Yeovil 0 Sheffield Wednesday 2: Returning Johnson on target

ALAN IRVINE believes Jermaine Johnson can play a key role in lifting the Owls back into the Championship at the first attempt.

The Jamaican winger came off the bench for his first game of the season to break the deadlock with a terrific 71st-minute goal.

Manager Irvine said: "I said before the start of the season he could be a real match-winner for us. We have missed his ability to beat people, and the pace he has got scares defenders to death.

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"He knows how much I like him as a player, so I hope that goes some way to getting the best out of him.

"We know exactly what JJ is capable of and he showed that with a terrific goal.

"I had a great view of the (first) goal and it was in from the moment the ball left his boot.

"I thought we started very well. Our play in the first 20 minutes was excellent.

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"We had to change our system and we did. Once things settled, I felt we started to regain control again. I made the changes and the the changes on this occasion proved to be successful.

"It's a fantastic result. Yeovil is a difficult place to come and we've come away with the points."

Yeovil, whose ground capacity is a quarter of Hillsborough's, were hoping to extend their unbeaten League One run to four matches, and Irvine admitted there were times when the Somerset side were getting on top. But they lacked a finisher, and the second-half introduction of Johnson was the masterstroke.

He picked up the ball on the left corner of the box and unleashed an unstoppable drive into the corner of keeper Stephen Henderson's net.

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"Jermaine came back to haunt us", moaned Yeovil manager Terry Skiverton, referring to a brief spell the player had on loan at Yeovil. Injury then prevented him making a first team appearance.

Victory was secured in the 82nd minute when a clumsy tackle by Luke Ayling on Jon Otsemobor conceded an obvious penalty which Tommy Miller drilled home.

There was an explosive finale with Otsemobor again involved. This time the Owls full-back was guilty of a bad challenge on Yeovil's Nathan Smith and referee Graham Scott immediately branded a red card.

The goalless first half featured one bad miss by Gary Teale, who, until the arrival of Johnson, looked Sheffield's best player. He side-footed over the bar from Clinton Morrison's 10th-minute pass.

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Yeovil: Henderson, Huntington, Smith, Ayling, Williams, Bowditch (A Williams 77), Welsh (Freeman 66), Virgo (Alcock 36), Tudor Jones, Williams, McDonald. Unused substititutes: Roberts, Upson, Calver, Kalala.

Sheff Wed: Weaver, Otsemobor, Purse, Buxton, Jones; Teale (Johnson 62), Potter, O'Connor, Miller; Morrison (Sedgwick 81), Tudgay (Mellor 69). Unused substitutes: Jameson, Spurr, Hinds, Heffernan.

Referee: G Scott (Oxfordshire).

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