More points dropped at Portman

It was an all too familiar story to tell on the weekend as the Owls went down 2-1 to Ipswich Town at Portman Road. A Pablo Counago double strike in the first half proved too much for Wednesday to come back from. Simon Donnelly's second half strike was his second in successive games, both nothing more than consolation goals.

The Owls played well and perhaps deserved something from the game, some wayward finishing at times also proving costly, but in the end results are what counts. And four defeats on the trot, in cup and league, for Wednesday tells the story that manager Terry Yorath is under great pressure. Another defeat next week at home, when Yorkshire rivals Bradford City are the visitors, and it could well be curtains for Yorath.

The Owls have chopped and changed their managers over the years, but this is a club that demands success. And yet another poor start to the season has left fans disillusioned and frustrated. The injury list at Hillsborough is as long as Yorath's face at the moment, but the Welshman remains optimistic that fortunes will change soon.

In the meantime he will desperately continue to try and bring a fresh face into the squad this week, after attempts to lure midfielder's David Batty (Leeds Utd) and Steve Stone (Aston Villa) to Hillsborough in recent weeks have failed.

The result still keeps the Owls in the bottom three with just nine points accumulated from their 13 opening league games.

This report from the BBC Football website:

Ipswich's post-George Burley era started triumphantly thanks to a Pablo Counago double. All the talk at Portman Road centred on speculation that Rotherham manager Ronnie Moore was to join Ipswich, who sacked Burley on Friday. With first-team coach Tony Mowbray as caretaker, Counago bagged his first in the 29th minute, sliding home the rebound from a brilliant Kevin Pressman save.

His second - also a tap-in - arrived five minutes later after woeful Wednesday defending. But the scoreline flattered Town and it was no real surprise when Simon Donnelly's fine header made it 2-1 after 58 minutes. Only an incorrect offside decision prevented Lloyd Owusu levelling and Gerald Sibon missed a sitter in injury-time.

Ipswich's defence was a shambles in the early stages, with goalkeeper Andy Marshall having to pull off a wonder save inside the opening 60 seconds. Steven Haslam intercepted a slack pass to feed Donnelly, who fired goalwards from 14 yards and Marshall deflected the ball onto his crossbar.

But it did not take long for Town to respond, hitting Wednesday's woodwork with six minutes on the clock. Mark Venus's free-kick found Wayne Brown, who should have scored rather than head against the top of the bar from six yards. Thomas Gaardsoe met Venus's diagonal free-kick with a powerful header which brought an ankle-high parry from Pressman. Counago beat Haslam to the rebound and slid in to score from a yard out.

And Town doubled their lead five minutes later. Owls right-back Ian Hendon was to blame, completely misjudging Matt Holland's searching cross and allowing Jamie Clapham to steal in at the far post. He squared the ball to Counago, who side-footed home from six yards.

Only Pressman heroics prevented Town taking a 3-0 lead into half-time.

Half-time: Ipswich 2-0 Owls

Wednesday were rewarded for upping their game after the interval with the goal that halved the deficit in the 58th minute. Owusu curled over a cross from the left and Donnelly expertly headed into the bottom right corner from eight yards. Ipswich's fans were living on their nerves now - and only an incorrect linesman's flag prevented Terry Yorath's side equalising. Sibon fed Owusu, who timed his run perfectly and beat both the offside trap and Marshall to find the net.

But the assistant referee wrongly ruled him offside. And - ironically - when the linesman's flag stayed down in the 71st minute, Owusu latched onto Sibon's through-ball but prodded wide from 20 yards.