should have been already assured for Carvalhal’s boys.
But now they face a struggle to finish in the top six with Fulham above them and Preston, Norwich and Derby all still in contention.
And Carvalhal admitted: ”It’s disappointing to be denied a victory with an extra-time goal, but that’s football and we must accept it.
“We came here to win, and we played disciplined football until losing concentration at that crucial moment to allow Barnsley to score.
“There are things in our game that we must correct, but we gave our maximum out there and we shall continue to fight to our limit.
“The Championship is a very hard competition that presents many difficult challenges.
“And we know we have more to deal with as we try to reach our goal this season.”
Macdonald found the ideal way to celebrate his new pay deal at Oakwell by heading home two minutes into stoppage time from Adam Hammill’s free-kick.
The centre-back’s leveller came at the end of a week when he signed a new two-year deal with the Tykes, and it had boss Paul Heckingbottom beaming.
He said: ”It was Angus’s first league goal, and he couldn’t have timed it better.
“It was great for him to score just days after committing his future to the club – and it did us a big favour, too.
“It would have been a travesty if we had not got something out of this game.
“The way we fought back after going behind showed the spirit and determination of my players.
“Their application and attitude is always first class, and I would have been so upset for them if we had lost.”
It was against the run of play that former Barnsley striker Sam Winnall pounced to put the Owls ahead five minutes after the break – thanks to a howler from keeper Adam Davies.
Davies made a mess of his attempt to shepherd the ball out of play for a goal-kick, and Adam Reach nipped in to whip the ball away and set up Winnall for the chance to drill a low drive into an unguarded net.
But Macdonald made sure justice was done with that dramatic late header to earn his side a point. Possession Shots On Target Shots Off Target Blocked Shots Corners Fouls Conceded Offsides Yellow Cards Red Cards 53% 47% 6 2 7 10 0 2 3 1 10 17 1 1 3 3 0 0