Sheffield Wednesday News and Views 2011/12
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SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY NEWS 2011/12 OWLS SECURE PROMOTION MATCH REPORT www.swfc.co.uk
Sheffield Wednesday clinched automatic promotion into the Championship on the final day of the season at Hillsborough. The Owls went into the game knowing that a win would be enough to guarantee second tier football next term and did the necessary with a 2-0 win over Wycombe. Goals either side of half time from Michail Antonio and Nile Ranger settled a contest that the home side had largely bossed from the first minute. The game brings a conclusion to what has been a remarkable season for Wednesday and in particular, manager Dave Jones, who has steered his side to ten wins from his 12 games in charge. The stage was set for the Owls’ biggest game of the season with over 37,000 Wednesdayites packed into Hillsborough occupying all four stands. The noise was deafening as the players emerged from the tunnel, with the crowd making a fantastic atmosphere in S6. When the game got underway, Louis Laing had to be alert to clear from a dangerous Antonio centre after five minutes before Miguel Llera made an important block from Stuart Beavon moments later. Antonio had made a good start to match, as he saw a smart strike from the edge of the area deflected out for a corner before Mark Beevers headed the resulting flag kick just over the crossbar. Wednesday were beginning to assert their authority on the game and Antonio darted into the area before pulling back for Jose Semedo, who blasted over the Leppings Lane goal. Then came a double chance for Llera who was denied twice by two outstanding saves from Wycombe keeper Nikki Bull. First Bull managed to tip Llera’s strike from inside the box out for a corner before expertly guiding the ball over from the defender’s headed attempt.
Having bossed most of the opening 25 minutes, the breakthrough finally came for the Owls. Antonio managed to profit from a loose ball from 25 yards and used his electric pace to ghost past two defenders before applying the finish touch over Bull and into the net. That goal sparked joyous scenes at Hillsborough with all four stands bouncing in appreciation of what had been an encouraging opening to such a huge game. The Owls continued to ask the majority of the questions with little in reply from Wycombe. An offside flag then denied Ranger from doubling Wednesday’s lead as the on-loan striker tapped home the rebound from an Antonio hit. Keith Treacy’s strike flashed just wide of the target before the referee brought an end to the opening period. And Wednesday made the perfect start to the second half and went 2-0 ahead through Ranger. A superb delivery from Chris Lines right into the heart of the area picked out Ranger, who nodded home into the bottom corner - putting Wednesday well ahead in the race for automatic promotion. Gary Doherty then made a key block from Ranger, who would have almost certainly have doubled his own personal tally as Wycombe struggled to deal with the Owls’ attacking talent. Matt Bloomfield saw a snaphot sail wide in a rare Wanderers attack before Laing came to the visitors’ rescue at the other end, clearing Gary Madine’s header off the line. As time ticked down, Llera almost added a third but was thwarted by another superb save from Bull. And when the referee blew the full time whistle, it was scenes of sheer joy at Hillsborough with the Owls’ place in the Championship confirmed for the 2012-13 campaign. Owls: Bywater, Buxton, Batth, Llera, Beevers, Antonio, Semedo, Lines, Treacy (J Johnson 79), Madine, Ranger (Lowe 88) Unused substitutes: Weaver, R Jones, Prutton
JONES DELIGHTED AT PROMOTION GAFFERS REACTION www.swfc.co.uk
Dave Jones has hailed the players, the chairman and the fans following the Owls’ promotion to the Championship. Wednesday beat Wycombe 2-0 at Hillsborough to secure the second automatic slot to send a 38,000 strong crowd into delirium. And the success of Jones’ impact will be etched in S6 history after nine wins and two draws guided the Owls over the line. He said: “This is the reward for everyone at this football club. The players have been magnificent, they have listened to everything we have told them and this is their time, it is their day. “They deserve it, they really do. “And those fans out there are just incredible. They were superb today, as they have been since I arrived here. “I have been at a few clubs in my time and believe me, those supporters are right up there with the best. “And I absolutely delighted for the chairman. He has put everything into this club and now he has his reward. “He’s had some difficult decisions to make and he took some stick from a small section but he rode the storm. “This is his football club, it is now promoted and I couldn’t be any happier for him. I have so much time for him.” Performance-wise, Jones said all that mattered to him was the result after the Owls turned in a thoroughly professional performance at Hillsborough. He said: “The performance? I can’t remember how we played! No, all that
mattered was the result and we got it. “I won’t single any player out because they have all been just magnificent. We will get them all back on Wednesday before I close the place down for the summer. “But I will sit down with the chairman and we will talk about next season. I am ambitious, he is ambitious and this club is ambitious. “There is no reason why we can’t go all the way.”
