Delight as Sheffield Wednesday starlets ‘dominate’ champions

The Owls took on the young Lions at Middlewood Road in their opening game of the season, drawing 2-2 despite having numerous chances to pick up all three points on home soil.

Bailey Cadamarteri scored twice following his return from injury, with a beauty from the edge of the box and then another from the penalty spot, but Wednesday also hit the crossbar once in each half as they sought to grab a win.

Millwall won the Professional Development League last season, claiming the South title with an eight-point gap on second-placed Bristol City before seeing off Hull City and Sheffield United in the knockout stages.

The last time these two faced off in May it resulted in a heavy 3-0 defeat for the young Owls, so ‘Thommo’ was happy to see them showcase the work that’s been done since then.

“I was really pleased,” he told The Star. “I thought they were outstanding to a man throughout. We dominated the game, had a lot of chances, I just wish we’d been a bit more ruthless. The goals we gave away, though, were just gifts. We’ve got to stop that sloppiness that sometimes just creeps into a game when you’re that much on top…

“It was good game, and was big improvement. We played them on the last day of last season with a similar group, and the improvement was terrific – so credit to them. We probably could’ve done with another game or two in preseason to get match fitness up, but I thought they did well today.

“Millwall are only a couple of players different to last year and they won the league comfortably last year down south, so it’s a good measure for us. It is the first game though, and we have to keep those standards up.”

A number of first team players were on hand to watch parts of the game, with the likes of Cameron Dawson, Ciaran Brennan, Marvin Johnson and Mallik Wilks all taking time to run their eyes over the potential next generation - first team coach, Roberto Cuesta, was also present for a period as well.