Owls put to flight

Andy Munro is getting a nosebleed watching Blues.

On the theme that it can be a funny old game, at the end of a less than pulsating first half I turned around to the chap behind me on the Tilton moaning to the effect that we might be able to get good results away from home but playing on the break was becoming turgid affair at home.

Oh me of little faith as Blues turned things around, despite going a goal behind, mainly due to Gary Rowett making the sort of subs that would have had Bazza himself purring. My earlier complaints were aimed at having two full backs who got nosebleeds venturing over the halfway line and having only one genuine winger giving us no width, purely to accomodate an admittedly impressive Che Adams. Unfortunately, despite his excellent display, the team looked totally unbalanced not helped by the absence of Tesche and the reappearance of Gleeson. To me, this was the time to get Fabrinni to put up or shut up.

Having said that, the tremendous turnaround was as welcome as it was unexpected given that in the first half Wednesday were quicker to almost every ball and won most of the 50/50s. In fact during that time only man of the match Donaldson and Adams stood out as they battled away existing on scraps.

Cue second half when a better show was ramped up further by the introduction of Reece-Brown and Stewart. It was a bit of a travesty to fall behind but a team can never relax when both Fletcher and Hooper, their scorer, are lining up for the Owls….mind you, that’s well over £10 million in transfer fees, which puts things into perspective.

In terms of the subs, Reece Brown brought some creative craft and if he occasionally over elaborated and lost the ball, it was heartening to see him chase back with real intention. Stewart looked both classy and strong – a sort of de luxe version of Will Buckley. Even on the evidence of twenty minutes, I will be amazed if he isn’t soon lining up for Scotland. The icing on the cake was Lucas J, who came on and won everything in the air culminating in a superb headed winner. In doing so, who would have thought we would end up manning midfield with just Maghoma and Reece-Brown?

Wednesday will be thereabouts at the end of the season so this was an excellent win and we now have a range of game changing options on the bench. This is, of course, early days but better to be near the top than the bottom.