Feisty Steel City derby sees late drama as Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United draw

For the first time in a while the gap between Wednesday and United in the Professional Development League wasn’t so large, tonight’s hosts with the two sides currently second and first in the table with just a single defeat between them – the Blades, carrying on from last season’s form, remained unbeaten heading into the tie.

But the Owls couldn’t have had a much worse start. An early run from Bailey Cadamarteri saw the opposition goalkeeper, Luke Faxon, commit a foul right on the edge of the box, but it was the Blades who ended up benefitting as they broke quickly down the right following the original save.

The attack was quick, but frustrations were clear as the defence failed on numerous occasions to deal with the situation before it was poked through to Owen Hampson calmly slot past Pierce Charles. 1-0 to the visiting side with just eight minutes on the clock.

But while the lads in red and white led, things remained tight as the two local rivals battled it out on the Hillsborough turf. A scramble or two around the Wednesday box meant a few gasps for the local support, but Cadamarteri remained a handful up top and twice went relatively close to levelling things up.

A roar went up from the blue half of the South Stand – the other half populated by the fans from S2 – as new manager, Danny Röhl, was spotted in a directors box, and for a few minutes the atmosphere lifted a bit more, both sets of supporters going back and forth. After all, it’s a while since they’ve had the chance to do it at senior level.

Half time came and went as the temperate dropped, and it was the home side that came out of the blocks the fastest for the second stanza. It took just two minutes for them to grab an equaliser, Cadamarteri – of course – grabbing his tenth of the season as he slammed it home from close range.

The Blades won’t be happy with how it came about, a failed clearance looping towards the goalkeeper and onto the bar before ‘Cads’ fired into the back of the net.

Wednesday were in the ascendency, with Joey Phuthi and Favour Onukwuli trying to cause problems on either wing while Gui Siqueira and Sam Reed pushed on behind them, but then an error cost them again.

Jay Glover was caught in possession in midfield, he felt he was fouled but saw his protests waved away as Andre Brooks broke towards the Owls goal – he slotted it through to Jili Buyabu who drilled it goalwards. Charles will no doubt have felt he could’ve done better as it went under him and into the back of the net, but United didn’t care. 2-1.

This Wednesday side is a different beast to the one that finished bottom of the table last time out, plenty of the players remain the same, but the attitude has changed. Sean Fusire spoke of it before the game, and with the armband around his bicep his did his best to try and help the Owls get back into it.

It may not be the seniors, but that doesn’t mean the rivalry is any less. And as the two sets of fans exchanged chants, the players nearly exchanged blows on the field after a coming together by the corner flag saw most of the players on the pitch sprint over. It’s still a Steel City derby.

Jay Buchan, Luke Cook and Ryan Wilson were all thrown into the mix, and Andy Holdsworth – in for Neil Thompson – saw almost immediate reward. As the game ticked into injury time Reed clipped a ball into the box, under pressure from Cadamarteri the United defence didn’t deal with it, and Cook did brilliantly to control the ball and rocket it home in front of the Kop. A late equaliser, and they certainly deserved it.

A late push from United saw them push for heartbreaker, but Wednesday held firm – Ciaran Brennan rounding off a strong performance with a perfectly-timed crunching tackle on the edge of the box shortly before the final whistle.

United remain unbeaten, but the Owls weren’t giving them bragging rights tonight. All even at S6.