Owls and Tigers share the spoils

Wednesday's first home match of the 2005/06 season ended all square as the Owls and their Yorkshire neighbours Hull City played out a 1-1 draw, in a game which really could've gone either way. Paul Sturrock's Wednesday side were taught a footballing lesson when the Tigers won this fixture 4-2 last season in League One. This result is a sign of how far this team has come since then.

Sturrock stuck with the same side that started in the season opener at Stoke infront of a massive Hillsborough crowd. The 29,910 was also the Coca-Cola Championship's highest attendance figure of the night.

On-loan striker Leon Best scored the match opener as early as the 8th minute, a dream start for Wednesday, when he neatly tucked away Glen Whelan's cross. Whelan, stand-in captain in the absence of Lee Bullen, slipped as he delivered the ball but it eluded two Hull defenders before the Southampton youngster stabbed the ball home with his left foot.

Wednesday's lead lasted only 15 minutes though. Nick Barmby, a scorer at Hillsborough last season, was the man to draw them level when he lashed home a well executed right foot volley low past David Lucas. There was a questionable push on Richard Wood by Craig Fagan, whose right foot flick over the Owls backline found the on-rushing Barmby.

The equaliser saw Hull come back into the game and dominate the majority of play leading up to the interval. Defender Frankie Simek was in the right place at the right time to clear the ball off the line from a Leon Cort effort, whilst things took a turn for c worse for Sturrock's side when Best limped off with what later turned out to be a broken foot.

Half-time: Owls 1-1 Hull

The Tigers started the second half the brighter of the two sides and the visitors had another effort cleared off the line when Graeme Lee stopped Jason Price, after the midfielder had rounded Lucas.

The second halfs best chance fell to Hull's Stuart Elliott after Price and Keith Andrews linked up to find the man who scored 27 goals last season. But his poor shot went wide of the mark with the goal at his mercy and the Owls defence stretched, an effort that was a shadow of the man who terrorised League One defences last season.

Chris Eagles, on loan from Manchester United, came close to restoring Wednesday's lead shortly after when his right foot effort from a left-wing position had Hull's keeper Myhill beaten, but the shot curled round the wrong side of the post. Eagles was soon to be replaced by Ritchie Partridge, whose impact was immediate. The former Liverpool player whipped over a left foot cross that Proudlock should've done better with. His glancing header was way off the mark much to the disappointment of the Hillsborough crowd.

The Owls enjoyed a flurry of chances late on, including Frankie Simek's driven shot that required a good save from his fellow American Myhill in the Tiger's goal. Neither side could find a later winner and so the spoils were shared. Both sides have now recorded two draws from their first two games.

News after the game of Best's broken foot has meant the 18 year old will return to the south coast, whilst Paul Sturrock will frantically search for a replacement striker before, co-incidentally, Southampton visit this weekend.

Paul Sturrock's post match comments:
"I'm very pleased because last year they slapped us about and ran over the top of us. But this was an even game so there has been progress made by this football club, and that's the way you've got to look at it."

"Hull had chances in the second half they should have done much better with which would have changed the complexion of the game. We had several chances but, apart from Proudlock - who will sooner or later have to be taught to header the ball - most of them were half-chances. Generally it was our final cross that let us down."