Assessments from those that were there...

[1867tons]

Terrible first half but magnificent second. JJ was MOM, McCabe did well, Kirkland kept us in it with a couple of great saves overall should have been 3 points coming back to Hillsborough.

[Swiss Toni]

Seems like everyone that went was really impressed by young McCabe.

Weird that Mark Smith and Giddings didn't seem that impressed.

What caught the eye of those of you who went today?

I have to be honest, I was a little surprised to see him in the starting line-up so it got me quite interested. He's a short lad and I though he would maybe get out-muscled or overrun in the middle but he more than held his own and actually got stronger as the game went on. In the second half as we got on top he started to get forward a little more too. On the ball he looks extremely tidy with close control and gets his head up when he should. Took the corners and most of the attacking free-kicks. For a small lad he wins his fair share of headers and he hangs in the air so his timing is pretty good. Doesn't seem too afraid to get stuck in either. Obviously this is only his first game but plenty of positives to take away from it for McCabe and hope it's a sign of things to come. Can't see too many weaknesses in his game from what I saw today!

[shezza09]

My ratings were.

Kirkland 7

Buxton 5

Gardner 5

Llera 6

Reda 6

Antonio 5

Semedo 7

McCabe 7

JJ 8

Pecnick 5

O'Grady 6

Defensively were are short. Gardner and Buxton were poor. We need another centre half. Liked the look of McCabe. There are some encouraging signs, but we are short in some areas.

[1867tons]

View of the massive bouncing from West Upper. poo pooe being in away end but better than not being there at all. WAWAW!!!

[@owlstalk]

Anyone who rates Pecnik lower than a 9 is talking poo

[eckington owl]

Stand outs for me were JJ and McCabe as well. Thought O'Grady worked hard, scored a cracker. Madine worked hard when he came on also.

The first half was almost as bad as Monday night. Seems like we have to go 2 down before we pull our head from up our ass.

[DeeeeeJ]

Anyone who rates Pecnik lower than a 9 is talking poo pooe

Just a quick one to say **** off

[@owlstalk]

Just a quick one to say **** off

xxx

[3mps]

Surely mattock can do a better job than REDA? brighton really rated him in the championship

[danblakemore]

Gardner has a lot to live up to, give me Batth any day of the week.

Antonio wasarked out of game, which helped jj and he played well off it.

We seemed overawed by it all in first 25 moms but then settled down.

Decent point against a mid table side

[Guest foreverSWFC]

Kirkland- Assured goalkeeper, calms everything down and pulled of a terrific save from Tyson.

Buxton- Poor in the first half, slicing balls out, poor reactions. But second half looked better and was a decent attacking option down the right.

Gardner- Was daydreaming for Tyson's goal, looked shaky at times in the first. Improved in the second and looked composed and comfortable in possession, went off with a knock.

Llera- Jamie Ward seemed to cause him problems with his pace, but he managed to deal with him more effectively as the game went on.

Reda- Not a left back, worries me every time he gets the ball, passing was poor like against Oldham, and at times was outclassed by their attack. Still, strong in the tackle and aerial threat which is valuable too the side. Got the goal aswell.

Antonio- Not the Antonio we know today, nothing seemed to come off and he was taking too long with the ball at his feet. Lost the ball on too many occassions.

mcCabe- Looks the business, comfortable on the ball, can pick a pass, dangerous when he has the ball in space, good acceleration, no fear for an 18 year old and controlled the midfield second half. Class.

Semedo- First half was struggling against the quick link up play and passing from Derby's midfield, looked off the pace. Came into it second half and did aother typical, hardworking Semedo performance.

JJ- MOM by far. Constant threat with the ball, best i've seen him play i think. Really dangerous and had their right back every time. Also his end product was much better and consistent.

Pecnik- Didn't realise he was playing to be honest. Non existent and got knocked off the ball too often .

O'Grady- Cracking goal, he'll never do that again . Worked hard and was a threat upfront. Really impressive so far.

Madine- Came on, made himself available, good running, got the assist for the goal.

[@owlstalk]

Pecnik- Didn't realise he was playing to be honest. Non existent and got knocked off the ball too often .

[Guest OutandOutOwl]

Just got back. First half was poor. Their tumble in the box before their first goal looked like a penalty to me. We just looked shell shocked. They were zipping it roun and just were tactically better than we were. Their first goal was poor defending. they seemed to do a lot of long balls down channels to get a good supply of corners and throws. They passed it to a man unmarked in box who tapped it in. Second goal was after a corner and guy did a shot which went so far wide it went to guy who took corner again and he whipped it to guy who did a diving header. We then had another where Kirkland kept us in the game. The only bright light was McCabe- he came in and looks like he knew straight away what to do. Everyone else bar O'Grady was pretty poor first half. COG got us back in it with great goal just before half time. he turned onto left foot and smashed it in from range. Second half it was pretty much all us. Derby were like a bully first half and we came out like a kid who just grabbed them by the neck and they looked nothing. We brought Madine on for Pecnik who hadn't done much. Him and COG were working the channels and we had some inter-play between our attacking players. We got a goal ruled out for offside which was close. Madine had one where ref claimed he handled it in the build up but he couldn't see and it hit chest. Equaliser was unselfish play by Madine who headed it into Reda's path. They had been nervous all half- time wasted and panicked every clearance. 10 more minutes and the points probs would have been ours, but it wasn't to be.

