Millers repeat history, Owls beaten again

Rotherham United, for the third successive time at Hillsborough, have beaten the Owls in their own back yard. For the second season in a row it was via a last minute goal from a substitute.

This time Darren Garner was the hero for the Millers with an unstoppable 30 yard strike in the third minute of injury time. With one point now from four games, you can't help but feel it's going to be a long season for Owls fans.

Even more worrying is the fact that Wednesday must lift themselves before Tuesday when they travel to top of the table Wolverhampton Wanderers, who thumped Derby County 4-1 this weekend.

Terry Yorath had rung the changes he had promised before the game. Simon Donnelly and club captain Trond-Egil Soltvedt were dropped in place of Leon Knight and Ashley Westwood. Knight played upfront with Kuqi, with Sibon dropping into midfield. David Burrows took the skippers armband for the day. As to whether or not it was a one-off decision to drop Soltved is yet to be seen.

Everything had started so well for the Owls when Craig Armstrong opened the scoring after eight minutes, his first goal for Wednesday in this his 11th appearance for the club. But the Owls backline again disappointed when they conceded an unnecessary penalty in the 28th minute, converted by Millers striker Alan Lee.

The game was played in typical local derby fashion - with referee Pugh handing out no more than 10 yellow cards throughout the day, seven of them to the visitors. One was a controversial handball outside the box by Millers keeper Mike Pollitt. The rules clearly state that the keeper should've been shown red in that situation.

It's an all too familiar story, but Wednesday had the chances to win the game but failed to take them. Shefki Kuqi's awful run infront of goal is really beginning to affect the team. It'll be interested to see how long Yorath's patience will last with the former Stockport County man. Leon Knight was almost the hero for Wednesday when his spectacular 87th minute overhead kick was saved by Millers keeper Pollitt. In the end though it was at the other end where the game was won.

This report from Football365.com:

A superb last-minute goal from substitute Darren Garner handed Rotherham three points in a fiery South Yorkshire derby at Hillsborough. The Owls are still looking for their first win of the season as Ronnie Moore's battling Millers produced a repeat performance of last season's 2-1 victory at Hillsborough.

A pulsating first half saw Craig Armstrong get the home side off to a flying start after just eight minutes only for an Alan Lee spot-kick to cancel out Wednesday's early dominance. The second half was an equally intense encounter and referee David Pugh had to show the yellow card 10 times before Garner broke Wednesday hearts at the death with a wonderful 30-yard strike.

Trond Egil Soltvedt and Simon Donnelly were the two casualties from Wednesday's 4-0 mauling at Nottingham Forest as Ashley Westwood and Leon Knight were promoted to the starting XI. Rotherham named the same line-up from the goalless draw against Preston as Darren Byfield recovered from a viral infection to take his place in the Rotherham side. But it was Wednesday who went on the offensive in a typically fervent derby atmosphere.

Armstrong drilled a blistering strike over the bar in the opening minute and the Owls' aggressive start was rewarded when 27-year-old Armstrong opened the scoring shortly afterwards. Gerald Sibon released Shefki Kuqi, who squared a delightful ball to Armstrong and he made no mistake from 18 yards.

However, the visitors once again proved their fighting qualities and equalised from the penalty spot after 27 minutes. John Mullin danced through the Wednesday rearguard and was clumsily brought down by Westwood in the area. And Lee stepped up to send Kevin Pressman the wrong way to drag Ronnie Moore's men right back in to it.

Half-time: Owls 1-1 Rotherham

Sibon had a fine chance just before the break but his strike was brilliantly stopped by Mike Pollitt at the end of a highly-entertaining first half. The interval did not cool the blistering pace of the game as Rotherham came out of the blocks quickest.

Chris Sedgwick drove a fine 20-yard strike that was parried by Pressman after 49 minutes, and Martin McIntosh mis-timed a header from 18-yards three minutes later. And Pressman was in the thick of things minutes moments later when a wicked inswinging corner from Mullin brought the very best out of the veteran keeper.

Millers captain Stewart Talbot was substituted for Garner and Jonathan Beswetherwick was replaced by Paul McLaren as both sides looked for the spark of inspiration needed to turn the game.And with the game on a knife-edge, Armstrong went close with a long-range effort for the Owls and a Chris Swailes header just missed the target from 18 yards for Rotherham.

A fine Leon Knight strike was superbly blocked by Paul Hurst after 87 minutes but it was Garner who had the last word with a magnificent piece of individualism. Garner took the ball down from all of 30 yards and launched a fierce right-footed strike that left Pressman with no chance and handed the Millers three valuable points.