Shefield Wednesday: Brilliance of Owls’ Barry Bannan hailed by Darrren Moore after triumph at MK Dons

The Owls held on after going 3-0 up after half an hour at Stadium MK to move up to fifth in the table and prevent the Dons moving back into the automatic promotion places by ending their 15-match unbeaten run.

The result would have been celebrated across South Yorkshire at Rotherham United, as they kept a hold on a top-two spot.

Moore said: “We needed to start quickly here and we didn’t really want them to settle into their rhythm, so to be 3-0 up after 30 minutes was excellent.

“It was great to see two of our goals come from set-plays and, obviously, the third one was a great goal executed by Baz [Barry Bannan].

“I thought the game in general was a great game of football and a wonderful advert for both teams who were at it from the word go, really.

“It had a bit of everything, the game did, today, and I’m just pleased we’ve come out with the three points.

“I thought we played through them with some real quality and then in the second half, we had to give them not much room to operate in, and anything they had to do, they had to force it.”

Bannan’s goal was the highlight of the game as he lobbed Jamie Cumming with a stunning effort from 35 yards.

“He’s right on top of his game. Only he could execute that chance,” added Moore with Bannan at the heart of so much good for the Owls this season.

“Such is his confidence at the moment, he’s took it on. That was a moment of sheer brilliance.”

Wednesday led 2-0 after 20 minutes when Saido Berahino’s shot went through MK Dons goalkeeper Cumming’s grasp before Lee Gregory forced in Bannan’s corner.

Bannan then added the third for the Owls in sensational fashion after Dean Lewington had headed the ball into his path.

The Dons pulled one back before half-time through Troy Parrott’s dinked finish, but they could not force a second until six minutes into stoppage time when Scott Twine fired in a terrific free-kick. A total of 10 minutes added time was played and Moore admitted: “I didn’t know where the 10 minutes had come from. It was just about maintaining our work off the ball. I thought tonight our work off the ball was really good. It needed to be.”

The Owls are back in action tomorrow as they take on already-relegated Crewe Alexandra at Hillsborough.

MK Dons: Cumming; O’Hora, Darling, Lewington; Hayden (Corbeanu 76), Coventry, McEachran (Kasumu 67), Harvie; Parrott, Eisa (Boateng 57), Twine. Unused substitutes: Kemp, Ravizzoli, Wickham, Mason.

Sheffield Wednesday: Peacock-Farrell; Storey, Dean (Dunkley 39), Palmer; Hunt, Byers, Bannan (Paterson 81), Dele-Bashiru, Johnson; Berahino, Gregory (Mendez-Laing 90). Unused substitutes: Kamberi, Shodipo, Wildsmith, Brown.

Referee: B Toner (Blackburn).