Ratings

Kirkland- 7 no chance with the goals. Good save at 2-0 down to keep us in game

Reda-6 Did ok, but was against Paul Coutts who isn't a wide player IMO. Did lot of good balls down channels and got equaliser. Not sure if he can make it

Gardner- 6 dominated in the air, but seemed to be exposed by the midfield a lot. Won a lot of ground tackles against the Rent Boy and co

Llera-6 see above

Buxton-6 very poor in the first half and got exposed a lot to their blond haired player. Much better second half and supported attack

JJ- 5/8 - was pretty anonymous first half. Second half looked on fire every time he attacked. He still had his JJ moments but he terrorised their right back and put few crosses in.

Semedo- 5 - was concerned for our captain today. He looks like he might find it difficult at this level. Perhaps struggled next to new midfielder. Don't want to write people off too early though

McCabe-7 think he is 20 years old and he just slotted in and was the only one in midfield who looked like they had a clue. Looks like the kid at school who captains his team. Comfortable on the ball. Had a great run where he played it to COG and think it was ruled offside. Not sure how vocal he is and it might seem bit of suprise but could be captain material.

Antonio-6 wasn't super effective today. Didn't see much of the ball and wasn't supported much. Better second half

Pecnik-5 didn't get in the game at all unfortunately. Hard to fit him into the team

COG-7 seemed a bit isolated first half, but got a good goal. Linked up well with others.

subs

Madine-7 we came to life after he came on. His presence seemed to scare Derby a bit. Was good at finding other players. Shame when he controlled a ball down with his chest it was ruled out for handball. Good unselfish play for equaliser.

Beevers-6 not really much to judge on, but didn't make a mistake.

Excited for tuesday now

[Guest Sheff Owl]

We showed Derby too much respect in the first half, we was like headless chickens just following the ball and not the man, leaving gaps all over the place.

In the second half it was much better, Antonio didn't really get into the game much, they seemed to double up on him, where as JJ was given plenty of room and was causing huge amounts of problems.

If we had been a little more careful and measured in the second half we would have won that game. A lot of stray passes, long balls, lack of a first touch.

Mccabe did very well IMO - for a little lad he doesn't have mind putting his foot in, i'm looking forward to seeing a lot more of him.

Who would have thought O'Grady would be our top scorer - 3 goals in 2 games...i don't think anyone would have imagined he would be first choice at the minute and i hope he continues the good work because you can't fault him.

A few additions and we should do very well, defence needs sorting out, i can't help but feel today Batth would have made a difference in the defence, i know it might be a stupid thing to say with him not being tried in this league but he does bring a slight calmness and pace to the defence.

[@owlstalk]

Pecnik-5 didn't get in the game at all unfortunately. Hard to fit him into the team

[Taximark]

Good post by the OP, but at a risk of getting slated and especially in the first half most of them were poor and seem to give Derby wayyyyy to much respect.

Gardner was pretty poor imo for an experienced player, Buxton in the first was simply woeful, he improved in the second but I remember how average he was last time around in the Championship.

Semedo surprisingly was lost in the middle for large spells in the first half and Pecnic was simply poor all game long imo.

JJ was MOM by a mile and in the second half we dominated and should of won it.

Cog and McCabe was top draw, really happy for COG.

It feels deserved and like a win if I'm honest and we now move on to Brum who got out of jail today, but Like DJ said things will improve, the new players need time to gel too.

[@owlstalk]

and Pecnic was simply poor all game long imo.

[Plonk]

My view derby were a reflection of their manager as a player; bunch of whinging diving bishop bashers. Thought we adapted well as the game went on, got stronger and stronger as the game went on. Two disallowed goals nailed on pen for handball. Couple of players to add to that squad n we will be flying. Happy day

[owls maniac]

First half we were like a rabbit in the headlights.

Second half we rogering battered them.

Edited August 18, 2012 by owls maniac

[Guest @DSapeyOwl]

Started absolutely dire. Antony Gardner, Lewis Buxton and Reda Johnson constantly missing tackles and giving the ball away/kicking it out. Then Derby scored 2 goals. I think that the second one was lucky as the shot the played had (Don’t know his name) would have resulted in a Wednesday goal kick the other 9/10 times. After about 40 minutes we seemed to grow into the game but were still nothing worth shouting about till we scored a cracking goal out of nothing through Chris O’grady. Our midfield was none-existent for most of the first half with only Jermaine Johnson and Jose Semedo really doing anything. Then HT came and we were one down instead of two, better than I thought we were going to go in at. Second half started how the first finished with us growing into the game more and beginning to dominate possession. We had two goals disallowed which if I’m being brutally honest I thought the offside one was about right and I need to see the Handball one again, if possible, to make a proper decision. I thought we should have had a penalty just a few minutes after when a Derby defender, think it was Richard Keogh, looked like he blocked a shot with his elbow but it wasn’t to be. I don’t think the Gary Madine header where the Derby goalkeeper saved it on the line went over the line but like most of the other Wednesday fans there I shouted at the ref, like you do. We dominated most of the second half with Derby’s only real opportunity coming from the swerving Jamie Ward free kick which Chris Kirkland dealt with. We began to push on as the clock ran down and scored a last gasp equaliser from Reda Johnson which I really don’t think was offside despite what Derby fans have to say about it. So all in all it was a good point away from home and if you had asked me if I would have taken a point before the game I would have said; Yes.

Ground Rating: 9/10