A thrilling Division 2 season which saw Bristol City and Brighton promoted came to a conclusion on Monday, as Sheffield Wednesday racked up a 3-1 playoff final victory against Southampton. With both sides having won semi-finals against sides who finished higher in the league, there was certainly a sense that an underdog was going to prevail, and reach the promised land of the Premier League.
The first quarter of an hour was a cagey affair, with the Owls forcing Saints keeper Sergio Romero into a couple of decent saves, with the southerners providing very little going forward. However, a key decision on 17 minutes swung the game in Powell's sides favour. Having already been booked after 12 minutes after a clumsy challenge on Aleix Vidal, Benjamin Mendy picked up a second yellow card for a foul on Josef Souza, and the young left back was sent for an early bath.
Greg Owen's side actually grew into the game at first following the red, with Salih Ucan twice forcing Yoann Thuram into saves. But the two sides went into the break deadlocked at 0-0.
Artjoms Rudnevs went close after 50 minutes, while Ucan continued to pull the strings in the Saints midfield, forcing another save from Thuram, but after 52 minutes, the scoring was opened.
Good work from Bryan Oviedo on the left allowed him to whip in a cross, which was taken down and rifled home by loanee Lacina Traore, whose emergency loan has been a key part of the playoff success. 40,000 Wednesday fans exploded with noise, the deadlock had been broken.
Just 9 minutes later, just past the hour mark, the lead had doubled. Jefferson Montero, who's struggled for game-time this season, was fouled in the box by Jose Fonte, and up stepped Artjoms Rudnevs, our top scorer, to rifle home his 17th goal of the season.
A slight lull in action saw Rudnevs go close, until Salih Ucan scored a deserved goal to cap off an excellent performance for the young Turk after 85 minutes, and set up what looked to be a tense finale.
However, all hopes of a miraculous comeback were put to bed by Lacina Traore just a minute later, as he thundered a free kick into the back of the net to secure promotion.
The full-time whistle was met by a deafening roar from the Wednesday fans, and a huge sigh of relief for Ted Powell and his coaching staff. While it is true that reaching the playoffs were the aim after a 12th placed finish last season, promotion wasn't seen as a realistic target, but it's been achieved.
Transfer activity is already starting to take place as Wednesday have only 21 contracted players at the club. Bids have been submitted for a young Brazilian and Aston Villa's Leandro Bacuna. While star player Aleix Vidal is leaving to Chelsea. In an ideal world we wouldn't want to sell the versatile Spaniard, but we need the depth. A deal of 3m+Romain Hamouma and Fernando Torres represents a good deal for both sides.
The Owls will be one of the favourites to go down next year, but are determined to enjoy their first taste of Division 1 in GC279, The squad is small but packed with talent, and with a few loans and a few permanents, we fully believe we've got what it takes to survive.
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