Sheffield Wednesday 4 Birmingham City 1: Lavery dedicates goals to ailing mother as Owls wipe away Blues

Moia Lavery was released from hospital last week having undergone an operation after doctors found a lump in her breast.

The 21-year-old striker – who left his family home in Red Deer, Alberta, when he was 16 to chase his footballing dream – has been keeping in touch with his family via long-distance telephone calls.

After opening the scoring in front of the Kop on Saturday against Birmingham City, the striker – capped at Under-21 level for Northern Ireland – whipped off his shirt to reveal a message saying ‘Get well soon mum’.

“My mum’s not been very well lately,” he said. “They found a bit of cancer in her breast, so she had an operation and she’s just recovering from that. The two goals were for her.

“She had a bit of a lump in her breast, so they removed that. She had to have her ovaries removed too so it’s been a rough couple of weeks.

“It’s good to play football. It takes everything away that happens off the pitch. It takes your mind off things; luckily I was able to score a few goals for her.

“Football has been a release from this week. It’s been difficult, speaking to her and my family, because she has always been there for all of us, I have three brothers and two sisters.

“She’s always been a very strong person.”

Lavery’s opening goal confirmed the potential which was displayed with a two-goal salvo against Leeds United on his Owls debut two months ago.

Kieran Lee – back in the side after an injury lay-off – delivered a delicious cross-field pass to pick out Lavery, who operated on the right wing on Saturday.

He showed a striker’s instinct, driving at the defender before cutting back and curling a shot into the right-hand corner of Darren Randolph’s net.

Lavery’s second was a sweet finish too, hammered home after good work from Chris Maguire.

The Canadian could have been celebrating a hat-trick, but his near-post header from Maguire’s corner was blocked on the line, leaving an easy tap-in for Leon Best.

“Kieran played the ball over the top to me,” said Lavery, describing his first goal.

“I was one-on-one with the defender, saw a bit of space in the box, chopped back inside and saw the far post was open. I just hit it, and luckily it’s gone in.

“The second goal, Chris (Maguire) set it back and there’s nothing in my mind but shoot, and I hit it across the goalkeeper.”

Ten minutes earlier, Will Packwood had diverted Jeremy Helan’s fierce cross into his own net to make it 3-0, but with two goals and an assist, the man-of-the-match honours were all Lavery’s.

It capped a rollercoaster week for the youngster, who was guilty of conceding a penalty at Wigan in midweek handing them a winner.

“I was devastated to give away a late penalty – I thought I had done alright up to that stage,” said Lavery, who netted three times in a short loan at Plymouth earlier this season.

“I think he kicked me, we have both gone down, and the penalty was debatable. It happens to everyone, and when I found out I was starting (against Birmingham) I thought it was a good chance to make amends.”

After grabbing the headlines against Leeds in January with his two goals, after coming on as a substitute, Lavery was always going to struggle to maintain that scoring ratio.

But he has developed into a vital member of Stuart Gray’s squad, with the Owls in contract talks to extend his stay at Hillsborough, and his unselfish versatility has benefited the team.

“I am not a winger by trade, but I will play anywhere,” he said. “I scored the two goals against Leeds and it put people’s expectations up a little bit, maybe my own as well.

“It’s been difficult, some of the games I have been out wide, or behind the striker. But if we are getting results, you can’t complain too much.”

Lavery was one of four strikers who started the game, as Gray looked to expose Birmingham’s frailties.

Wednesday should have had more than just four goals to show for a dominant display, only marred by Birmingham’s late consolation when Lee Novak converted Chris Burke’s cross.

Atdhe Nuhiu saw his ‘goal’ wrongly wiped out by referee Stephen Martin just before the break. Lewis Buxton picked out Nuhiu, and clever footwork saw him turn his marker and slot the ball home. But the referee penalised Nuhiu for a foul.

The Austrian striker had several other chances to score the goal his efforts deserved, and substitute Benik Afobe also went close to adding to Wednesday’s goal haul.

Sheffield Wednesday: Martinez, Buxton, Loovens (Llera 75), Onyewu, Helan, Hutchinson, Lee, Maguire (Afobe 69), Lavery (Johnson 80), Nuhiu, Best. Unused substitutes: Davies, Prutton, Coke, Palmer.

Birmingham City: Randolph, Robinson (Martin 46), Burke, Novak, Packwood, Lee (Macheda 55), Shinnie, Spector, Adeyemi, Huws, Blackett (Caddis 24). Unused substitutes: Coyle, Ibe, Zigic, Rusnak.