Last Gasp Varney Sends Wednesday Barmy
2 -v- 1 
Wednesday Watford
Leaving Hillsborough on Saturday I couldn’t help but thinking we’d blown a great chance. After two hard-fought draws at Swansea and Preston we had a great chance to back them up with a home win. Especially against a Derby side who didn’t look up to much.
Michael Tonge is a good player, albeit pork-tainted, and as it turned out he was the man who came between us and three points with his goal line clearance. With results elsewhere not exactly going our way, and further cause for concern on Tuesday night (two wins in four days for Scunny) it was increasingly clear that Watford would fall into the ‘must-win’ category.
It’s a funny thing this must-win stuff. If we’d have lost last night would we have been down? Well no, we’d still be above Palace albeit only by one point and having played a game more. But we’d have all had a good moan, slated the players, told ourselves we’re doomed and then got back on the Wednesday love train in time for Coventry on Saturday.
Nonetheless three points could prove priceless with time for salvation fast running out.
I’d had plenty of time to dwell on Saturday’s result. The three week Easter ‘vacation’ means the vast majority of students have disappeared home including each of my five housemates. Given I’ve a 10,000 word dissertation due in three weeks it’s probably for the best and the first half of the week was spent in the bowels of the Western Bank library, carrying out last-minute research with the aid of books nearly as old as Beastie and HarrySpeakup. Of course, the frequent lapses in concentration saw me toying with formations, tactics, team selections, predicting where on earth we’re gonna get our four wins from and it was quite a relief when Wednesday night finally came round if only to get it over with!
As usual I got the bus down, headphones plugged in to listen to the usual garbage on Radio Sheffield before sticking on a few pump-up songs while slouching gaily yet apprehensively towards Hillsborough.
It’s been a while since we last played a home game on a Wednesday night and as another research recess I’d looked up when was the last time this had happened. Safe with this knowledge I bombarded as many people as I could with the quiz question.
Tommo was all over it.
Cardiff?
No.
West Ham?
No.
Rotherham?
No.
Hartlepools?
No.
Wrexham?
No.
Anyway just as I was about to put him out of his misery I get a tap on my shoulder and see a lass from one my seminars. She told me she’d been frantically trying to get my attention on the bus but with my headphones in I was miles away. I asked her what she was doing at the game and she said she was taking advantage of the student tickets.
‘I don’t really like United though’
‘Wednesday you mean?’
‘Yea, that’s the one. I do like football but I support Spurs’
I made sure she was certain who she’d come to watch and while we’re chatting I see Jonny and Leroy walk past. Beastie has since informed me he too walked past and waved at me but again I was oblivious.
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By the time I’d finished yakking kick-off was fast approaching so I headed off up to the steps. Watford hadn’t brought many and the home ends weren’t exactly rammed. The teams come out, the requisite applause welcomes them and it’s game on.
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Now there’s an old fella who sits next to me and he always turns up moments before kick-off. He’s a miserable, senile old git but he does keep me entertained with his running commentary. The odd thing is that he doesn’t miss a match yet he doesn’t have a season ticket so he gets a different seat each week. Most of the time there’s plenty of room on my row so he sits a couple down from me. This week though there was a lad about my age sat where he normally sits. The look on his face as he walks up the steps was priceless. Then the weekly, clearly audible muttering begins.
‘He wasn’t here last week’
‘I bet he doesn’t go to the next game’
‘No doubt they’ll all be here for the United game’
If this guy was a bit younger he’d drive you mad with his incessant moaning but I find it strangely endearing, as do the season ticket holders around me. We’ve even taken to calling him ‘Grandad’ now. He ended up sitting right behind me so I got the benefit of his tactical nous directly into my earlobes along with minute-by-minute updates from Cardiff.
THE
MATCH
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To the match then and in many ways it carried on where it left off on Saturday. In fact Watford started very brightly and I think they had a couple of corners in the first five minutes. Wednesday looked very languid, sloppy on the ball, the passing was awry and nine times out of ten we weren’t winning the 50/50 challenges. The crowd was getting visibly agitated which only served to accentuate the mistakes. Thankfully Purse and Beevers were solid and I don’t think they missed a header in the first half. Grant didn’t have a save to make and despite being poor we probably had the two best chances of the first 45 minutes.
O’Connor nearly chipped the ‘keeper from the edge of the box although it looked like a cross gone astray from where I was sat and then a few minutes later we won a free-kick in the ‘D’. The bloke in front of me was convinced it was going in, so much so that he put his legs in the aisle so as not to bump his knees when jumping up to celebrate. He wasn’t far off and neither was Potter who was denied by the upright.
On the half-hour Miller went off to be replaced by Clarke which was a shame because Miller has looked good for the past few games, although with a win vital I guess having Varney, Tudgay and Clarke on the pitch could only be a good thing. Not that it made much difference for the rest of the half. Tudgay was dropping deep, Soares was having a very quiet game and didn’t fancy getting stuck in at all, while as usual O’Connor was the only one who seemed to be fighting for the ball and getting in the Watford midfield’s faces.
The half time whistle was greeted with a few boos but largely a big dose of apathy from a crowd who’d now seen one-and-a-half games of dour, unimaginative football. The highlight of the night going into the second half was without doubt the Lady Owls, in fact I even texted a few mates saying ‘Lady Owls 1, Feeble Owls 0’
Irvine had clearly given the players a right old rollicking at half time because we came out with 100x more purpose. We were still giving the ball away too easily and the final ball wasn’t quite there but at least there was a bit of attacking intent.
