Dave Jones was right to feel disappointed that Wednesday failed to make it two Christmas wins out of two after the goalless draw at Huddersfield.
Much of the after-match talk was about the referee failing to send off Jeremy Helan after booking him twice in the first half. However, from a Wednesday perspective the main headline was that it was another decent performance which warranted all three points.
Helan was outstanding in a first 45 minutes dominated by Wednesday, causing Huddersfield all kinds of problems with his pace and trickery on the break and he might easily have had a penalty, rather than being booked for a ‘dive’, in one such driving run.
Chris Kirkland produced a brilliant close-range save with his leg to thwart Simon Church as Huddersfield had a brief spell of pressure just before the break.
After the interval, while Huddersfield had more of the game than in the first half, Wednesday still had more of the chances. Michail Antonio twice broke clear on the right but overstruck the ball on each occasion, the first flashing wide and the second finding Gary Madine but having too much pace for the striker to turn the ball home.
We went close to breaking the deadlock again late on, with home keeper Alex Smithies saving from Anthony Gardner’s downward header and then Huddersfield scrambling clear from another dangerous Wednesday attack.
The home side almost clinched what would have been an undeserved win at the death with substitute James Vaughan shooting wide when he broke clear.