Sturrock left fuming after derby defeat

The Owls sunk to a Yorkshire derby defeat as visiting Leeds United headed back north with all three points in the bag, with a little help from Premier League referee Steve Bennett. A 70th minute penalty from Northern Ireland international David Healy was the only goal of Wednesday's first live televised match of the season.

Paul Sturrock welcomed back Graham Coughlan, Burton O'Brien and Deon Burton from the injury list whilst Brad Jones replaced Chris Adamson in goal after he was cup tied. Charlton winger Lloyd Sam, on loan from The Valley for a month, made his Owls debut on the right wing.

There was an early scare for Wednesday as Eddie Lewis raced through behind the defence only to be felled by Frank Simek, referee Bennett judging that Simek committed the foul but failed to produce a card despite the American being the last line of defence. Lloyd Sam was making an immediate impact on the right hand side and his clever pull back was completely miskicked by Burton, his embarassment would only get worse shortly before the break.

Brunt tested Leeds keeper Tony Warner with a typical left foot free-kick from 25 yards. Seven minutes before the break saw Wednesday produce the game's best chance. Sam was again in the thick of it with a strong run into the Leeds box followed by a shot that rebounded off the bar and into the path of an unmarked Burton from six yards out. The former Rotherham striker ballooned the effort over the bar with a goal beckoning in front of him.

The Owls had enjoyed the better of the chances but Leeds had controlled possession for the most part of the first period.

Paul Sturrock's side came out in the second half looking strong but never created chances like they did in the first 45 minutes. Leeds looked destined to score from close range before Simek lunged himself at the ball.

The game turned on it's head in the 67th minute when Owls keeper Jones was given a straight red card for a foul on Healy. Referee Bennett and his assistants had initially failed to spot that Healy was in an offside position to begin with. whilst television replays suggested there was minimal contact on Healy as he took the ball past Jones.

John Hills sacrificed his place for reserve keeper Chris Adamson, who let four in against Wrexham in midweek, whose first job was to try and deny Healy from the penalty spot. Healy struck the ball hard and low past Adamson's right fist to give Kevin Blackwell's side the lead.

Ten man Wednesday gave it their all for the final 20 minutes, emergency striker Lee Bullen came on as did summer signing from Crewe Kenny Lunt, and had a couple of strong shouts for a penalty themselves. Graham Coughlan appeared to be strongly man handled on one occasion but referee Bennett saw otherwise.

The result left Paul Sturrock fuming with the performance of the officials and cursing his side's repeated failure infront of goal.

Brad Jones:An early shower Lloyd Sam: Danger man Burton: Looked short of fitness

Anzowls Ratings v Leeds: Jones 5 Flapped at several crosses and didn't appear to communicate well with his back four. Harshly sent-off, but there's only going to be one outcome when a keeper rushes out like that. Simek 7 Lucky not to have been sent off himself early on. Solid for the rest of the game. Put his body on the line and saved a definite goal. Coughlan 7 Seems to have formed a good understanding with Bougherra, but there were a couple of shady moments. Overall solid, and kept his cool at the back when under pressure. Bougherra 7 Very strong in the air and worked will with Coughlan. You feel there could be an interesting battle when Richard Wood gets fit again. Spurr 7 This didn't look like only his 7th appearance at senior level. He looks fast, defends smartly and isn't afraid to push down the wing. Sam 8 Looked a quality player but he was short of match fitness today and didn't last the match. Has a good turn of pace and was willing to take on the Leeds backline. Our most dangerous attacking player today. Whelan 6 Wasn't overly impressed. Leeds dominated the middle of the midfield for me today. O'Brien 6 Tested Warner with a well controlled long range effort in the first half. Didn't think he and Whelan got stuck in enough. Hills 6 Didn't see a lot of the ball but put a few half decent balls in the box. Subbed off to make way for Adamson later on. Brunt 6 Would've been a 7 rating but just appeared to drift in and out of the game. Struck a good free-kick in the first half and had some nice touches. Don't think he suits playing in behind. Burton 5 Maybe he wasn't match fit but it doesn't excuse his miss from six yards. Completely missed the ball when Sam pulled back for him before that too. His only defence is he was a lone striker until Leeds went ahead. Adamson 6 Went the right way for the penalty but credit to Healy, he hit it near perfect. Looked more confident than young Jones. Bullen 6 Ran hard for 15 minutes and tried his hardest to win us a penalty. What we needed today were match-fit, out-and-out strikers. Lunt 6 Had all of eight minutes to produce something - he came up with a late tackle deserving of a yellow card. Officials 3 Very poor. Referee Bennett didn't book Simek but gave a free-kick when he brought down the last man. Later got it wrong with the red card after minimal contact by Jones on Healy, his linesman missing the quite blatant offside position Healy was in. Failed to award the Owls a spot kick when a Leeds defender was climbing over Coughlan in the box. Did very little right all afternoon. Overall: The Owls deserved at least a point from this one. A mix of poor refereeing and, more obviously, a lack of penetration upfront. A couple of fit strikers and some competition for places in midfield should see us right.

Sturrock verdict: "It's not like me to complain about referees but I'd like the Premiership to keep their own." "Premiership referees look disinterested when they come into this league. We had three definite penalties while theirs was offside to begin with and the challenge was outside the box." "I'm gutted to lose a big derby game but we've given everything we've got. We're so close to being a real solid side in this league."

Simek verdict: "It was very disappointing. They were all over us at the start of the second half - I thought we were going to survive their onslaught but it wasn't to be." "The penalty decision went against us and we weren't really able to recover with ten men. My first instinct was that it was outside the box and I don't know whether or not Brad caught him, it didn't look like much."