Owls chalk up grim draw with Mariners

Match report soon.

It seems certain that Terry Yorath's chances of being named as Wednesday's new manager vanished on the weekend, when the Owls were unable to beat an out of form Grimsby Town side. Yorath's start as caretaker manager had been like a dream - three wins out of four and things seemed to be changing for the better.

Wednesday were playing some attractive football and fans were beginning to wonder if the Welshman was the man to turn the team around. But just one point from the last two games, both at home, has signalled the end of Yorath's honeymoon period. He must now know that deep down his chances are slim.

The word is that an official announcement will be made before next weekend's live televised encounter with Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Molineux Stadium. Former Derby County boss, and Sheffield born, Jim Smith is still the favourite to be handed the job.

This match report from the TeamTalk website: The Owls were forced to settle for a point at home to Grimsby today following an end-to-end 0-0 draw. With both sides looking to bounce back from defeat it was Wednesday who started the brighter and almost took the lead in the first two minutes when a free-kick was whipped in by Owen Morrison and Ashley Westwood's glancing header went just wide of the target.

The Mariners were struggling to create anything going forward, and the home team again proved threatening when a deep cross just evaded the advancing Gerald Sibon. The visitors gradually began to find their footing and Stuart Campbell saw a low shot deflected wide before Dutchman Sibon fired an effort over the bar from 35 yards.

Just before half-time Grimsby had the best chance of the game and came the closest to scoring that either team could manage over 90 minutes. Morrison was dispossessed and Alan Pouton crashed a shot from the edge if the area against the underside of the bar, but it was cleared from danger.

Half-time: Owls 0-0 Grimsby

After the break Simon Donnelly found himself one-on-one with keeper Danny Coyne but couldn't convert the chance and Derek Geary also fired wide of the target for Terry Yorath's men. At the other end, Kevin Pressman almost handed The Mariners the points when he was caught in possession coming out of goal by Bradley Allen, but the striker could only slide a shot wide of the far post with the goal at his mercy.

Wednesday continued to create chances and both Sibon and substitute Michele Di Piedi had efforts wide of the target, but it was Allen who could have sewn up the points for Lennie Lawrence's team in the final stages. One one occasion he was able to bring the ball down but could only shoot over Pressman's goal before he headed over the target from close range in a good position right at the death.

Despite the number of chances, the game lacked real quality and sharing the spoils was the fair result, although it won't have done Yorath's hopes of landing the Hillsborough job full time much good. The Owls sit in 21st place in the league table with 18 points from 19 games following today's result.