Spirited Owls downed at St Andrews

The Owls slumped to their second successive league defeat after being downed 2-0 by Birmingham City at St Andrews, despite putting in a spirited performance.

Peter Shreeves threw Carlton Palmer and Tommy Johnson straight into the starting line-up, with Gerald Sibon out injured it gave Johnson a great chance to prove his worth. However, the former Celtic forward was guilty of missing a couple of great early scoring opportunities. There was also no Ian Hendon, out also through injury, so Steven Haslam slipped back into defence with Palmer taking his place.

Just nine minutes into the match and Tommy Johnson made his first contribution to the match by getting himself in the referee's notebook after an off the ball tussle with Bragstad. Johnson would be one of five Wednesday players to be booked during the game, with Derek Geary receiving his second yellow card in the final minute.

In the 13th minute Wednesday had their first chance of the game. Leigh Bromby's long throw-in was flicked on by Danny Maddix, but Johnson headed over the bar when really the least he should've done was get it on target. Two minutes later Johnson missed another chance. Paul McLaren split the defence in two with a pass that sent Johnson through on goal. The ginger haired striker look bound to score until Alan Kelly's reaching arm deflected the ball wide of the goal. Johnson couldn't believe his luck.

Shreeves must have been worried about his side's discipline, when both Haslam and Palmer were booked during the next five minutes of play. The Owls had enjoyed all of the better chances in the first half, and another one fell their way in the 34th minute. Johnson's clever dummy made way for the lanky Carlton Palmer to charge through on goal, despite being able to muscle off his marker the big midfield man's shot blazed over the crossbar.

With seven minutes before the break the home side came close to scoring against the run of play. Blues' skipper Martin O'Connor had a crack at goal which was heading wide, until a nasty deflection sent the ball flying across the face of goal. Luckily for Wednesday it deflected wide of the goal and out for a corner.

There were only two minutes left before half-time when Birmingham struck a huge blow to the Owls. Full-back Jerry Gill wasn't stopped on his mazy right-wing run, and his cross found Andrew Johnson whose flying header glanced past Pressman into the net. A further booking, this time defender Danny Maddix, right on the stroke of half-time didn't help spirits going into the break. Wednesday knew they'd blown two or three golden chances to score, and were punished by the home side at the other end.

Half-time: Birmingham 1-0 Owls

Wednesday started the second half just like they ended the first half - with a booking. Derek Geary was the fifth Owls player to be booked, after a silly foul on Nicky Eaden.

Ten minutes into the second period and Wednesday could've been level. Paul McLaren proved once again what a threat he can be on the attack with a great 25 yard striker. Alan Kelly was equal to the shot, tipping it wide for a corner. From the corner Leigh Bromby rose above the Birmingham defence, but failed in keeping his header down.

Two minutes later McLaren was testing the Irish keeper again, and again the on-loan keeper from Blackburn was able to keep it out. In the 59th minute Efan Ekoku had his first real chance of the afternoon, but from a difficult position the big forward couldn't steer his shot on goal.

In the 63rd minute Birmingham scored their second, another massive setback for Wednesday who just couldn't find a way past Birmingham and Alan Kelly. Paul Furlong, who had only just come onto the field as a substitute, fired in a ten-yard shot after a goalmouth scramble and Bryan Hughes was on the goal line to direct the ball past a hopeless Pressman. Wednesday's inability to defend from set-pieces was yet again their undoing.

Peter Shreeves replaced Wednesday's two new boys with Pablo Bonvin and Alan Quinn, as he tried to salvage something from the game. But instead of pressing for a goal to get them back in the game, the Owls found themselves under some serious pressure from the home team. Just three minutes after scoring their second of the match, they nearly grabbed a third. O'Connor's 18 yard lob beat Pressman but not defender Steven Haslam, who stopped the ball crossing the line.

Alan Kelly was again the saviour for Birmingham in the 74th minute, after quick successive saves from Bonvin and McLaren. It seemed it just wouldn't be Wednesday's day infront of goal.

The game opened right up in the final ten minutes, as Wednesday brought on Michele Di Piedi in aiming to try and grab a goal. At the other end Pressman made an important save to deny Michael Johnson from making it 3-0.

Despite their efforts in the final few minutes, the Owls couldn't find a way past the elusive Alan Kelly. To top of Wednesday's afternoon, Derek Geary received a second yellow card for a foul on Tresor Luntala and was on his way for an early shower.

After five league games the Owls find themselves in a familiar position at the lower end of the table. Despite having been beaten 2-0 in successive games, Peter Shreeves remains optimistic about his teams effort.

"As a visiting manager, I have to ask myself “Did we lay down and die?” – no we didn’t. We stayed in the battle and on another day might have got something out of it. I’m not too disappointed with the level of performance. We stood up to be counted. We created some decent chances throughout the 90 minutes and the goalkeeper was outstanding – just like he was against us last year at Stockport. He made some excellent saves, and it wasn’t as if we didn’t hit the target."