Sheffield Wednesday 0 Stevenage 1: Owls wait on Mandaric as Laird piles on the misery

Sheffield Wednesday can still win automatic promotion this season but in falling to a second home defeat of the season they handed the initiative in the race to join runaway leaders Charlton in the Championship to their cross-city rivals United.

The Blades leapfrogged the Owls courtesy of a win at fourth-placed Huddersfield to move two points clear of Wednesday with two games in hand.

Victory for the red half of the city over the blue half here in 11 days time could effectively end this fascinating Yorkshire subplot in the race for promotion.

Wednesday, on this evidence, will be thankful they have a handsome cushion over the sides outside the play-offs.

For since the loss of creative force Ben Marshall they have gradually become more one-dimensional, reliant primarily on the energy and enthusiasm of Jermaine Johnson, a player for whom end product has only fitfully been part of the package.

Even towering central defenders Rob Jones and Danny Batth need better service than the dinked set-pieces of Chris Lines if they are going to rescue Wednesday from predicaments with their aerial prowess.

The Owls have won three league games since the turn of the year. That is not the form of a side chasing the play-offs, let alone automatic promotion.

Chairman Milan Mandaric is set to clarify his position today on what he has left in his ‘enthusiasm tank’ following comments last week after his acquittal for charges of tax evasion that suggested his hunger for the English game was on the wane.

All Wednesday fans who dare to look at the League One table this morning will be hopeful Mandaric has some words of encouragement.

Their second defeat in three days came at the hands of top-six rivals Stevenage, who make up for a lack of history when compared to their once-proud opponents with a promising present.

For Stevenage are League One’s form team, having lost just once in 19 games in all competitions prior to last night. They also have an FA Cup tie with Tottenham Hotspur to look forward to on Sunday and three more points in their quest for a third successive promotion thanks to Scott Laird’s opportunistic goal.

Megson made three changes to the side that had angered him with their performance in the reverse at Exeter.

Julian Bennett and John Bostock were dropped with Jon Otsemobor and Chris Lines restored to the starting line-up. Miguel Llera’s injury in the defeat at St James’ Park meant a recall for Jones in the heart of defence.

Despite the confidence Stevenage had gained from their recent run it was the Owls who set the early pace.

Johnson enjoyed plenty of room in the hole behind Chris O’Grady and Gary Madine and stretched the visitors on numerous occasions, largely, though, to no avail.

O’Grady was the first to test Chris Day as early as the second minute with a rasping 25-yard volley that the Borough goalkeeper did well to tip over the bar.

But for all Johnson’s probing from deep-lying positions, Wednesday were struggling to create any meaningful chances, save for the odd set-piece that unsettled the visiting defence.

Stevenage, likewise, were restricted to long-range efforts; Michael Bostwick and Joel Byram both clearing Stephen Bywater’s crossbar. But they were well organised and efficient.

Johnson remained Wednesday’s most likely source and he nearly delivered on 40 minutes when he wriggled free of his marker on the edge of the area and unleashed a stinging drive that Day fumbled onto the roof of the net.

Wednesday were made to rue their inability to break Borough down on the stroke of half-time when the in-form visitors took the lead.

Byrom’s right-wing corner was met at the back post by a powerful header from Chris Beardsley that found the back of the net via a deflection off his team-mate Laird, who was handily placed, and unmarked, three yards from goal.

The endeavour of O’Grady and the enterprise of Johnson remained Wednesday’s most dangerous channel in the second half and the two combined early on to create a chance for Madine, but the ineffective striker could not get on the end of Johnson’s cross-shot.

Lines floated in a succession of free-kicks and corners that Jones and Batth could not get enough purchase on to test Day.

And the sense that it would not be Wednesday’s night was given merit five minutes later when Day saved a goalbound clearance by his own defender, Mark Roberts, with his face.

Johnson then skillfully beat Laird on the right wing and cut the ball back for O’Grady who tamely shot at Day.

Lines then blazed over after a good knock down on the edge of the area by Lewis Buxton.

Sheffield Wednesday: Bywater; Otsemobor, Buxton, Batth, Jones; Lines, Johnson, Semedo, Prutton (Jones 73), O’Grady, Madine (Morrison 68). Unused substitutes: Weaver, Bennett, Beevers.

Stevenage Borough: Day; Henry, Roberts, Ashton, Laird; Wilson, Byrom, Bostwick, Charles (May 69), Freeman (Long 79); Beardsley (Edwards 87). Unused substitutes: Julian, Edwards, Long, Cowan.

Referee: S Mathieson (Cheshire).