Highs, lows and wondergoals - Sheffield Wednesday's season review as 2021/22 ends in disappointment

Monday night’s defeat to Sunderland called time on the 2021/22 season for Wednesday, with Patrick Roberts breaking Wednesdayite hearts deep into stoppage time – and as we begin to draw a line under the season that was we decided to have a look back at some of the best – and worst – moments of a bumpy season at S6.

Best performance

Portsmouth at home. Hillsborough was bouncing, and despite falling behind to an early goal the team ploughed on and put in arguably the most dominant performance of the campaign – sealing a fourth-place finish along the way.

It was an afternoon where everything seemed to click into place for the Owls, with Darren Moore’s men scoring a whole host of different types of goals – and via four different goalscorers as well. It felt like a real moment, unfortunately the season didn’t work out as hoped afterwards.

Best away day

Wednesday’s support has been immense all season – especially on the road. I’ve lost count of the amount of times they sold out away ends across the country, even in obscure circumstances, and for the most part they’ve been an absolute credit to the club.

The one that really stands out for me, though, is that night at Stadium MK. MK Dons were flying, they were on a big unbeaten run and results had gone against the Owls recently – they needed a big away performance in an evening kickoff game.

And boy did they put one in. They flew into the lead through Saido Berahino, Lee Gregory and Barry Bannan – but when the hosts pulled two goals back it became very, very tense. The noise when the final whistle went was brilliant.

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Top performer

With his 21 goals and assists, there’s only one winner – the skipper. Bannan has been a key performer for the Owls from the opening day, and he’s put on a fair few masterclass performances over the course of the campaign.

The amount of times that a bit of Bannan class has been the difference for the Owls has been astonishing,

Best goal

There’s been some beauties, hasn’t there? But there’s only one winner. It won the EFL Goal of the Season award, it made me gasp out loud as it went in, and it sent Wednesdayites cock-a-hoop in the away end.

Bannan’s goal against the Dons is one of the best goals I’ve ever seen live, and the moment of quiet from the stadium as he struck it was something I’ll never forget.

Best signing

You can’t look past Gregory really… Not many signings have settled in at Wednesday as well as he has in recent years, and his 17 goals across the campaign are proof of just how well he’s acclimatised to the club.

The ‘He’s our number nine’ song has no doubt been stuck in the heads of fans across the city for weeks now, and he’s got some big goals in some big moments when the team needed him the most. His hattrick at Fleetwood Town is incredibly memorable, and it’s a pity that his goal at home against Sunderland meant nothing in the end.

Most disappointing signing

There’s been a few this season. Plenty of the players that came in this season haven’t quite worked out as they’d have hoped, but I think Lewis Wing was probably the most disappointing – mainly because of how much was expected of him.

Wing was seen as a bit a coup when he came on board having been so good for Rotherham United in the Championship the season before, but it never seemed to click for him at Hillsborough and his exit in January – and eventual move to Wycombe Wanderers – wasn’t mourned by many.

Worst moment

In a season of highs and lows, there are plenty of bad moments to choose from – not quite as many as last season, mind.

Plymouth away was grim, there were plenty of late goals to ruin days out, and the less said about Sunderland away the better.

But it was the final nail in the coffin that stings the most. Patrick Roberts’ late goal at Hillsborough that knocked the stuffing out of everything and ended the Owls’ season.

Wednesday looked to have all the momentum after Gregory had levelled up the tie, and then out of nowhere came the killer blow. Such a pity.

Biggest turnaround

Marvin Johnson’s career at Wednesday got off to a pretty difficult start… He took a bit of time to settle, and was often played out of position, but once he got acquainted with the left wing back position he really came into his own.

He was such a dangerous player for the Owls with his crossing ability, grabbing a number of assists, and his ‘Waka Waka’ chant is up there with the most brilliantly obscure that I’ve heard.

Best atmosphere

Unfortunately it was a night that ended in disappointment, but the evening at Hillsborough for Wednesday’s game against Sunderland in the play-offs was honestly superb. I’ve seen a few complaining that it was a bit flat, but the singing before the game was some of the loudest I’ve heard in ages, and the sheer noise when Gregory scored was unreal. Hopefully there are more nights like that to come – because they’re the sort of evenings we do this for.

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