Palace 0-0 Wednesday

Wednesday took a point from their travels to Crystal Palace in a pretty poor game which Palace had the best of in the first half, and Wednesday enjoyed the best spells in the second 45.

Neil Warnock’s men came flying out of the traps in the opening ten minutes, and should have taken the lead with an assortment of good chances in front of goal.

But the Owls got a foothold in the game after the first 15 minutes, more than matching their host, and edging the second half in terms of attempts on goal.

Boss Brian Laws made just one change to the side that ran out 3-1 winners over Cardiff City at the weekend, and it was somewhat expected.

Marcus Tudgay, suffering from a slight neck injury going into the clash, was only fit enough for a spot on the bench, giving Leon Clarke his first league start of the season after recovering from an injury of his own.

Etienne Esajas continued on the left wing after his man-of-the-match performance at the weekend and it was the Dutchman who tried to make the early in-roads for the Owls with little success.

The first effort came from Palace, as Darren Ambrose fired a free-kick straight into the Owls wall, before Victor Moses then lashed a shot high and wide as the hosts looked the more dangerous in the opening exchanges.

Wednesday stopper Lee Grant was making his 100th league start for the Owls, and he was busy in a first half which Palace were on top throughout.

Moses again came close with a long range effort which Grant had covered, while Alan Lee also looked for a way past the Owls stopper but sent his effort wide.

Wednesday were failing to keep up with the pace in the first half, but they did still look dangerous when hitting the hosts on the break, Tommy Spurr seeing an effort going high and wide in reply.

It was Palace who went into the interval the happier side though, and probably unfortunate not to go in with the advantage after causing most problems in the final third.

Half-Time: Palace 0-0 Wednesday

Despite giving a free-kick away early in the second half, the Owls resumed the match brightly and created their best effort of the match just three minutes in.

It fell to Leon Clarke, whose forced Palace stopper Speroni into action with a good save, although the referee awarded the goal kick.

Wednesday were looking more dangerous in attack and Clarke came close again minutes later when Buxton neatly flicked on for Esajas, who produced a top-drawer cross for Clarke to fire wide of goal.

Laws introduced Akpo Sodje and Marcus Tudgay to the attack on the hour mark in place of Varney and Clarke as the Owls looked to give the Palace defence different problems.

Chances for the hosts had dried up in the second half but Neil Danns did have a good, rasping shot drift just wide, via an Alan Lee deflection, after Tommy Spurr had attempted to clear the danger.

Jermaine Johnson was thrown into the match for the final ten minutes, and his freshness looked to cause the hosts problems, but the Jamaican lacked that early season cutting edge when it came to the final ball.

The hosts did finish slightly the stronger, but they couldn’t find a way through the Owls defence.

Full-Time: Palace 0-0 Wednesday