Kevin's late goals kick Wednesday back down
England hopeful Kevin Phillips sunk the Owls with two late goals in front of an improved crowd at Hillsborough.
Phillips had been marked out of the game for the majority of the game, until in the 86th minute he managed to fire in a curling left-footed shot that beat Kevin Pressman. Just four minutes later it was 2-0 when Phillips was on hand to score a simple tap in and complete his brace.
With Wimbledon losing 2-0 at White Hart Lane on the same day, the Owls blew a great chance to move even closer to safety. As it stands Wednesday are now five points from safety with four games left.
Peter Shreeves opted to keep Steven Haslam in the starting line-up, ahead of the experienced Ian Nolan, after his impressive display last weekend. However it was at the other end of the field where Wednesday would struggle on this day, as neither Andy Booth or Gilles de Bilde were able to put away their chances.
Wednesday had to wait until the 14th minute of the game until their first chance of the game came along - when de Bilde intercepted a poor Darren Holloway pass, but the Belgian could only fire his shot straight into the hands of Sunderland keeper Thomas Sorensen.
Four minutes later Sunderland had their first efforts on goal - when Pressman firstly denied Phillips' shot and then a moment later Chris Makin's long range shot. In the 27th minute the Owls should've gone ahead. Barry Horne pumped the ball into the box and Darren Holloway again made a mistake that could have been costly to his side when he misjudged the pass. The ball fell to youngster Alan Quinn but the young Irishman hesitated and lobbed his shot over the bar.
With about eight minutes until half-time Wednesday were again threatening the visitors' backline. Again Holloway was second best, this time as Quinn outpaced him on the wing, but his keeper was on hand to deny de Bilde and then Andy Booth's shot that badly lacked any power behind it.
And just before the break the Owls again missed a great chance to score. This time Wednesday skipper Peter Atherton was the culprit. An Andy Hinchcliffe corner beat everyone in the box and it fell to the former Coventry City defender at the back post, but his volleyed effort flew over the bar. It ended a half that had been dominated by the home side, but no goals had been scored.
Half-time: Owls 0-0 Sunderland
In the 53rd minute de Bilde's close range shot was blocked by Sorensen, who was keeping his side in the game so far, as another chance went begging by. Sorensen denied Wednesday again minutes later as Niclas Alexandersson's right foot curling shot was pushed away, and Quinn couldn't stear the rebound into the net.
With just 15 minutes left things were getting desperate for the Owls, who needed a goal badly. De Bilde was again in the thick of the action as he broke away clear to be one-on-one with the Sunderland shot stopper. But again Sorensen denied the Owls with a brilliant block.
With just four minutes left Kevin Phillips struck an unstoppable curling shot into the corner of the net past Pressman to send Sunderland into the lead. The goal was a real kick in the teeth for Wednesday, who at this point were attacking with everything they had.
There was a final blow for the Owls when Phillips struck again in the final minute with the simplest of chances. The goal was a heart-breaker for the Wednesday fans as the 8000 strong away support silenced the home faithful. A win here would've really boosted Wednesday's chances of surviving the drop - but now it seems the Owls will have to produce some sort of a miracle to stay up.
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- Booth (90 mins)