City held by gritty Wednesday

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BRISTOL CITY 1, SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY 1

 

CITY’S bid to close the gap on the Championship leaders was frustrated by plucky Sheffield Wednesday at Ashton Gate.

Hit by a mystery virus, the Owls looked to be heading to defeat when Nicky Maynard scored his ninth goal of the season to break the deadlock early in the second half.

But the visitors refused to give way and hit back through striker Luke Varney, who smashed home a stylish equaliser 15 minutes from the end.

And they would have snatched an unlikely victory had it not been for Robins keeper Dean Gerken, whose late save from substitute Leon Clarke kept the scores level.

Although City extended their unbeaten run to six games, they moved up only one place to fifth and missed an opportunity to draw level with second-placed Leicester.

As expected, City boss Gary Johnson made just one change from the side which started at Barnsley, Cole Skuse coming in at right wing-back in place of the injured Bradley Orr.

But Wednesday manager Brian Laws had no such luxury after a virus swept through Hillsborough, reducing the options available to him. Centre-backs Darren Purse and Mark Beevers were deemed too ill to travel, Michael Gray was sidelined by a hamstring strain and Richard Wood was omitted altogether after being placed on the transfer list.

Laws persuaded the Football League to hurry through the registration of youth team players Nick Wood, Nathan Modest and Max Wragg in order that they could supplement a substitutes’ bench decimated by injury and illness.

Speaking prior to kick-off, manager Johnson challenged his in-form team to close the gap on Championship leaders Newcastle United and third-placed Cardiff, neither of whom were in action.

“We have to raise the bar and aim for the top two,” declared the Londoner. “If we strive for that, then it will help us stay in the play-off places at the very least.”

Surprisingly, it was Wednesday who came out firing on all cylinders and City keeper Dean Gerken had to be at his best to block an angled shot from Tommy Miller in the very first minute as the Owls threatened to stun Ashton Gate into silence.

Home supporters again had hearts in mouths when Luke Varney exchanged passes with strike partner Marcus Tudgay and sent a low shot thudding against the base of the post. Had it gone in it would not have counted as a linesman had flagged for an offside infringement.

City finally asserted themselves on 12 minutes, Danny Haynes whipping in a cross from the right and Marvin Elliott heading towards goal, only for Owls keeper Lee Grant to make a fantastic airborne save.

Gradually, City gained the upper hand in midfield and Maynard threatened to break clear of the covering defence when Haynes played him in. But Richard Hinds stuck out a leg to make a crucial interception.

Although City were enjoying plenty of possession, they were finding difficulty in breaking down stubborn opponents who put men behind the ball and denied the home side space in the final third.

Forced to try his luck from range, Maynard saw his shot on the turn saved comfortably by Grant. When City did finally manage to get behind Wednesday’s defence, Skuse climbed well enough to meet another Haynes cross, but was unable to direct his effort on target.

Wednesday were by now restricted to sporadic breakaways, yet still managed to carve out the better chances and Varney should have done better when shooting weakly at Gerken with the entire goal to aim at.

Encouraged by that raid, the Owls threatened twice more and Lewin Nyatanga and Louis Carey both had to make last-ditch challenges to deny Tudgay a clear sight of goal as the Owls finished the half in the ascendancy.

City boss Johnson took remedial action during the interval, withdrawing his son and skipper Carey, sending on striker Alvaro Saborio and midfield playmaker Paul Hartley and adopting a 4-4-2 formation for the second half with Haynes pushed onto the right flank.

Wednesday continued to offer dogged resistance and the crowd voiced their frustration when Jermaine Johnson tracked back to clear a Haynes cross intended for Saborio at the back post.

Evander Sno then stabbed a shot goalwards, only to see Lewis Buxton head off the line.

No matter. City continued to press and probe and their persistence was finally rewarded in the 58^th minute. Receiving the ball with his back to goal and under pressure from two defenders, Maynard turned and wriggled his way free before jabbing his shot beyond the stranded Grant and into the back of the net for his eighth Championship goal of the season.

Wednesday manager Laws responded by replacing Miller with Leon Clarke, a change which signalled the advent of three up front for the visitors.

Still City continued to hold sway and Sno was narrowly off target with a curling effort from 20 yards which flew just over.

Required to take greater risks and commit more men to attack, the Owls almost summoned an equaliser on 69 minutes, substitute Clarke shooting hard and true from 12 yards out, only to be denied by a startling one-handed save from Gerken, who then punched clear under pressure from Tudgay.

City’s slender lead was wiped out 15 minutes from time, Darren Potter splitting the home defence asunder with a pin-point through and Varney beating Gerken with a sweetly-struck drive from the edge of the 18 yard box to restore parity.

City manager Johnson sent on Ivan Sproule for the tiring Haynes with 10 minutes remaining in an attempt to force a winner and it so nearly came when Sno’s snap shot wrong-footed Grant. But Wednesday’s keeper recovered to make a vital save.

City (3-5-2): Gerken; Carey (Saborio 46), McCombe, Nyatanga; Skuse, Elliott, Johnson (Hartley 46), Sno, McAllister; Haynes (Sproule 80), Maynard.

Wednesday (4-4-2): Grant; Spurr, Hinds, Simek, Buxton; Johnson, O’Connor, Potter, Miller (Clarke 65); Tudgay, Varney.

Referee: Fred Graham (Essex)

Attendance: 15,005