Sheffield Wednesday 1 Bournemouth 0 - Owls defy the odds to end a poor run and Bournemouth’s unbeaten record

Then the collapse. Four straight defeats, the last three without scoring had the knife drawer, never fully shut, opened again for manager Garry Monk. Beleaguered and bedraggled, the last thing they needed was to face the only unbeaten side in the division, least of all at Hillsborough, where they had not triumphed since February.

So of course they won.

They produced good passing, positive football and moments of quality in a first half they failed to score in. Bournemouth forced their way back in during the second half, but Wednesday responded with heroic defending and even a goal. It was a Barry Bannan penalty but that disguised the brilliance of the pass he played to create it.

Chairman Dejphon Chansiri speaking to the press on Thursday does not suggest he is about to change manager anytime soon. A lot has been invested in Monk this summer in terms of the changes to his backroom and squad and time will be needed so it is important to make the most of it.

The 1-0 win was yet another reminder of the enduring craziness off the Championship but Monk’s job is not to feel the noise, and he insists the big picture is where it should be.

“The target for us at the start of the season was to make sure that by the start of the international break coming we were out of the 12-point deficit,” he said. “Then we had the feeling after Birmingham that we were going to get there much sooner and to have the week we had – I just can’t put that into words.”

Wednesday finish this chunk of games at home to Millwall on minus one point and with the fridge off their back.

“I’d not even thought about that,” said Monk when asked about winning at Hillsborough.

“We had everything. It was a complete performance.

“We were doing that well enough up to Birmingham then we had a terrible week. We fought back really hard and it was important to show we do have that in us.”

Before the warm-up the home players gathered for a huddle which was presumably more a show of unity than a sign it was a bit nippy.

Elias Kachunga sprinted into Bournemouth’s half from the first whistle before sheepishly taking a knee. His team passed crisply, won plenty of early set-pieces and regularly found the former Huddersfield Town forward.

The Owls started in their now-familiar 3-5-2 but it was perhaps a sign of Monk’s confidence that he pushed Adam Reach from central midfield onto the left of a front three.

They played football with a purpose, rather than for the sake of it as some teams seem to nowadays, but they started with only five goals from nine Championship matches.

Three early corners came to nothing but Bannan’s 14th-minute corner ought to have been put away, centre-back Liam Palmer heading wide.

After an excellent turn, Bannan freed Kadeem Harris for a dangerous cross. Kachunga climbed above his man, but could not direct his header. A Josh Windass free-kick rippled the side netting.

In the final five minutes of the half, the Championship’s only side reminded us they were here too, but Joe Wildsmith’s tip-over from Arnaut Danjuma showed his shot-stopping was better than his distribution.

The way Bournemouth restarted made you wonder if the Owls had blown their chance but they could not capitalise on a couple of Dominic Iorfa mistakes, thwarted by two brilliant pieces of defending.

The high-five Iorfa gave Julian Borner was laced with relief after a brilliant block bailed him out. Palmer produced a stunning header to take a cross off the crown of Josh King.

The Norwegian had already missed a header he really ought not to have.

On 70 minutes, Wednesday hit back, Bannan driving a beautiful pass into the inside-left corridor and Steve Cook bringing Windass down for a red card and a penalty Bannan converted.

Harris was sent off for retaliation during what was due to be a minimum of six added minutes – it stretched to nine – because, well, they would not want to make it too straight-forward, would they?

It’s just about being consistent now,” said Monk.

Dream on.

Sheffield Wednesday: Wildsmith; Palmer, Iorfa, Borner; Odubajo, Pelupessy, Bannan, Reach (Brown 83), Harris; Kachunga (Paterson 79), Windass. Unused substitutes: Marriott, Dele-Bashiru, Rhodes, Dawson, Hunt.

Bournemouth: Begovic; Mepham, S Cook, Kelly; A Smith, Lerma, Rico (Stacey 80); Brooks (Solanke 67), Gosling; King, Danjuma (L Cook 72). Unused substitutes: Stanislas, Riquelme, Travers, Simpson.

Referee: J Simpson (Lancashire).

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today. Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you’ll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers. Click HERE to subscribe.