Derby County 1 Sheffield Wednesday 2: Birthday boy Barry Bannan inspires dramatic win
Until the Scot's outstanding 65th-minute goal, it had been a complete non-contest at the home of Derby County. As it was, the Owls snatched a 2-1 win in the most dramatic of circumstances, Jamal Lowe scoring in the fourth added minute.
So often the Owls follow where their captain leads and at Pride Park on Sunday that was certainly the case, for better and for worse.
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Hide AdThe Rams had not put their visitors to bed when they were hopeless, but Bannan's goal made a contest of it, and Lowe's decided it just when it looked like their chance had gone.
The away fans celebrated deliriously with Danny Rohl at full-time and one of the home ballboys rubbed salt into the wounds by waving his plastic stool in celebration as he headed for the tunnel at full-time.
For the first time since August, the Owls have won matches back to back, both on their travels.
It had never looked like coming in the opening hour.
Jerry Yates had mugged Bannan right from the Owls' kick-off to set an unhappy tone.
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A moment midway through the first half summed it up. With everybody up for a free-kick, Bannan instead squared to Marvin Johnson, who returned the ball to him. Bannan's miscontrol let the ball go out for a throw-in and he threw the ball away in disgust, earning a booking.
But it was far from just him.
There was a real lethargy about Wednesday in the first half.
Even when minds were sharp, as when the Owls took a quick throw-in to Shea Charles, upfield near the byline, his touch saw the ball run behind for a goal-kick. Bannan's attempt to release Djeidi Gassama a minute later was overhit.


More importantly, they had given the hosts a head-start.
Just nine minutes in, Marcus Harkness accelerated too easily past a flat-footed Pol Valentin and pulled the ball back to Ebou Adams – his ears no doubt still ringing after wearing a Johnson volley minutes earlier – found the net.
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Hide AdNathaniel Mendez-Laing was in the mood against his old club and forced a low stretching save from James Beadle after carrying the ball into range. He was less patient when a loose ball came to him in the 26th minute, shooting first -time from further out than he needed to.
In between time Craig Forsyth produced a wild shot when the Owls failed to deal with a right-wing cross.


Gradually Wednesday began to win more free-kicks in dangerous positions, but they were unable to use them. In open play, the brain-fades kept coming.
Rohl was certainly pro-active about it, bringing on Josh Windass and Liam Palmer for Valentin and Dominic Iorfa at half-time, switching Charles to central defence for more calmness in possession back there. Jamal Lowe came on soon after for the ineffective Gassama.
It had little immediate effect.
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Hide AdAnthony Musaba volleyed over but it was the Rams once more making the running, Mendez-Laing cutting inside for a shot deflected being for a corner, and Yates heading against the crossbar at a Ben Osborn corner, possibly with a faint touch from Beadle, who had minutes earlier brilliantly denied the striker.
But then out of nowhere, Windass ran down the right and when his cross was cut out, Bannan measured his shot to clear both goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterstrom and the defender getting back to cover the line, but not the crossbar.
He ran back to the away fans, shushing the rest as he went.
Suddenly we had a proper game, Kane Wilson putting a good chance for an instant equaliser wide.
A Johnson cross flashed over without a touch, then Jamal Lowe found the roof of the net with what was meant to be a diving header but actually came off his shoulder.
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Hide AdBannan was fractionally wide when he tried his luck again from more or less the spot he scored from.
Charles showed his worth as a centre-back by throwing himself in the way of a Yates shot after Kayden Jackson pulled the ball back.
A minute later Windass carefully lined up a free-kick, then seemed to confuse it with a rugby conversion. His next, from a deep Derby right-back position, cleared the team-mates lined up.
It looked like the chance blown until substitute Callum Paterson – his dislocated finger recently popped back in – picked the ball up out wide and drilled a cross Lowe got the decisive touch to.
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Hide AdDerby County: Zetterstrom; Wilson, Nelson, Cashin, Forsyth; Osborn (Goudmijn 79); Mendez-Laing, (Barkhuizen HT), Adams, Thompson (Elder 79), Harness (Jackson 57); Yates (Collins 88). Unused substitutes: Phillips, Blackett-Taylor, Vickers, Brown.
Sheffield Wednesday: Beadle; Valentin (Palmer HT), Valery, Iorfa (Windass HT), M Lowe; Musaba (Chalobah 69), S Charles, Bannan, Johnson; Gassama (J Lowe 57), Smith (Paterson 79). Unused substitutes: Hamer, Ingelsson, Ihiekwe, Otegbayo.
Referee: J Busby (Oxfordshire).
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