Owls crash at home to Colchester, unbeaten run comes to an end

The Owls saw their impressive six game unbeaten run come to an end as struggling Colchester United returned to Essex as 2-1 winners. Manager Brian Laws may have collected the Manager of the Month Award for November but on the first of December he watched his side gift Colchester some early presents with a shamefully poor performance at home.

Wednesday's preperations for the game were in turmoil as an hour before the game Yoann Folly withdrew from the squad due to family problems back home in France, while the key man at the back Michael Johnson suffered back spasms during the warm-up and was replaced by teenager Mark Beevers.

The decision to go with Beevers and not the more experienced Lee Bullen backfired, and fast. A mix up in defence saw Teddy Sheringham stroke the ball past Lee Grant after just 52 seconds to stun a home crowd still buzzing from a mid week Yorkshire derby win over Barnsley.

The bad start set the precedent for the match as Wednesday struggled to create much in terms of chances while continued to look almost clueless at the back with no leadership or direction coming from any of the back four. Colchester, despite their poor form and precarious league position, looked to get in behind Wednesday's backline at every opportunity.

It was 2-0 in the 26th minute when Wednesday failed to clear a Mark Yates corner but the disappointing referee Mr Tony Bates missed what appeared to be a blatant use of the hand by U's defender George Elokobi as he bundled the ball into the back of the net. There was nothing in terms of an appeal by the Wednesday players despite furious protests from supporters behind the goal.

The game was running away from Wednesday and the result would have been in the bag had Grant not denied Sheringham a second and a third for Colchester just moments later.

The Owls didn't deserve an equaliser but they got one from the ever impressive Akpo Sodje nine minutes before half-time. Steve Watson drilled in a powerful low cross from the right and Sodje's close range effort was straight at Dean Gerken but the shot deflected back off the big Wednesday forward and somewhat clumsily into the back of the net. It was the former Port Vale man's fifth goal of the season.

The goal spurred the home crowd into action and for a brief spell leading into the break The Owls had Colchester on the back foot, but the U's held firm to take a deserved one goal lead into the changing rooms.

Wednesday started the second half much as they started the game with a lack of creativity and passion. Laws eventually made a change to the side and threw on winger Wade Small for Marcus Tudgay up front just after the hour mark.

But it was Colchester who looked the more likely to score next as they sensed an increasingly frustrated home crowd. The most Wednesday could offer was a weak left foot shot from outside the box by Small, and a spectacularly off-target left foot piledriver from Jermaine Johnson.

The Owls did have the ball in the back of the net in the final minutes of the game, after Sodje did well to pull back from the by-line for Small to bundle in, but for the second time in the afternoon a Wednesday goal was ruled out for offside. Laws later revealed he had no arguments with the decision and accepted his side did not deserve anything from the game.

Ratings v Colchester: Grant 7 Showed good form and couldn't be blamed be either goal with such an inept performance from the back four Simek 5 The usually reliable American appears to be low on confidence and playing below his ability. Beevers 4 The young man has shown promise in previous first team outings, but not here and not today. Needed a lending hand from a more experienced player alongside him. Hinds 4 Disappointing. Distribution was astray and organisation of the back four abysmal. All at sea for most of the match and the lack of direction spread from the back four through the team. Spurr 6 The back four as a unit were poor but young Tommy at least showed a bit of promise, but looked lost when in the opposition half J.Johnson 6 Has the ability and pace to get round defenders but was reluctant to use it at times. Will perform better when Simek is in better form behind him. Watson 6 With no Michael Johnson he needed to stand up and be vocal, and give the team some direction. It didn't appear to happen and better is expected of Wednesday's central midfield duo. Good low driven cross for Sodje's goal. Whelan 5 One can only assume that with Folly dropping out of the side last minute that Glenn was just not match fit. He didn't look it, and we've come to expect much better. Passing and creativity was just awful. O'Brien 6 Not an out and out winger but does an honest job for Wednesday on the left, unlucky to be subbed in the second half. Tudgay 5 Another below par performance but in fairness the service was dreadful - high and not at all handsome. Sodje 8 The one shining star in a dreadfully poor team performance. Worked his socks off all afternoon, hassled every ball and fought for every aerial attack the Wednesday backline could fire his way. Got on the score sheet too and set up the equaliser that never was. Quickly turning into a favourite with the fans. Small 5 A slightly strange swap for Tudgay as Small is not an out and out forward and never really offered much up front. Esajas 6 At least looked keen to try and take players on but others around him had run out of ideas. Ultimately ineffective but hasn't had much first team football of late, The Gaffer 6 Losing a key player like Johnson before the game is obviously not his fault, but the decision to go with youth (Beevers) over experience (Bullen or Watson) didn't pay off. Whelan wasn't match fit and his substitutions were poor. Small offered little up front in place of Tudgay, while O'Brien probably should have gone into the middle with Esajas out wide. A bad day at the office for the gaffer as well. The Support 7 The Hillsborough faithful seemed in a more upbeat mood but eventually the frustration of watching such a poor showing set in. Plenty of praise for Sodje, but jeers at the end for a hugely disappointing performance. The Officials 4 Very poor. Made incorrect calls both ways and never allowed the game to flow. Was picky at times and over leniant others. Inconsistency is not a good trait to have as a referee. Overall: It was only be put down as a bad day at the office. A better side would have won this game by at least three or four goals we really were that bad. In the end Wednesday will point to a narrow loss and two disallowed goals but the performance did not warrant a result, and a great opportunity to climb the ladder has gone wasted.

Laws verdict: "The second goal was a real killer for us and I am very disappointed. They deserved the points. I have no excuses." "We were second best all the game and in all areas of the pitch." "We need to regroup and focus against Southampton. We have to forget that previous result and, in the past, we've always done that and we've come back after a setback."