Sheffield Wednesday hit remarkable 90-point tally after dramatic fightback to keep their promotion hopes alive

Wednesday knew that anything less than three points could all but end their hopes of clambering above Ipswich Town and Plymouth Argyle, so the hope was they’d come bursting out of the blocks against an Exeter side severely depleted by injuries and with nothing but pride left to play for.

That wasn’t the case though, not at first, and it took Darren Moore’s side until injury time in the first half to force the first real save out of Jamal Blackman, who did well to keep out a rasping effort from Will Vaulks.

It was a flat performance, a flat atmosphere, and it said a lot about the first half that an injury to the referee, Declan Bourne, drew some of the biggest reaction – one fan told him to ‘stop time-wasting’.

Andy Haines, the fourth official, had to replace him, and aside from waving away penalty appeals for both teams there was nothing much to do in a game that lacked urgency. Wednesday went in at the break to a round of boos from the stands, and the only hope was that things would improve.

In fact, for a period, they got worse.

Within two minutes Wednesday were behind, yet more awful defending from the hosts – which has sadly become commonplace recently – saw Josh Key left with all the space in the world to head past Cameron Dawson. Key is a defender who’s been asked to play up front because all of their other strikers are injured. Dawson kept them in it shortly after, too, making a huge save from Josh Coley – it could’ve been game over without it.

Moore brought in Dennis Adeniran for Aden Flint to add drive going forward, and it didn’t take long for Wednesday to find themselves level again. A quick free kick finding Barry Bannan, who clipped a lovely ball into the box and onto the head of Lee Gregory. He did his thing, and it was 1-1.

Maybe conceding was exactly what Wednesday needed, because it seemed to wake them up. Michael Ihiekwe made his return to the field after injury, and shortly after he was introduced they were ahead.

Callum Paterson got the goal, another important one, but it was Adeniran who deserves the plaudits as he jinxed his way down the right to great effect. His cross fell to Marvin Johnson, who scuffed it, but Paterson was on hand to direct it goalward. Hillsborough erupted.

It was by no means pretty, for large parts it was lacklustre and lacked drive from an Owls perspective, but in the end they got what they’d hoped for.

Gregory was taken off in the 83rd minute after a strong performance, Tyreeq Bakinson replacing him and creating a chance for Michael Smith to hit the post late on, but it was thankfully inconsequential.

Results elsewhere mean that there’s no change at the top, but for just the second time in history the Owls have reached 90 points in a league campaign. They’re also now 22 games unbeaten on home soil.

A classic? Not even close. But ‘Don’t stop believing’ blared from the speakers afterwards, and it’s not over yet.