Wednesday made it four wins in the last five games as our Championship survival bid continued with a deserved 1-0 win at Rotherham this afternoon.
For the second successive week, the only negative on the day was that some of our fellow strugglers also won again but, on the positive side it’s another victory and we remain only three points from the survival line.
Added to that, while we still sit one off the bottom in 23rd place on 35 points, there are now only seven points between ourselves and Plymouth in 16th, with the West Country side the next visitors to Hillsborough on Tuesday evening.
Ike Ugbo grabbed the all-important goal in the second half, his sixth in five games, and we were well worth the win after totally dominating the first period.
Wednesday were guilty of missing several first-half chances and when we did manage to get the ball in the net – Akin Famewo heading home from a Will Vaulks free kick on 17 minutes – the effort was ruled out for a dubious offside decision.
By that time, we had already seen keeper Viktor Johansson push away a fierce shot from Liam Palmer after two minutes, following good work by Ian Poveda, and we almost took the lead six minutes later when Anthony Musaba finished an excellent run with a pull back to Ugbo but his close-range effort was blocked by Cameron Humphreys.
Vaulks then tried his luck with a cheeky free kick which Johansson pushed around the post … and this was all before Famewo’s disallowed goal.
We continued to dominate, Poveda next to go close when he cut in from the right and curled just past the far post and then the same player sent Musaba clear but his effort deflected off Hakeem Odoffink for a corner.
Marvin Johnson fired wide when well placed while Rotherham hardly threatened in the first 45, the stats showing ourselves having 11 shots with two on target, compared to Rotherham’s one effort, which was off target.
The home side looked more competitive for the early part of the second half, with Sam Nombe shooting just over from 25 yards on the hour.
With Wednesday lacking some of the drive and creativity of the first 45, Danny Rohl made three substitutions on 64 minutes and with almost instant success. One of the subs, Dominic Iorfa, supplied a low cross to pick out Ugbo and the in-form striker slotted home the crucial goal from eight yards.
We had a rare scare on 78 minutes when Barry Bannan had to clear off the line from Andy Rinomhota but Wednesday closed out the game in the closing stages, almost adding a second in the final minutes when Mallik Wilks saw his diving header from Johnson’s cross come back off a post.
Beadle, Valentin (Iorfa 64), Ihiekwe, Famewo, Johnson, Vaulks (Smith 64), Bannan, Poveda (Gassama 64), Musaba (B Diaby 80), Ugbo (Wilks 90). Unused subs: Dawson, James, Cadamarteri, M. Diaby.