Sheffield Wednesday downed by Wycombe Wanderers as automatic promotion slips away

The first half was a tense affair…

Wednesday’s travelling fans were in fine voice ahead of the game as they sensed a big day ahead, and thought they were off to the perfect start when Chey Dunkley – brought in for his physical presence – forced the ball home, only for it to be disallowed.

The Owls fans weren’t to know that, though, and when they watch the replay they may wonder why the foul was given against the Wednesday defender rather than for him. Their celebrations, nonetheless, were cut short.

After that things played out almost exactly as you’d have expected. There were tussles and physical battles all over the park, chances were few and far between, and the ball spent a fair bit of time in the air.

Dunkley was strong in the air, as was the returning Sam Hutchinson, and the Chairboys weren’t able to fashion any major chances of their own. Sam Vokes went closest with a header in the 20th minute, but Bailey Peacock-Farrell was up to the challenge with a diving catch.

Both sides were restricted to snapshots, and it felt like exactly what it was – two strong sides trying to cancel each other out.

It was much of the same in the second half, and as much as the Owls will have felt aggrieved over the disallowed goal in the first, there was a big shout for a penalty in the early stages of the second half after a shot from Marvin Johnson. The referee was having none of it though.

Wednesday had started quite strongly, and were putting a bit of pressure on Wycombe’s backline, but they couldn’t find a chink in the armour and it was the hosts who drew first blood.

Daryl Horgan managed to get on the other side of Hutchinson, and once he was in the box he put it on a plate for Jordan Obita, who got his second goal of the season against Wednesday to open the scoring.

The Owls were struggling to get past Wycombe’s towering centre pairing of Ryan Tafazolli and Chris Forino, and Darren Moore dipped into his bench to try and inject a bit of a spark – bringing on Olamide Shodipo to try and get in behind them.

Wednesday’s troubles, remained though. Dunkley twice went close from set pieces as one touch bounced up and over the bar and another went just wide, but Wycombe were standing firm. And taking their time when they got chance as well.

Callum Paterson was brought on to bring on a bit of muscle up top, and he nearly had exactly the sort of impact that was required after Barry Bannan found him at the far post, but his header was over when anything on target probably would have made it 1-1.

Nothing seemed to stick, though, and the Chairboys dealt with everything thrown at them. It wasn’t to be, and results elsewhere couldn’t have gone much worse.

Automatic promotion is no longer possible for the Owls, so it’s all about the Play-Offs now – and it’s still in their hands.