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BRENTFORD 1 SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY 0 - MATCH REPORT
SHEFFIELD Wednesday stay top of League One, but Alan Irvine and his ambitious side will want to forget this disappointing defeat away to Brentford as the hosts deservedly shedded their 'basement boys' tag.
Charlie MacDonald's 41st-minute goal was the difference as the Bees stung the Owls with a surprise victory at Griffin Park, their first victory over their visitors since December 2004.
And the hosts, who climbed two places with their first league win this term, could have won by more if it had not been for two fine saves from Owls keeper Nicky Weaver and the intervention of the crossbar and a brilliant goalline clearance.
"We can't let this result affect us, we have to bounce back," said Owls boss Irvine. "We were going to lose some games during this season and if one game that you lose and you don't play so well has a negative effect on the next game, then you're going to have a bad season.
"It's vitally important that we respond in the right way.
"We're up for the fight. We've got a powerful squad with a lot of good players, but we didn't perform at the levels we should perform at and the levels we've been performing at."
The Bees started brightly and in the sixth minute MacDonald had a powerful header cleared off the line.
Not long after Myles Weston whipped in a dangerous cross from the left wing and striker Gary Alexander headed straight at Owls keeper Weaver.
The Bees won a free-kick in a dangerous position on the edge of the visitors' box in the 18th minute, but Robbie Simpson curled his right-foot shot wide of the target.
The Owls, who had the majority of the possession in the opening exchanges but without much reward, finally had their first chance in the 25th minute, only for Chris Sedgwick to drag a tame left-foot shot wide of the right upright.
A minute later Bees right-back Michael Spillane found himself with acres of space inside the Owls box, but he dragged his left-foot shot wide.
Sedgwick picked out Marcus Tudgay with a cross from the right and the striker saw his right-foot volley deflect off a defender and into the arms of Bees keeper Ben Hamer.
The Owls were starting to dominate and, shortly after the half-hour mark, Gary Teale burst into the box and rifled a fierce drive over the bar.
Darren Potter then had a good chance to give the Owls the lead. Giles Coke did well to cut the ball back inside from a tight angle, but Potter fired over from the edge of the box.
But it was the hosts who took the lead with a clinical finish from MacDonald. Craig Woodman played the ball inside and MacDonald turned his marker with a deft piece of skill before firing past Weaver and into the bottom right corner.
Ten minutes after the break Weaver pulled off a smart point-blank stop to deny Gary Alexander, before Mark Beevers produced a brilliant sliding goalline clearance from Robbie Simpson's goalbound shot.
The Owls had a decent shout for a penalty when Tommy Spurr's left-wing cross struck the arm of Karleigh Osbourne.
Potter was unlucky to see his right-volley deflect wide for a corner as the Owls continued to press for an equaliser, but Irvine's side were lucky not to be two goals down when Simpson rattled the crossbar with a 25-yard thunderbolt.
Weaver produced a wonderful diving save to deny substitute Nicky Adams with seven minutes remaining. The keeper had to be at full-stretch to palm the midfielder's rasping right-foot drive past his right post.
In injury time Coke fired over but it was the Bees finishing strongly and ending a run of three matches without a win against the Owls.
Manager's View
I spoke to the players before the game and reminded them about some of the results from Saturday and the fact that other teams missed the chance to go top of the league.
I was very conscious of how difficult this game was going to be. If some players were complacent about it I'd be even more disappointed with them.
I felt they (Brentford) were in a false position (at the bottom of the table).
Got a view? Leave a comment below.
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Weather for Sheffield
Tuesday 22 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 13 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North east
