Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 Barnsley
The Owls left it late to scrape past relegation rivals Barnsley, in a controversial South Yorkshire affair that saw three players sent off by referee Andre Mariner. Reds debutant Emmanuel Frimpong was the first man to receive his marching orders, as he was dismissed in the first half for two naive bookings.
Wednesday had looked brighter in the opening exchanges of the encounter, and Frimpong’s dismissal forced the visitors to put ten men behind the ball and try to grind out a point which would frustrate the hosts. Danny Wilson’s men managed to carry out this plan well, but the match took another dramatic twist when Jermaine Johnson saw red for a high tackle on Barnsley’s American winger Brek Shea. The Reds did look quite dangerous when both sides had ten men, but Wednesday restored their man advantage in stoppage time, when Jacob Mellis chopped down Jacques Maghoma, after being denied what he thought was a stonewall penalty.
The away side thought that they had escaped Hillsborough with a share of the spoils, but Chris Maguire had other ideas. His driven effort broke the hearts of travelling supporters, as it found Luke Steele’s bottom corner seven minutes into injury time, to move the home side six points clear of danger.
Sheffield Wednesday
| Chris Kirkland – Made a few good saves early on but he had little to do. | 7.0 |
| Liam Palmer – Solid defensively and looked a threat going forward, overlapped Maguire and delivered in some decent crosses. Continues to improve in his new role at right-back. | 8.0 |
| Oguchi Onyewu – Mainly untroubled but the American defended well when called upon. Looked to start attacks from the back. | 7.0 |
| Miguel Llera – Defended pretty well but still had his jittery moments. Like Onyewu, the Spainard looked to start attacks from the back. | 6.5 |
| Joe Mattock – Very steady and solid defensively, but could have offered more going forward and attempted to overlap Maghoma, as the Owls needed to overload the flanks and use their man advantage. | 7.0 |
| Chris Maguire – Continued his resurgence under Stuart Gray with a tidy performance and a vital goal in the dying embers. The Scotsman offers plenty of flair down the right channel. | 8.0 |
| Jose Semedo – Broke up play well and did performed his duties as an anchorman to a decent standard. However, he lacked the creativity to unlock a stubborn Reds’ defence. | 6.5 |
| Kieran Lee – Another good display from the Manchester United product. Looked very comfortable on the ball and provided the engine room with plenty of energy. | 7.5 |
| Jacques Maghoma – The Congolese winger started off well and generally looked lively and tricky throughout. However, his final ball left much to be desired. | 6.0 |
| Adthe Nuhiu – Shows promise with his hold-up play but lacked the mobility to really threaten Luke Steele’s goal. | 6.0 |
| Benik Afobe – The debutant looked sharp and showed good movement. Could be a good acquisition if he’s partnered with a proven Championship striker. | 6.5 |
Substitutions
| Coalan Lavery – Looked lively but didn’t make a huge impact. | 6.5 |
| Jermaine Johnson – The enigmatic winger was dismissed not long after entering the field of play for a reckless challenge on Brek Shea. Showed his inconsistency yet again. | 1.0 |
| Jeremy Helan – Replaced the injured Onyewu with seconds remaining. Didn’t have long enough to stamp his authority on proceedings. | 6.0 |
Barnsley
| Luke Steele – Made a few good saves but got caught out on a few crosses. | 6.5 |
| Jack Hunt – Solid defensively and when possible, the former Huddersfield man offered a threat going forwards. Substituted prematurely due to injury. | 7.0 |
| Peter Ramage – Solid as a rock at the back, hardly put a foot wrong all afternoon and made the most of a difficult situation. | 8.5 |
| Martin Cranie – Formed a great partnership with Ramage, and dealt well with what was thrown at him. Sliced a few clearances in the first period. | 8.0 |
| Tom Kennedy – Nullified the threat of Maghoma brilliantly, read the game well and looked solid in the tackle. | 7.5 |
| Dale Jennings – Posed a threat on the break with his pace, but the game didn’t suit him as he and his team mates had to defend for their lives. | 6.5 |
| Jacob Mellis – Showed moments of quality before getting himself a red card for a stupid tackle. Like Jennings, he didn’t have much license to go forward due to Frimpong’s red card. | 6.0 |
| Emmanuel Frimpong – Endured a nightmare debut, Frimpong showed naivety by committing plenty of pointless fouls. Sent off in the first half and will find it even harder to ‘draw the girls’ now. | 3.0 |
| Brek Shea – Annoymous and ineffective, offered little in possession. | 5.5 |
| Chris O’Grady – Withdrawn early on to a standing ovation from all four sides of the ground after Frimpong’s dismissal. | 5.0 |
| Nick Proschwitz – Came close to scoring in the first half. The towering striker couldn’t get into the game due to the game plan when Barnsley were reduced to ten men. | 6.0 |
Substitutions
| Stephen Dawson – Offers very little in possession and gave the ball away a lot. Came on after Frimpong’s red card to try and solidify the midfield. | 5.5 |
| Jim O’Brien – Made a very costly error in the build-up to Wednesday’s goal. If he’d have cleared his lines, I would be writing a report about a goalless draw. | 5.5 |
| Thomas Cywka – Couldn’t make much of an impact. | 6.0 |
Man of the Match
| Peter Ramage – He and Cranie defended manfully and strongly. Ramage coped very well despite the situation at Hillsborough, won most of his headers and made some good blocks. | 8.5 |
