Stocksbridge Park Steels were the victims of a comeback as a Sheffield Wednesday XI came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2.
Stocksbridge got the lead when an Elliott Walker cross was turned into his own net by David Agbontohoma. They were able to double it when Joe Lumsden fired in a one-on-one opportunity. The Owls were back in the came when Basille Zottos scored his own one-on-one and it was level when Bonnington tapped in a low cross. The game was won by Leojo Davidson with a low drive from the right hand side.
While Sheffield Wednesday had the first sight on goal, a wasted chance from Alex Bonnington who miskicked the ball as it came towards him, it was Stocksbridge who started the game the better. Whitham started the game off brightly by taking on his full-back and while he went too far before hitting a shot at Jack Hall in the Owls net, it showed what he’d be doing for the rest of the game. Scott Ruthven also volleyed over after a lofted ball towards him.
Stocksbridge would turn those chances into a goal pretty quickly. New signing Elliott Walker whipped in a ball from the right and it was turned into his own net by Wednesday’s new signing Agbontohoma. It was a great start for the Steels who were showing their experience compared to the youth of the Owls.
Wednesday showed some promise at the other end with a Bonnington cross being tantalising to watch but no one was there to tap it in. Lewis Farmer was also causing trouble when he advanced from his right-wing back position, though his biggest chance was a free kick smashed into the wall.
The big chances were going to Stocksbridge. Josh Nodder came alive and almost scored a spectacular curler from the right side of the box, but it was matched by a stunning save from Hall. Whitham’s follow-up from this went wide and Nodder had another chance though this one was right at Hall.
The Steels continued to pile pressure on Wednesday. Whitham was a constant nuisance on the left wing and his cross was met by an advancing Ross Goodwin whose shot was deflected just wide. Nodder also had some joy on the left wing and put in a quality cross for Ruthven who hit his header straight at Hall.
The pressure was relieved for a while as Wednesday had some chances of their own, though nothing that worried the Steels defence too much. Zottos showed some tricky footwork on the right wing to give himself acres of space and hit it into the box for Will Trueman who smacked it over for the Owls. Bonnington got himself into the game with a powerful close range drive but Hall was alive to it to knock it over the bar.
The better chances continued to go Stocksbridge’s way and there was almost a goal for Sam Finlaw when he was the beneficiary of a defence splitting pass. Hall was alive to it and saved well from the onrushing midfielder.
The second goal did eventually come for Stocksbridge though. Whitham received the ball deep and hit a fantastic pass over the heads of the Wednesday defence for Lumsden who hit the ball first time past Hall.
Wednesday responded instantly to halve the deficit though. It was a great diagonal ball from the Owls which found Zottos with acres of space on the right. He went one-on-one with Hall and won by hitting the ball low and hard past the keeper, giving them something going into the break.
Everything changed in the second half as Sheffield Wednesday took complete control of the game and had most of the chances. While there was a few half-chances, the biggest chance was when Bonnington was put clear but a fantastic tackle from Rob Ludlam meant Hall was able to come out and collect.
Wednesday did think they were level for a bit. Trueman found some space on the left-hand side and cut inside to curl into the bottom corner. Luckily for Stocksbridge, the linesman put his flag up for offside. It was however a let-off for a Steels side increasingly under pressure.
It was after that when Stocksbridge had their best period of the second half. Nodder managed to get onto a poor Wednesday clearance and advance into the box though his shot was deflected wide for a corner. From the resulting set piece, Ludlam came close when he volleyed over.
After this, enough was enough for the elder Lee Thompson as he decided to come to face his son Declan, who was in the opposition ranks. And it was the elder statesmen who almost had the glory for the dinner table. His volley from a narrow angle was cleared off the line and he had the space for a volley outside the box, though it weakly bounced wide.
It was Declan’s team though that got the next goal as they finally made the pressure pay. Paulo Aguas sent a low ball in from the left and Bonnington fired it in from close range to make it level.
Thompson had his own chance when he headed onto the bar from a Wednesday corner. But he got the laust laugh in this brief family feud when the Owls got the winner. Davidson drove in from the right wing and fired past Hall to complete the comeback and an impressive win for the young Wednesday side.
MOTM: Lewis Whitham