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August Sat 6 Thu 11 Sat 13 Tue 16 Sat 20 Sat 27
15:00 19:45 15:00 19:45 15:00 15:00
H H A A H H
Rochdale 2-0 Blackpool 0-0 Bournemouth 2-0 Bury 2-1 Notts County 2-1 Scunthorpe 3 -2
September Mon 5 19:45 Sat 10 15:00 Tue 13 19:45 Sat 17 15:00 Sat 24 15:00
A H A A H
Charlton MK Dons Stevenage Yeovil Town Exeter City
1-1 3-1 5-1 2-3 3-0
October Sat 1 Sat 8 Sun 16 Sat 22 Tue 25 Sat 29
A H A H A A
Hartlepool Chesterfield Sheffield Utd Colchester Carlisle Wycombe
0-1 3-1 2-2 2-0 3-2 1-2
15:00 15:00 12:00 15:00 19:45 15:00
November Sat 5 15:00 H Brentford Sat 19 15:00 A Tranmere Sat 26 15:00 H Leyton
0-0 1-2 1-0
December Sat 10 15:00 Sat 17 15:00 Mon 26 15:00 Sat 31 13:00
A H A A
Oldham Huddersfield Walsall Preston
1-2 4-4 2-1 2-0
January Mon 2 Sun8 Sat 14 Sat 21 Tue 24 Sat 28
15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 19:45 15:00
H H H H A A
Tranmere West Ham Charlton Hartlepool Scunthorpe Blackpool
2-1 1-0 1-2 2-2 1-3 1-1
February Sat 4 15:00 Sat 11 15:00 Tue 14 19:45 Sat 18 13:00 Sun 26 13:00
H A H A H
Yeovil Town Exeter City Stevenage Chesterfield Sheffield Utd
2-1 2-1 0-1 1-0 1-0
March Sat 3 Tue 6 Sat 10 Sat 17 Tue 20 Sat 24 Sat 31
15:00 19:45 15:00 15:00 19:45 15:00 15:00
A H H A H A H
Rochdale 0-0 Bury 4-1 Bournemouth 3-0 Notts County 1-2 Walsall 2-2 Leyton Orient 0-1 Preston 2-0
April Sat 7 Mon 9 Sat 14 Sat 21 Sat 28
12:30 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00
A H A H A
Huddersfield Oldham Colchester Carlisle Brentford
May Sat 5
15:00 H Wycombe
0-2 3-0 1-1 2-1 1-2 2-2
Reproduced under licence from Football DataCo Limited. All rights reserved. Licence number PRINT/SHEFMER/112523a
npower League 1 1 Charlton 2 Sheffield Wed 3 Sheffield Utd 4 Huddersfield 5 MK Dons 6 Stevenage 7 Notts County 8 Carlisle 9 Brentford 10 Colchester 11 Bournemouth 12 Tranmere 13 Hartlepool 14 Bury 15 Preston 16 Oldham 17 Yeovil Town 18 Scunthorpe 19 Walsall 20 Leyton Orient 21 Wycombe 22 Chesterfield 23 Exeter City 24 Rochdale Updated 8/5/12
P 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46
GD 46 33 41 32 37 25 12 -1 11 -5 -4 -4 -5 -19 -14 -16 -21 -4 -6 -27 -23 -25 -29 -34
PTS 101 93 90 81 80 73 73 69 67 59 58 56 56 56 54 54 54 52 50 50 43 42 42 38