Sheffield Wednesday 1 Coventry City 2: James Beadle error caps defeat which makes no sense

If that stopped them winning a game they ought to, some unusual sloppiness from James Beadle ensured that they lost it, 2-1. It was a baffling defeat.

On loan from Premier League Brighton and Hove Albion, goalkeeper Beadle has the sort of talent Rohl wanted to add at centre-back and/or centre-forward in the transfer window.

Despite pulling off one of the saves of the season less than 20 minutes earlier, it was an otherwise uncharacteristically nervy performance from the 20-year-old, who waited until stoppage time to serve Ellis Simms a second tap-in. Unlike the first, this one was allowed to stand, and decide the game.

It should never have come to that in a game the Owls were comfortably the better side in, dictating almost from start to finish. And yet Coventry could quite feasibly have been close to ou of sight at the break.

Wednesday had 22 shots, yet it took a Joel Latibeaudiere to put them on the scoresheet.

The Owls had a couple of penalty appeals waved away in very quick succession but most of the "what if" moments belonged to Frank Lampard's visitors.

After opening the scoring Simms had another goal disallowed for a foul, Shea Charles had to clear a goalbound effort and Beadle was as brilliant to deny Tatsuhiro Sakamoto as he would be awful to gift Sims the winner.

The Sky Blues too the lead when their hosts left former Huddersfield Town midfielder Jack Rudoni in far too much space to curl a cross and Simms climbed above his man to head in after a quarter of an hour of Wednesday pressure.

The centre-forward had another one chalked off in the 34th minute when Beadle spilt a Rudoni shot and Simms slid in. It was ruled out for a foul, the kind of soft decision you often see given in a goalkeeper's favour, but a subjective call that could have gone the other way on a different day.

Charles had to clear off the line when Beadle came unconvincingly for a cross at the end of the first half.

It was incredible, really, because those moments apart the game was all about the Owls applying pressure.

Barry Bannan was surprisingly selected to start and justified it from the off, belting down the left wing in the opening minutes, getting back to cut out a cross shortly afterwards.

It was his throughball which sent Svante Ingelsson through but as his team-mates appealed for a pull, Oliver Dovin came out to save. Ike Ugbo and Djeidi Gassama had shots blocked and Bannan put a third high and wide.

Bannan picked out Ingelsson in far too much space in the penalty area but Dovin kept out the shot with a hand stronger than it initially looked.

Wednesday were getting Gassama in at will and when he shot in the 26th minute, Ugbo very nearly stretched to it before it went wide. A couple of minutes later, Dovin kept out his near-post shot.

When Bannan picked him out near the centre spot with space to control and shoot in the 40th minute, Ugbo's first touch did not allow a second. He so badly needs a goal and it was no surprise Michael Smith took his place 10 minutes into the second half.

With Josh Windass on at the break, the Owls were quickly out of the stalls again, Bannan having a shot blocked as Wednesday tried to open a gap to shoot through with some intricate play on the right.

When Yan Valery put a ball in, Michael Ihiekwe stuck out a boot but could not keep his shot down. Stuart Armstrong's from just beyond the D lacked power and Windass put a bouncing bomb of an effort down the goalkeeper's throat.

Eventually the pressure told, Bannan slipping in Marvin Johnson for a cross which bounced off the goalkeeper and in off Latibeaudiere for a 61st-minute equaliser.

There was plenty of time for an equaliser and plenty of sweat put into getting one, but it felt far from inevitable.

For all the home pressire, Josh Eccles hit a shot against a defender, Ihiekwe needed some excellent anticipation to stop Bobby Thomas having a shot and when Ephron Mason-Clark put an excellent ball over, Beadle's low diving save from Sakamoto was another couple of notches up in quality.

Charles played a lovely ball to Jamal Lowe but when his cross came over, Johnson flashed it wide.

Twice in the 86th minute Wednesday had penalty appeals waved away after Ibrahim CIssoko, then Charles went down in the area.

If the home fans were starting to think it was not going to be their day, Beadle confirmed as much.

Two minutes into added time, Beadle got himself under a low ball and as Simms ran at him, dropped it. He appealed in vain for a foul but was not going to get lucky twice as the striker accepted the gift.

Having not been able to score a goal off their own backs for 92 minutes, Wednesday were never likely to in the couple of minutes remaining. That was about the only part of the game which made sense.

Sheffield Wednesday: Beadle; Valery, Ihiekwe, M Lowe, Johnson; Charles; Gassama (Cissoko 82), Armstrong (J Lowe 70), Bannan, Ingelsson (Windass HT); Ugbo (Smith 55).

Unused substitutes: Palmer, Paterson, Valentin, Otegbayo, P Charles.

Coventry City: Dovin; Latibeaudiere, Thomas, Kitching; van Ewijk, Eccles (Allen 70), Grimes, Dasilva (Bidwell 73); Rudoni (Mason-Clark 70); Thomas-Asante (Sakamoto 58), Simms.

Unused substitutes: Binks, Paterson, Borges Rodrigues, Bassette, Collins.

Referee: J Busby (Oxfordshire).