Ipswich Town 0-1 Sheffield Wednesday - Match Report Saturday, 29th Apr 2017 17:13 Kieran Lee’s 77th minute goal saw Sheffield Wednesday to a 1-0 victory over the Blues in this season's final game at Portman Road. The midfielder turned home Daniel Pudil’s low cross to confirm the Owls’ play-off place and consign Town to back-to-back league defeats for the first time in 59 games stretching to February last year. Boss Mick McCarthy returned to the Town team which beat Newcastle United and Burton Albion prior to the much-changed side which lost 1-0 at Rotherham last week. Bartosz Bialkowski was back in goal with Jordan Spence at right-back, Myles Kenlock on the left and skipper Luke Chambers and Christophe Berra at the heart of the defence. Cole Skuse, Emyr Huws and Grant Ward were in midfield with Tom Lawrence, David McGoldrick and Freddie Sears up front. For the Owls, ex-Blues striker Jordan Rhodes was among the substitutes. Youngsters Pat Webber, a 17-year-old left-back who was on the bench three times earlier in the season having joined the academy from Worthing last summer, and midfielder Flynn Downes, 18, who scored twice for the U23s in Monday’s 6-0 victory over Coventry, were included in a 23-man squad ahead of the match but not named in the final 18. The play-off-chasing visitors were first to threaten, Spence nodding a Jack Hunt cross from the right behind ahead of Daniel Pudil, then Adam Reach hit a low shot wide. Town should have gone in front in the sixth minute from their first chance of the match. Sears crossed from the right and the ball reached Lawrence but the on-loan Leicester man, who scored his first Blues goal in the 2-1 win at Hillsborough in November, hit his shot straight at Owls keeper Keiren Westwood. Soon after, Lawrence slammed a freekick into a Wednesday wall from not far out side the area on the left. The Owls subsequently enjoyed a lot of the ball without creating an opportunity, while the Blues looked like they were capable of causing danger on the break. Neither side was able to carve out a significant opening until the 26th minute when, following a corner on the left, McGoldrick curled a low shot towards the far corner of the net from the edge of the area which Westwood punched away. There was a scare for the Blues on the half hour when Westwood cleared from deep as Town looked to break and almost sent Pudil in on goal but Chambers just managed to get enough on the ball to divert it away from the former Watford man and Bialkowski claimed at his feet. As the half moved into its final five minutes the Blues were having more of the ball but with neither keeper having been tested further. On 40 Skuse picked up the game’s first yellow card for pulling back Barry Bannan as the former Villa man broke after dispossessing Ward. From the resultant freekick the ball fell to Glenn Loovens, whose shot deflected off Spence and behind, off a hand according to some Wednesday players and their fans but not late replacement referee David Coote. Wednesday began to put the Blues under pressure in the final scheduled minutes of the half, Skuse turning a dangerous low ball across the six-yard box from Steven Fletcher behind, before Town began to press the visitors in two minutes of injury time. The goalless scoreline was a fair reflection of the half at the break, Wednesday having had most of the ball but with Bialkowski still to make a serious save. Town had created the better of the game’s few chances with Lawrence having failed to take his early opportunity and Westwood forced to make the half’s only taxing stop from McGoldrick’s effort from distance. Owls fans will have been happy enough at half-time with seventh-placed Leeds 3-1 down at home to Norwich, a situation which would have confirmed their play-off place at the end of the afternoon regardless of their own result, although that match ultimately ended 3-3. Three minutes after the restart Wednesday went close to going in front. Ross Wallace was fed in space on the right and cut in before smashing a shot off the inside of the post and across the face of goal but with no one there to take advantage. On 55 Fletcher hit a strike from the edge of the area which Bialkowski saved down to his right with the Owls having started the second half on top. Lawrence was replaced by Danny Rowe, who was making his home debut, in the 64th minute. The Welshman, who had gone down feeling his ankle a few minutes beforehand, was making his final Portman Road appearance of his loan spell and was given a standing ovation as he left the field. January signing Rowe, who impressed at Rotherham last week, quickly moved to the right wing with Town now playing 4-4-2. Dominic Samuel took over from Ward for Town on 70, while Rhodes and Fernando Forestieri came on for Fletcher and the injured Wallace. Sears moved to the left of the Blues’ four-man midfield and almost immediately sent over a cross which Samuel headed wide at a tight angle at the far post. But Wednesday had had the better of the half and in the 77th minute they went in front via a well-worked goal on the left. Bannan fed Pudil and his low cross was diverted past Bialkowski at the near post by Kieran Lee. Sears was replaced by Kieffer Moore in the 85th minute, prior to Wednesday missing a golden opportunity to add to their lead, Forestieri missing his kick when played through on the right of the area. As the game moved into its final couple of minutes with the Owls looking more likely to add to their lead on the break than Town were to equalise, sections of the Sir Bobby Robson Stand briefly began chanting ‘Mick McCarthy, we want you to go’. In injury time McGoldrick won a freekick on the right having been fouled moments after a superb turn which left two Owls midfielders wrong-footed. The Town number 10 sent the ball into the area and after being flicked on was met at a tight angle by Huws, whose effort flew behind. Soon after the final whistle was greeted by a huge cheer from the visiting fans and boos from the home support. Subsequently the Town players received applause from their fans with keeper Bialkowski in particular responding in kind after what could be his last game at Portman Road with a number of clubs having made enquiries in January. A relatively small number of fans stayed behind for the subsequent traditional lap of appreciation and while most applauded, there were chants aimed at McCarthy from some in the Sir Bobby Robson Stand. "The result, Wednesday's sixth win on the trot, was a fair reflection of a not hugely entertaining game overall with Wednesday having been much the better side in the second half after a more even first period. Wallace came close with his strike off the woodwork and Lee’s winning goal was very well worked, while Town never really threatened after the break. As well as seeing Town to their first back-to-back defeats of the season and their first reverse to Wednesday since 2012, the result was manager McCarthy’s first defeat to the Owls since a League Cup defeat while Millwall boss back in 1995 and his first ever in the league. The loss was the Blues' first at Portman Road since the 3-0 defeat to Derby on January 31st, meaning Town's home record this season is won eight, drew 10, lost five. Town will end their season at Nottingham Forest next Sunday with the home side very much in the thick of the relegation battle, level on points with third-bottom Blackburn after losing 2-0 at QPR today. Town: Bialkowski, Spence, Chambers (c), Berra, Kenlock, Skuse, Huws, Ward (Samuel 70), Lawrence (Rowe 64), McGoldrick, Sears (Moore 85). Unused: Gerken, Pitman, Dozzell, Moore, Emmanuel. Sheffield Wednesday: Westwood, Hunt, Pudil, Lees, Loovens (c), Bannan, Lee, Wallace (Forestieri 70), Reach, Fletcher (Rhodes 70), Hooper (Semedo 80). Unused: Wildsmith, McManaman, Sasso, Nuhiu. Referee: David Coote (Nottinghamshire). Att: 19,000 (Owls: 2,003).
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