Sheffield Wednesday continue to struggle at home after Charlton fought back from behind to secure a draw at Hillsborough.
In a tight first half that lacked quality Charlton seemed to have the better of it with their midfield controlling the opening stages. The Addicks were denied the lead by the offside flag after former Owls loanee Chris Eagles raced clear and slotted under Westwood. The Wednesday number one was called into action again shortly afterwards, this time making a stunning save from Simon Church at point blank range. With four minutes remaining in the first half Wednesday broke forward with McGugan who found Lewis Buxton on the right, and after a wonderful cross Caolan Lavery to slotted home giving the keeper no chance. The hosts could count themselves lucky to be going into half time in the lead.
In the second half Wednesday upped the tempo and had a spring in their step early on with impressive Southampton youngster Lloyd Isgrove firing a low effort at Henderson. The Owls continued to press and bully the Charlton back line with Lavery and Sergiu Bus linking up brilliantly to stretch and harry the visitors to try and seal the 3 points. However, 15 minutes from time Eagles hammered a low curling shot at Westwood that he could only parry for Johann Berg Gudmundsson to level cutting in from the right and finishing brilliantly. The equalizer only seemed to make Wednesday more determined to get the points with a near immediate reply with Lavery creating something out of nothing unleashing a 25 yard rocket that left the Addicks keeper stranded and slammed off the bar. Isgrove then tried his luck when he reacted first to a cross from the left hooking to ball towards goal only to see his effort also hit the crossbar.
Wednesday then introduced top goal scorer Atdhe Nuhiu and midfield maestro Kieran Lee, replacing Lavery and McGugan respectively. It was the Austrian number 9 that somehow failed to secure the 3 points following a Chris Maguire cross which landed perfectly on the strikers head 3 yards out and he incredibly missed the target completely – definitely a contender for miss of the season.
Full Time 1 – 1
Man of the Match: Caolan Lavery – Despite a great performance from young Isgrove the MOTM has to go to Lavery a goal and arguably his best game in a Wednesday shirt. He was a constant threat all afternoon and showed why he is rated so highly by the South Yorkshire club.
