Owls slump at home again
The Owls slumped to their fourth home defeat of the season yesterday at the hand's of David Moyes' Preston North End side. Wednesday were one up at the break but the second half saw the Owls crumble
and Preston put three in the back of the home team's net, leaving a very angry Paul Jewell at the end of
it all.
The result left the Owls second from bottom and still without a win at Hillsborough this season. It certainly seems quite worrying from this point, as with no money for new faces could spell trouble for Jewell and Wednesday. However the loan signings continue to come in, Manchester City midfielder Terry Cooke
made his Owls debut, whilst there was still no Wim Jonk in the middle of the park. Instead Jewell opted to
play the club's other Dutchman Gerald Sibon, usually a striker, in Jonk's position. There was also a place
on the left hand side of midfield for youngster Owen Morrison.
Owls keeper Kevin Pressman was tested early on when Preston forward Brian McBride headed towards goal in the 10th minute, but the Wednesday shotstopper was on hand to deny Preston the game's opening
goal. For the remainder of the half it was actually Preston's number one David Lucas who was the busier
of the two keepers.
In the 20th minute the Owls almost took the lead when a long Ritchie Humphreys throw-in was flicked on by Andy Booth which caused mayhem in the Preston box, before Lucas managed to scramble the ball to safety. Just moments later the home side were denied again, this time Terry Cooke coming close to scoring on his Wednesday debut.
However Wednesday's goal did come just ten minutes before half-time. Wednesday's young striker Owen Morrison scored his first league goal for the club, after scoring in midweek in the 3-1 Worthington Cup win over Oldham Athletic. It was a superb individual effort by the 18
year old as he dodged by a couple of Preston tackles before letting rip with a 25 yard curling shot into the top corner. It was a sweet moment
for Morrison who is quickly making a name for himself at Hillsborough after impressing in the reserves for such a long time.
Half-time: Owls 1-0 Preston
Straight after the break Preston were pressing for an equaliser and it seemed likely the Owls wouldn't be able to hold onto their lead. On 57 minutes the scores were level after a well taken free-kick by Preston full-back Alexander. The shot curled into the corner of the net leaving Pressman no chance. Some ten minutes later it was 2-1 when the Owls defence was caught ball watching and substitute Anderson slotted
the ball home to send the away side into the lead.
With just 15 minutes left Wednesday's chance of salvaging something from the game was gone when Preston grabbed their third of the match. Alexander picked out Anderson in the box and his shot deflected off Owls skipper Des Walker and into the back of the net - the own
goal just about summed up the afternoon's effort for Wednesday.
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