Sheffield Wednesday defiance beats decay as the dictator's grip loosens – the final word

With owner/chairman Dejphon Chansiri long since having lost the will and/or means to keep this grand old club even in the manner to which it has become accustomed, Hillsborough has become a mixture of decay and defiance. Against Queens Park Rangers, defiance won.

The scoreboard had it down as a 1-1 draw, but in such dire straits the Owls must claim any little victories.

Those in the ground saw a dictator losing his grip but on-field foot soldiers still fighting hard. The climate of fear has gone and censorship has broken down.

A first home goal in this season’s Championship – a header by Dominic Iorfa, one of the stalwarts who has stuck it out – was a victory.

A first home point was another.

Chansiri may be having the fight knocked out of him, but the reason this report talks of the 158-year-old club in the plural is it will always be a collective, despite the super-centralised way the egotist who vastly over-estimates his football and even financial skills tries to run it.

The reality of his abilities are shown not just in the league table’s relegation zone but the kiosks closed in the ghostly concourses.

The Football League is trying to be cruel to be kind. Nine transfer embargoes since the end of last season – five still active after another flurry on Thursday and Friday – is kicking the Owls when they are down, but still Chansiri does not seem to accept he must sell for a realistic price.

The stands were filled with black and gold (until the club is sold) to the point where only the gaping holes in the crowd – 20,132 were there literally under protest – and the QPR fans kept Hillsborough blue and white.

When Chansiri bought the club 10 years ago, he probably dreamt of Hillsborough singing his name. It certainly did, most strikingly once the game was 10 minutes old, holding protest scarves above their head and letting him have it.

Now even his staff are joining in.

When Barry Bannan, one of the few with a direct line to "Mr Chairman" berated him on a podcast for insufficient warnings when wages are about to go unpaid there was not a murmur of "disappointment", never mind disapproval from manager Henrik Pedersen.

Not that there should be, of course, but it ought to be a risk when your owner's skin is famously almost as thin as football's patience with him.

Nobody cares now. Why take bullets for the man who has left their club to die?

The stadium DJ's black (and gold) humour remains strong. This Is An Emergency was one of the post-match tunes, Mambo Number Five the half-time dig at the embargoes.

The three fans who flew in from Australia to watch the game and carry out the half-time draw did so proudly decked in protest colours.

Even cuddly mascot Barney the Owl twirled a black-and-gold scarf in front of the under-crowded Kop.

The first half-hour mirrored the weird mood. The Owls kicked off played four, lost four at home in the league but even QPR, after three wins, caught it. Neither could string enough passes to make chances.

Then in the 30th minute, Barry Bannan hit a free-kick with curl that lured out goalkeeper Paul Nardi only for Iorfa to get there first.

Everything perked up.

Bailey Cadamaretri headed wide, a Harry Amass shot was unconvincingly pushed out, and Bannan put in another dead ball after a foul on the wing-back that this time did not get the touch it deserved. Liam Palmer forced a tip-over.

The bubble burst almost as soon as the game restarted.

Iorfa scraped his clearance behind with his studs and John Brooks gave handball from the corner.

The case for the defence was that Cadamarteri had his back to Richard Kone, and the ball hit him point-blank. The case for the prosecution – that he should not have had both hands above his head – held sway.

Nicolas Madsen's penalty sparked a period which left you fearing another Stoke City or Bristol City but the Owls refused to accept that too.

In the 69th minute an Amass shot was blocked and George Brown won a corner, then Cadamarteri headed another Bannan delivery off target.

Ernie Weaver put in a mighty block on a QPR counter-attack, then matched the fresher legs of substitute Paul Smyth. Within minutes he went off with a foot injury.

Again, the Owls refused to yield.

Full-time was met with appreciative applause, not disappointment.

The knight in shining armour will come eventually, be it the regulator or Chansiri finally lowering the drawbridge to a new owner.

The fight until then is to leave something worth handing over.

Clearly, the players are still up for the struggle. How can they not be when even Barney the Owl is?

Sheffield Wednesday: Horvath; Iorfa, Weaver (Otegbayo 77), M Lowe; Palmer, Valery, Bannan, Ingelsson, Amass; Cadamarteri (J Lowe 86), Brown (McNeill 77). Unused substitutes: Fusire, Ugbo, Stretch, Emery, Alao, Thornton.

Queens Park Rangers: Nardi; Dunne, Morrison, Mbengue (Cook 86), Norrington-Davies; Varane (Hayden HT), Madsen; Vale (Dembele HT), Burrell (Frey HT), Saito; Kone (Smyth 74). Unused substitutes: Field, Morgan, Hamer, Esquerdinha.

Referee: J Brooks (Melton Mowbray).