Sheffield Wednesday 1 Crystal Palace 0: Tenacious Owls are finally reaping rewards

That was three years ago when a 2-2 draw sent the Owls down to League One at the expense of Palace on the final day of the season.

Even though Saturday’s result was never going to have such an impact either way on Wednesday’s battle against relegation this term, it did further demonstrate the fighting spirit amongst Dave Jones’s team.

For the Owls never looked like conceding against high-flying Palace – stretching their recent run to just one defeat in their last 12 Championship games – but Leroy Lita’s 81st-minute header was enough to pinch all three points.

Former Palace defender Anthony Gardner, along with centre-back partner Miguel Llera, were outstanding for Wednesday, keeping the division’s top scorer Glenn Murray quiet.

Gardner believes the Owls are finally reaping their rewards after months of hard work on the training ground to adapt to life back in the Championship.

“We were very tenacious,” he said. “It’s not easy against a team of that quality and in front of our home fans, where we always want to put on a performance.

“The pressure is on. Against Palace, we had a game plan, stuck to it and the reward came late on as with Leroy’s goal.”

The Owls lost 2-1 at Palace in September. It was the start of a horrendous run of just two wins in 19 games.

Only goalkeeper Chris Kirkland, Lewis Buxton, Llera and Michail Antonio who started in that 2-1 defeat at Selhurst Park, were on Jones’s team sheet on Saturday and Gardner believes the difference is clear to see.

“You can look at the fixture down at Selhurst Park, that probably set Palace on the good run that they have had,” said the 32-year-old defender.

“But the difference between our team then and the one that is playing now is vastly changed. A lot of hard work has gone into 
it over the last four or five months, and the fans have really stuck with us.

“You are seeing us reap the rewards now. We just need to keep plugging away. Results brings confidence and you feel that now in the camp.”

Victory moved Wednesday up to 18th in the table, and Gardner admitted the absence of Palace and England winger Wilfried Zaha – bound for Manchester United in the summer for £15m – with a dead leg was a bonus for the Owls’ cause.

“We were a little relieved to find Zaha wasn’t playing because he has that quality, pace, and finishing power which can cause problems,” said Gardner. “Obviously, it was better for us that he wasn’t playing.

“But they have a lot of other quality players that can cause problems and we had to be pretty resilient at the back. Through the whole team we did well.”

Palace were poor in the first 45 minutes and lucky not to be trailing.

Lita should have done better with a 21st-minute header from Kieran Lee’s cross but Eagles goalkeeper Julian Speroni snaffled up the ball.

Buxton and man-of-the-match David Prutton, playing alongside Giles Coke in Wednesday’s midfield engine room, also had long-range efforts that flew over the crossbar.

Lee’s volley, from Antonio’s cross to the back post, was blocked in a packed Palace area and Connor Wickham was unable to react quick enough to stab home the loose ball.

In the second half, Palace improved and Owls goalkeeper Chris Kirkland twice came to the home side’s rescue.

He denied Scott Dobbie at his near post and then Yannick Bolasie broke away but Kirkland produced a super one-handed save.

Murray, the Championship’s top scorer with 27 goals, hardly had a chance, and when he did produce a shot, right-back Buxton made a stunning block to divert the danger.

With time running out, and a second successive 0-0 draw after the midweek trip to Birmingham City looking likely, Wednesday finally broke the deadlock in the 81st minute with a rare moment of quality.

Antonio was allowed time out wide to measure his cross and he picked out the lurking Lita, who headed in off the underside of the crossbar to send the majority of the 23,475 crowd home happy.

Jones said: “That’s what Leroy does and that’s why we brought him here because he makes a difference.

“We had barely got the ball to him for most of the game and then he pops up with the deciding goal.”

It was Lita’s third goal in five games since joining on loan from Swansea City, and the striker should have struck again in stoppage time when substitute Gary Madine sent him scampering away but he could not beat Speroni in a one-on-one.

After beating top-six teams Hull City, Brighton and now Palace in the last seven weeks, Wednesday have proven they can survive in the Championship and Jones was quick to praise the work ethic at Hillsborough.

“We are working from within and it is showing in all aspects of our game,” he said. “There is a fantastic work ethic in this football club, from the chairman all the way down.

“He loves the club, loves the place and it is a super place to come to work to. Everybody gets on, they enjoy each other’s company and that is a real plus.

“The supporters come in their thousands, they make for a terrific atmosphere and we are all so grateful for that.
The players are a really good group and they now have a real determined look about them and some real belief. They just don’t look like they are a going to concede, never mind lose, and it is credit to them for that.

“They deserve all the praise they are getting because they have put the work in and are now getting the rewards.”