Ward has final say for Wagner
PENALTY HEROICS SECURE WEMBLEY SPOT
Huddersfield moved one step closer to ending their 45-year exile from the top flight by beating sheffield Wednesday on penalties.
david Wagner’s team will face reading at Wembley on May 29 in the final with a £200million Premier league jackpot up for grabs.
Asked about penalties ahead of this game, Wagner joked and said he thought he had enough Germans in the team. Many a true word spoken in jest, it seems.
Huddersfield’s first two spotkicks were converted by German players and keeper danny Ward produced two magnificent saves to clinch the victory.
sam Hutchinson missed for the Owls before Keiren Westwood saved from Jack Payne. fernando forestieri took the 10th penalty of the shoot- out but Ward, suspended from the first leg of the play-off semi-final, was equal to it.
There was very little to separate these Yorkshire clubs over the course of 46 games. They both finished on 81 points with Wednesday a place higher on goal difference.
And there was nothing between them over two tense games.
steven fletcher had Wednesday supporters dreaming of a return to Wembley when he opened the scoring early in the second half.
The Owls were runners-up in last year’s play- off final against Hull and 17 minutes from victory when Huddersfield levelled through an own goal from Tom lees.
Wednesday, who had Hutchinson back from injury, saw fans cram into Hillsborough, expecting a carnival, but Carlos Carvalhal’s plans took an early blow when winger ross Wallace was forced off inside five minutes and replaced by Adam reach.
Ward was forced into the first save of the night, diving to beat away a firm effort by reach, while Westwood denied izzy Brown at the other end after good work on the wing by rajiv van la Parra.
Wednesday were wasteful at times. fletcher failed to either fashion a shot or find his strikepartner forestieri with a pass on the break, and Hutchinson blazed over a volley when lees nodded a free-kick down in his direction.
Huddersfield’s appeals for a penalty were rejected by referee Andre Marriner, when Westwood made a hash of a cross and then appeared to clip Wells as they raced for the loose ball. The striker needed little encouragement to go down. Marriner, however, was unmoved.
six minutes into the second half and the Owls took the lead. fletcher climbed above Chris schindler to reach the cross supplied from the Wednesday left by Barry Bannan and forced a powerful header past Ward.
fletcher, signed from Marseille last summer, has not made the impact many imagined he might in his first season at Hillsborough. But the scotland international finished the campaign in prolific form. This was his fifth in seven games, which included crucial goals in the Championship run-in.
When this one hit the net, fletcher knew it might be the most important of the lot. He slid on his knees towards the corner flag and leapt into the crowd, followed by a mob of team-mates.
Ten minutes later and Carvalhal decided to shuffle his strikers. Off came goal hero fletcher and on went Jordan rhodes, who started his career at Huddersfield.
Once behind, Wagner’s team played with more urgency and took risks as the game pulsated.
suddenly, the thrill of the playoff system was in the air, with agony and ecstasy in the balance and Collin Quaner was highly influential when he replaced elias Kachunga on the right-wing.
Quaner set up the equaliser in the 73rd minute, his low cross scrambled over the line by Wells, sliding in under a challenge from lees. Wells claimed it, but replays showed lees had the last touch.
it was the first time Huddersfield had scored against the Owls in four games this season and it changed the momentum again.
Wednesday were forced back. Quaner caused more problems for left back daniel Pudil but Westwood’s shot- stopping took the home team into extra time.
Westwood saved again, this time from Brown’s long-range drive. Ward denied rhodes.
Michael Hefele blocked from forestieri, Wells slammed another shot into side-netting from an angle and Atdhe Nuhiu headed wide, but it took penalties to separate these Yorkshire rivals.