Wednesday held on with 10 men in the closing stages to beat Bristol City 2-1 at Hillsborough this afternoon and take another vital three points in our battle against relegation.
Unfortunately, near rivals QPR, Millwall and Huddersfield all won, leaving us still in 23rd place and three points from the safety line, although we have a far inferior goal difference to the clubs around us.
It was a third win in four matches for the Owls and keeps us in with a fighting chance of survival, with a trip to bottom club Rotherham next Saturday and then a midweek home game with Plymouth to follow.
We took the lead in our first real attack on 16 minutes when Liam Palmer sent a low cross into the box and Ike Ugbo swivelled 12 yards out to curl his shot expertly past keeper Max O’Leary.
However, the visitors were level within 10 minutes, Jason Knight leaping unmarked in the box to send a header into the top corner of the net.
Then, with half time approaching, we regained the lead when Pol Valentin’s cross was only half cleared, Marvin Johnson fired an angled ball goalwards from just inside the box and Ugbo reacted first to head past O’Leary.
The visitors came out more strongly after the break and threatened on a couple of occasions before we missed a great chance to make it 3-1 just before the hour.
Anthony Musaba picked out the impressive Ian Poveda but, when the latter laid the ball into the path of Ugbo, the two-goal man made a hash of the shot and his chance of a Hillsborough hat-trick was gone.
The Owls went close again, Ugbo heading over from six yards and then Valentin shooting across goal and just wide after a dangerous run in his best performance so far in a Wednesday shirt.
Twelve minutes from time, the game took a worrying twist for us when Di’Shon Bernard, booked early in the game, was shown a red card after a foul on Tommy Conway, leaving Wednesday to play out the final minutes with 10 men.
Even then, we had a great chance to seal the three points in added time when Michael Smith broke clear but O’Leary saved in a one-on-one situation while at the other end we survived a late scare or two to secure another crucial victory.
Beadle, Valentin (Iorfa 84), Ihiekwe, Bernard, Johnson, Palmer, Vaulks, Bannan, Poveda (Gassama 84), Musaba (Diaby 79), Ugbo (Smith 84). Unused subs: Dawson, James, Shipston, Wilks, Cadamarteri. Attendance: 26,328.