Knight's fairytale ending gains Owls a point

Leon Knight silenced the Priestfield Stadium crowd on the weekend with a last gasp equaliser. It was just what the Owls deserved but it had seemed for 89 minutes as though they would yet again be left empty handed. Instead the on-loan Chelsea youngster took matters into his own hands deep into injury time.

The 17 year old dribbled the ball on the edge of the Gills' box, before firing a shot that flew in off the post. It was Knight's second goal for the Owls, and Chris Turner's first point as Wednesday manager. Turner had watched in horror the week before as his team were thoroughly beaten 3-0 by promotion candidates Norwich City at Carrow Road.

That was his first game in charge, despite only having had a couple of training sessions with the squad prior to the match. He nows prepares his side for their biggest challenge of the season yet - league leaders Portsmouth at home next Saturday afternoon. The fixture is a late kick-off game as it has been selected by Sky Sports as a live televised game.

This report from the BBC Football website:

Sheffield Wednesday claimed their first point under new manager Chris Turner thanks to an injury-time equaliser by substitute Leon Knight. The on-loan Chelsea striker fired home a wonder goal in the first minute of stoppage time to deny 10-man Gillingham the victory they deserved.

Tommy Johnson's first league goal for the club in the 24th minute looked to have been enough for Gillingham but Knigth took advantage of the 80th-minute dismissal of player-manager Andy Hessenthaler. Gillingham enjoyed some early pressure and forced the first corner of the game, which resulted in Paul Shaw's shot from the edge of the area being blocked by Leigh Bromby. The defender again did well to block a Johnson effort, while Wednesday created their first opening in the 20th minute but Lloyd Owusu's 25-yard shot was well held by Gillingham goalkeeper Jason Brown.

The breakthrough came in the 24th minute when Barry Ashby's flick-on found former Wednesday striker Johnson and his low shot beat Kevin Pressman. Five minutes later Chris Hope headed just over, while Marlon King also shot over as the home side began to dominate.

Wednesday's frustration boiled over when Gerald Sibon was booked for a bad foul on David Perpetuini. The visitors managed to win a corner in the 41st minute from which Tony Crane headed over but they showed little sign of forcing an equaliser before the break.

Hessenthaler's first booking was for dissent following a foul on Shefki Kuqi. The ball was moved forward 10 yards and from the free-kick Bromby found the head of Kuqi in the area but he failed to hit the target. Kuqi then found space in the area but again failed to trouble Brown with a left-foot shot. Wednesday's hopes of an equaliser were lifted when Hessenthaler was shown a second yellow card for a bad foul on Knight. The equaliser came when Knight teased the home defence before unleashing a fierce right-foot shot which left Brown with no chance.

Half-time: Gillingham 1-0 Owls