Tudders had a decent chance when the ball ended up miles in the air and as it came down he headed just wide despite having no-one near him. Probably should have done better but he had no chance of getting any power on the ball.
Now the game had opened up Watford had a couple of breaks as well and it became increasingly likely that the first goal would win it. Not long after the perennially dangerous Helguson had forced Grant into a decent save the deadlock was broken.
All game we’d been getting the ball on either wing but failing to beat the defender/get a cross in and end up knocking it backwards. It happened again just before the goal and I think it was Clarke who was harangued for knocking it back to Beevers. However the ball was worked out wide again and Nolan picked it up on the wing.
Steady Eddie decided he’d had enough and it was time to go for broke. He shifted past a couple of defenders and found himself inside the box.
He was surely going to knock it inside with his right foot but instead shocked everyone, including the keeper by shooting with his left foot.
The keeper, wrong-footed slightly though he was, should have done better and it wriggled under him into the back of the net.
FINALLY!
The deadlock was broken and Nolan looked absolutely chuffed. He’d had a solid game and he was the man who’d finally had the guts to get into the box and make something happen. Good luck to the lad and a well deserved first career goal.
Surely now we could shut up shop and secure three vital points.
Watford looked short of ideas and even the most pessimistic Wednesday fan couldn’t really see them getting back into the game.
Then we handed it to them, quite literally.
It looked like a nothing foul from an increasingly frustrating ref but I’m told Potter did a bit of a juggling act on the edge of his own box. From an almost identical position to where Potter had hit the post in the first-half, young Tom Cleverley stepped up and slotted it beautifully into Granty’s right hand corner. At the time I was critical of the wall which seemed in the wrong place but you can’t deny it was a quality finish by the Man United youngster.
Back to square one.
Watford now fancied it and they were the best side for a good ten or fifteen minutes. They had a big shout for handball against Tommy Spurr but the referee dramatically waved it away. The usual stream of traffic-avoiders made for the exits and with Irvine making no substitutions it seemed we were settling for a point in a game we had to win.
With two minutes left Jeffers was brought on to the usual chorus of half-claps, half-boos and several people around me remarked that he was a useless jug-eared twat who wouldn’t do anything in the remaining time. There was a brief stoppage as Cleverley went down injured and while he was off the pitch I think we took a quick throw.
The ball ended up at the feet of Tudgay and Varney was making a darting run outside Mariappa, who had been poor all night.
Tudgay weighted the ball beautifully through to the Derby loanee...
The crowd rose in hope more than expectation as it fell on his left foot...
Varney smashed it home and the 15k or so still left went absolutely barmy.
GET IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can’t remember the last time I’ve heard such a big roar go up after a goal, and I can’t remember the last time we scored in the 90th minute but surely we can’t have scored such a crucial late goal in many a year.
Varney did one of them knee-slides and with the rain pouring down throughout the second half he went flying into the hoardings before being jumped on by his elated teammates. He took off his shirt and waved it round his head a few times for good measure before getting the ridiculous booking that celebrating a goal clearly merits.
The atmosphere was absolutely electric now.
The band who in fairness had tried all game to get some atmosphere going were leading the charge.
‘Hark Now Hear’ was belted out followed by the Bounce Song and the place was alive.
Gray was brought on to replace Varney, who understandably left to a standing ovation. Then the fourth official put the board up.
FOUR MINUTES?!
To be fair most of the Kop was still jumping up and down and probably didn’t even notice the board go up but every second of those last four minutes was torture.
A couple of times we got the ball down the left; Clarke tried to run it into the corner but it bounced off him for a Watford throw-in.
Gray got it down the left but rather than running it into the corner he tried to deliver the ball into the box and Watford had the ball again.
Watford didn’t really threaten but it was nail-biting, stomach-churning stuff nonetheless.
The whistles from the crowd were deafening as everyone willed Mr Deadman to blow up.
Watford humped it forward one more time but it was tame and went out for a Wednesday throw-in.
SURELY REF?!
Nolan hurled the ball into play and that sweet tweet was sounded thrice to single not just the end of the game but the cue for 15,000 Wednesdayites to cry ‘YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS’ while simultaneously letting out a huge sigh of relief.
A lot of people stayed to clap off the players and the relief on their faces was patent. Spurr and Beevers shared a hug and all was well again.
Let’s make no bones about it, this was not a vintage performance.
The football in the first-half was at times dire and the inertia of the crowd at half-time was understandable.
However, we came out second half and did what was required.
Yes, we got a bit lucky. Watford feel they should have had a penalty and are also upset Cleverley was off the pitch when we got the winner.
Varney should probably have been off the pitch as he had been hobbling around for a good twenty minutes.
But after the tough breaks we’ve had this season I think it was about time we deserved a bit of luck.
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The long walk home in the rain couldn’t dampen my spirits and I was still buzzing when I got home.
We don’t expect our team to play like Brazil every week (bar Stomach).
We don’t expect to win every week.
But we do expect a certain amount of passion, desire and commitment and I think we showed enough of that when it mattered in the second half.
And if we can get JJ fit for the last six games or so we SHOULD be OK because we miss his energy big time.
Until the 89th minute last night I thought we were doomed.
But we’re not done just yet.
Creg
Owls Alive