Battling Owls left isolated as they fall to Bees
STAYING out of tier three is what a lot of people are trying to do at the moment, but Sheffield Wednesday are making life harder for themselves with their form at Hillsborough.
They showed spirit against a talented and refreshed Brentford side last night, but were ultimately unable to do anything about their difficult home life. The last time they won at S6 was back in the dim and distant days when football fans were allowed to go to football matches.
Wiping out the minus 12 point deduction they started the season with will have to wait another week as a 2- 1 defeat kept them on minus four.
The last time these sides met, the Owls subsided to a 5- 0 defeat. Whatever else they lack, there is more spirit, more cussed determination about this side, and they needed it after a tough first half. The simple fact is, though, with or without fans, they just struggle to win at home.
It hardly helped that they were up against the country’s in- form goalscorer after Brentford were forced to rebuild last season’s formidable BMW.
The centre- piece of their remodelled forward line, Ivan Toney, has now scored seven goals in his last four matches, and although it was far from a solo effort, every time the Bees swarmed at Wednesday’s defence in the opening 45 minutes, you feared a goal.
With Massimo Luongo missing through injury, the defence did not get the protection they needed until a second- half rejig which stiffened the midfield and made the spectacle less thrilling for the neutral, much more pleasing for the Wednesdayite.
Toney made it clear from very early on that he was going to write the evening’s storylines despite the ever- present second- half threat of a twist in the tale.
When Bryan Mbeumo, the only survivor of Brentford’s formidable forward line of last season, played Toney in after five minutes, Wednesday were fortunate no one was able to keep pace with him, so his cross flashed over the byline without a touch. But within a couple of minutes he had found the net himself.
It was his quickness of mind that counted this time, reacting to the rebound from Henrik Dalsgaard shot when no one else did, and beating Cameron Dawson.
When Toney found space again in the 16th minute, this time peeling out to the left at a counter- attack, the angle rather than anyone in blue- and- white stopped him scoring.
Wednesday have had to get used to giving others a headstart but they began to find their feet midway through the first half, led by left wing- back Adam Reach, and soon got their reward.
Reach played a good ball to Windass, whose pull- back was cut out, then forced his way to the byline minutes later, only for his powerful shot to be saved.
The goal came from the other side, Barry Bannan playing a clever ball for Kadeem Harris, whose excellent cross allowed Callum Paterson, playing in the hole behind Windass and full debutant Jack Marriott in Wednesday’s 3- 41- 2, to stoop and head in.
Soon, though, Toney had scored two for the third game running. Harris blocked a shot from the influential Mathias Jensen but when Vitaly Janelt’s
corner came over, Toney wrestled away from Moses Odubajo and headed in.
Minutes later he looked like he was going to get the chance of a hat- trick, only for Aden Flint to make a crucial interception as he threatened to burst through oneonone.
His confidence overflowing, Toney released Saman Ghoddos with a wonderful touch just as the later played in Jensen, but both chances went begging as half- time approached.
Garry Monk brought on Joey Pelupessy, then Fisayo Dele- Bashiru for the ineffective Alex Hunt and Josh Windass to clog up the middle of midfield more and
with Mbeumo and Pontus Jansson making way for Brentford, the Owls took the sting out of the Bees, even having another Paterson header disallowed for offside.
Eventually Brentford started to find small cracks in the Owls’ well- organised set- up, but not many.
When the hat- trick chance came his way, with Jensen’s brilliant ball releasing Sergi Canos, Toney surprisingly scuffed it wide.
Excellent tracking back by Reach stopped Henrik Dalsgaard picking him out in space at the far post.
Josh Dasilva shot wide, then at Dawson.
All the while Wednesday were pushing at the door. They never quite found their way through, unable to turn pressure into anything more pressing, but kept Brentford on their toes right to the end.
It was a defeat, but a long way from their Griffin Park embarrassment.
Sheffield Wednesday: Dawson; Odubajo, Flint, van Aken; Harris, Bannan, Hunt ( Pelupessy 46), Reach, Paterson; Windass ( Dele- Bashiru 51), Marriott ( Rhodes 72). Unused substitutes: Wildsmith, Palmer, Borner, Kachunga.
Brentford: Raya; Henry, Jansson ( Sorensen 59), Pinnock, Dalsgaard; Janelt, Dasilva, Jensen; Mbeumo ( Canos 55), Toney, Ghoddos ( Fosu- Henry 76). Unused substitutes: Thompson, Forss, Daniels, Hammar. Referee: D Bond ( Lancashire).