An entertaining game, one that we mostly dominated but paid the price by not killing the match off well before the visitors unexpectedly got back in.
Recognisable but fluid U23 setup: 3-1-5-1. Hansen in goal; middle trio of Ludvigsen, Rushesha, Stafford; Abudalai the deepest midfielder, with 2 advanced wingbacks Joe Thomas and Lincoln McFayden; Yan Dhanda Joel Cotterill and Sam Leverett supporting – on this occasion – a new trialist centre forward.
Sheffield Wednesday looked a poor team for much of the game. A bit of pace on the left and upfront, but generally on the backfoot as the Swans passed around them and looked for openings.
Thomas snapped up a goal on 11 minutes from a Cotterill corner that wasn’t dealt with by a shaky Owls defence. It was surprising we took as long as the 35th minute before Rushesha took the invitation to move into space and score a cracking goal from distance. We’d created and missed some very clear opportunities prior to this.
More chances came and went in the early part of the 2nd half, Cotterill coming closest with a shot from outside the box that struck the post.
Wednesday surprised themselves and everyone else by getting a goal back on 72 minutes. They suddenly looked invigorated and caused numerous problems for the rest of the match, finally get an equaliser from another poorly defended attack.
It’s difficult to pinpoint quite how we managed to throw away what should have been a convincing win. Possibly a little bit of cockiness crept in with such dominance, a couple of players went missing at key moments. Wednesday even managed to create and miss further chances to clinch the game in a lengthy period of added time due to various injuries.
Ben Erickson, who’s had a miserable time with injuries and illness, had to be stretchered off within minutes of coming onto the pitch. At one point we were down to 9 men when Dhanda, who’d been serially targeted by visiting players, was off the pitch. The referee finally decided enough was enough and sent off Aguas for another loose challenge deep into added time.
On the plus side, another confident performance by Jack Stafford. Tiv Rushesha seems have found his niche at the back, where for the most part he’s able to collect, get himself out of trouble and distribute well. His goal was a bonus for him of course. Also a lively cameo from sub Kyrell Wilson, who gave a good account of himself up front in what may have been his U23 debut.
No indication as to who the newcomer was. Tall, reasonable at holding up the ball. Yan Dhanda made several attempts to thread passes through to him. The one occasion he got to show his paces onto a forward ball he was judge offside. Difficult to evenly rate on this appearance. I’m not sure though that there was anything over and above what the likes of Jayden Forrester, Tarrelle Whittaker and Dylan Morgan have displayed to date.
Not many games left now at this level. Given recent selections, it makes me wonder if decisions have already been taken regarding next year’s squad.