Sheffield Wednesday 2, Newcastle United 2

Dec 28 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

Wednesday tore out of the blocks and, while their play was nothing special, their sheer force of will and spiky enthusiasm put them in command and warmed the traditionally unimpressed Hillsborough natives.

A deserved lead was forged on 14 minutes, but it was United’s lethargy which let Wednesday unlock the door.

Darren Potter’s corner was repelled, but when the ball returned to the foot of the former Liverpool midfielder he found James O’Connor with time and space to arc a ball on to the head of Luke Varney a few yards from goal. The visitors had made few inroads to that point, but their riposte was stunning.

Danny Guthrie repeated his feat of a week ago and pounced on a loose throw-in before planting a superb cross in the box for Nolan to head home. The midfielder is holding his own mini scoring contest with Ameobi and, sure enough, United’s reborn striker had his own reply – even if it was shrouded in controversy.

Jonas Gutierrez, peripheral for the most part, waltzed down the left and delivered a low, precise ball for Ameobi to turn Tommy Spurr and rifle a terrific shot past Lee Grant.

Subsequent replays showed there was clear space between Ameobi and the final defender – and it was only a dreadful decision by the linesman which permitted the goal to stand.

United should have consolidated their command but their second-half effort was below-par and Wednesday’s leveller was deserved if contentious in its own right.

Spurr had looped an innocuous ball into the box, but Harper was challenged robustly by Varney and his header rebounded off the bar for James O’Connor to smash home from close range.

The goalkeeper protested ferociously to referee Stuart Atwell and in this era those kind of challenges are usually penalised, but opinions were split on whether it did constitute a foul.

Minutes later, there was no doubt about a breathtaking close-range Harper save from Tudgay that effectively saved a point for United.

Perhaps a blast of reality is a positive development just before the symbolic turn of the year.

West Brom are still at arm’s length, but Roberto Di Matteo’s side have a game in hand and the ability to shave the gap at the top down to five points if they win their re-arranged tussle with Blackpool.

Fortune has blessed United with regard to injuries and suspensions so far – but if anything happened to Nolan, Smith, Steven Taylor and Fabricio Coloccini questions would be posed of the hitherto commanding Championship league leaders.

It still feels at times we are trying to talk ourselves out of the assumption next year will see a quickfire return to the Premier League.

Quite apart from the formidable talent at their disposal, this admirable, determined and genuine bunch of players have grit and resilience to burn – enough to turn the second half of the season into a procession. The trick remains convincing themselves that is not the case.