Wednesday moved into the top half of the Championship table – for 24 hours at least – after a 2-0 win at Hull on Tuesday evening.
The victory takes us into 12th place on 22 points after a performance from the Owls that saw us totally dominating the first half and taking the lead through our first penalty in 72 games, only to then see the struggling home side come back into the game after the break before a late Michael Smith volley assured us of victory.
After a second-minute scare when James Beadle allowed a low cross to slip from his grasp before he recovered the ball almost on the line, Wednesday soon began to take charge against a Hull side clearly lacking in confidence after a poor recent run.
However, despite our dominance we again struggled to turn that into goals, racking up nine efforts in the first 22 minutes but with only one on target.
Josh Windass and Ike Ugbo both sent angled efforts wide of the far post from similar positions inside the box before Djeidi Gassama saw his close-range shot deflected wide off a defender. Pol Valentin was next to go close, shooting over from 12 yards when he should have at least tested keeper Ivor Pandur.
And Hull went close to snatching an unlikely lead on the half-hour mark when Regan Slater turned Max Lowe in the box but Beadle saved with an outstretched leg at point-blank range.
Then, eight minutes later the unthinkable happened when Wednesday were awarded our first penalty since Michael Smith ‘s spot kick in the play-off semi final against Peterborough way back in May 2023.
Shea Charles was adjudged to have been brought down by Joao Pedro on 38 minutes as he tried to wriggle his way through and Josh Windass sent keeper Pandur the wrong way from the resulting spot kick.
Beadle then came to the rescue again just before the break, pushing Xavier Simons’ shot onto the post after Wednesday failed to clear properly.
And that was a sign of things to come in the second half, with the Owls largely failing to reproduce the teamwork and attacking threat of the opening 45 minutes while Hull began to gain in confidence as the home side started to dominate possession.
Beadle saved from a Pedro header midway through the half before Anthony Musaba was foiled by Abu Kamara’s interception just as he shaped to shoot.
However, any lingering concerns over a possible Hull equaliser were just about ended on 81 minutes with one of our few decent attacking moves in the second period.
Liam Palmer fed Marvin Johnson down the left, his cross to the far post was turned back by Musaba and Smith sidefooted high into the net from eight yards out to seal the victory.
Beadle, Valentin (Palmer 67), Valery, Bernard, M Lowe, Johnson, S Charles, Bannan (Iorfa 77), Gassama (Ingelsson 67), Windass (Smith 46), Ugbo (Musaba 46). Unused subs: Hamer, Chalobah, Paterson, J Lowe.