Red card madness at the Ricoh

There was a serious reality check for Wednesday fans as a nine-man Owls side crashed to a 3-1 defeat to Coventry City.

It started in the worst possible fashion for Wednesday as Wade Small was given a straight red card for reacting to a dangerous tackle by Don Hutchinson in just the 14th minute. The Owls were awarded a free-kick for the challenge but Small raised his hands to his opposite number and for that the rulebook clearly indicates he must be sent off.

Eight minutes later, Wednesday were ahead. Chris Brunt lobbed Marshall after 22 minutes for his 5th goal of the season. The good news ended their for Wednesday though. Brian Laws, in charge of only his second game, watched in horror as firstly Madjid Bougherra converted into his net to level the scores and then seeing Brunt add further to their woes with a professional foul in the 37th minute. Another straight red, and then there were nine.

It was surely only going to be a matter of time before the Sky Blues would take the lead. It took six minutes. Leon McKenzie was the scorer and four minutes later he had his second, City's third and left a mountain to climb for the visitors who still made a contest of it for the remainder of the game.

Laws verdict: "The two incidents turned the game. We will certainly be asking the referee to reflect on his decisions and we could well appeal on Monday." "The most constructive thing is that I have learned my players, when facing defeat, will just not lie down." "Their keper made three world-class saves in the last 15 minutes."