Sheffield Wednesday succumbed to their first defeat since October as they fell to a 1-0 defeat at Fleetwood Town in an FA Cup fourth round replay on Tuesday evening. The Cod Army are through to the fifth round for the first time in their history and travel to Burnley in the next round.
Darren Moore’s men came into this after securing top spot with a superb 1-0 victory against Plymouth Argyle at the weekend. He made a total of 10 changes for this one, with captain Liam Palmer the only player to retain his place from Saturday’s game. The Owls gave a first start to full back Sean Fusire. The 17-year old academy graduate started at right full back, with Jaden Brown coming in at left full back as Moore stuck with his trusted 3-5-2 formation. The hosts made wholesale changes too, with wingers Phoenix Patterson and Cian Hayes, front man Promise Omochere, defender Harrison Holgate and midfielder Lewis Warrington all given starts for Scott Brown’s side.
FIRST HALF
The hosts started well and had two chances in the first 10 minutes of the game. Promise Omochere aimed to connect to Phoenix Patterson’s cross just four minutes in, but he couldn’t quite connect. Patterson and Omochere linked up again just a few minutes later when Patterson’s ball in the area was met by Omochere around 10 yards from goal and fired a header agonisingly wide. The visitors got their first chance just before the half hour as Liam Palmer’s superb cross was met by forward Lee Gregory. His header thundered against the crossbar though and thankfully for home goalkeeper Jay Lynch, it bounced down and he was able to collect. The Owls though were becoming increasingly frustrated and that was their first effort in the first 30 minutes of the game, with Dennis Adeniran going into the book for an off-the-ball altercation with Scott Robertson. Fleetwood had a couple more half chances before the break with skipper Danny Andrew and winger Cian Hayes’ shots barely testing goalkeeper David Stockdale. The first half ended 0-0 and ended without a corner for either side.
SECOND HALF
Darren Moore made a triple change at the start of the second half with Liam Palmer, Akin Famewo and Lee Gregory replaced by Dominic Iorfa, Adam Alimi-Adetoro and Michael Smith respectively. Both sides had early chances, with Carlos Mendes Gomes firing past Stockdale’s left hand post and at the other end Sean Fusire was denied by a fantastic save by Jay Lynch as he clawed his effort away from the bottom right corner of the goal. The Owls for a while looked to be getting into their groove, with Tyreeq Bakinson denied well by Lynch before Michael Smith was twisting and turning in the box, only to have his shot blocked by the Fleetwood defence. A goal came on the hour mark though for the home side as Carlos Mendes Gomes powered a header past Stockdale after a great free kick was delivered by Patterson. That was Mendes Gomes fifth goal in all competitions this season as he lapped up the acclaim from the Fleetwood fans, all while the Captain Pugwash theme song belted out around Highbury. Despite Josh Windass and George Byers coming on for Wednesday late on this did little to motivate them, and Wednesday were beaten. It was their first defeat in 17 matches, and for a side who had knocked out Premier League Newcastle United in the previous round.
POST-MATCH THOUGHTS
Fleetwood boss Scott Brown was full of praise for his side after the game. He told BBC Radio Lancashire:
”On Saturday, nobody listened. So today was exceptional. Every single player. Every single person done their jobs. The ball came into the box and we defended it with our life. You dont always have to be that tallest team. You have to have that aggression, that desire to go and win the ball. We had the quality as soon as we go to clear it, to find a team-mate. And that was the difference today.”
Sheffield Wednesday manager Darren Moore understandably was upset with his side’s performance, particularly with how the goal was conceded. He said:
”They started brighter than us but as the first half wore on, we got into the game. We started the second half more involved in the match and started to create a few patterns of our own. But to concede the goal from a set piece is very disappointing because we have taken pride in that (not conceding many goals from set-pieces) this season”
MATCH STATS
SHOTS ON GOAL
FTFC: 13
SWFC: 11
CORNERS
FTFC: 2
SWFC: 1
YELLOW CARDS:
FTFC: 3 ( Mendes Gomes 45′, Omochere 81′, Hayes 84′)
SWFC: 4 ( Adeniran 29′, Gregory 42′, Brown 51′, Hunt 67′)