Wednesday 4-0 Scunthorpe

Wednesday cruised to their first victory of the season against a poor Scunthorpe side at Hillsborough – and it could, and should, have been more than just the four goals.

Richard Wood, Jermaine Johnson, Marcus Tudgay and Darren Potter scored the goals on a superb day at the office for Brian Laws against his former club as the Iron lived up to their relegation candidates tag with a poor showing at S6.

New signing Luke Varney, thrown straight into the starting eleven, had a number of glorious one-on-one chances to add further goals to the cause as the Owls ran riot and finally turned their good form into points and goals.

Varney was the only change the Wednesday starting line-up, playing up front with Tudgay and allowing Johnson to move back to his regular winger role, despite impressive showings in the Owls attack recently.

There was also no place on the bench for Frank Simek and Mark Beevers, as Laws went for an attacking substitutes bench with the returning Akpo Sodje, Etienne Esajas, Francis Jeffers and Tommy Miller all on offer.

Wednesday were firm favourites going into the clash, given the Iron’s poor start to the new season.

And they showed just why minutes in as Varney grabbed a ball just inside the Scunthorpe half and went on a rampaging run which ended with him just being pipped to what looked like a golden opportunity to break the deadlock just a minute in.

The visitors struggled to offer a reply, looking poor in defence and lacking any attacking threat as Wednesday looked comfortable on the ball.

They have done in spells in every match this season, but for Scunthorpe, Wednesday wanted something to show for their good form.

And it took Laws’ men just six minutes to get on the scoresheet when Tommy Spurr headed a deep cross back across goal and Wood was well positioned to steer his effort into the back of the net.

The chances continued to come for a confidence-flowing Owls team, this time Varney finding himself unmarked just inside the box before seeing his powerful effort palmed away by Scunthorpe stopper Joe Murphy.

The pressure was non-stop, and when Varney got away down the right and cut his cross across goal, Murphy’s save only gave Johnson to drill a thunderbolt of an effort into the back of the net to double the Owls’ lead.

Darren Purse was next up to have a golden opportunity to extend the hosts’ lead, slicing an effort wide from a great angle and showing just why he’s a central defender with his effort.

But of all the chances, new loan signing Varney will have left S6 disappointed at not being able to find the back of the net.

The former Crewe man, on-loan from Derby, was at the centre of all the positive Wednesday moves but just couldn’t find that goalscoring touch in front of goal.

His runs, vision, and general work ethic impressed the Hillsborough crowd and no doubt goals will come from Varney, who netted twice in four outings in the blue and white last season.

He found himself one-on-one to add to the tally and grab a debut goal at the Leppings Lane end, only for Murphy to make the first of what were to be a string of fine saves.

Scunthorpe’s woes were added to when defender Rob Jones was carried off on a stretched after what looked like a nasty clash of heads with Richard Wood, who needed to leave the pitch for stitches to his head.

Wednesday’s deserved third came on 34 minutes when Michael Gray produced a top-draw cross for Tudgay to rise high and grab a long-awaited first goal of the season with a neat header which gave Murphy no chance.

The Iron could hardly offer their travelling band of fans much worse on the resumption, and they improved their performance after the break, altyough that was helped by substitutions from Wednesday that stopped the flow of the game.

Despite the scoreline, Scunthorpe came out in the second half and looked slightly more composed at the back – they couldn’t get much worse – and enjoyed slightly more of the possession.

Matthew Sparrow had the best chance for the visitors when Spurr dived in to thwart him with a last-ditch tackle.

But the Owls added to the score just before the hour mark when Potter powered a long-range effort from the edge of the box into the back of the net.

Tudgay saw his initial effort well blocked, but the visiting defence could do little to stop Potter’s superb finish.

Making things worse for Varney, who had already missed a hatful of chances, the Hillsborough tannoy man decided to award the goal to the on-loan striker, much to the dismay of Potter!

As Wednesday made their respective chances, the game dried up with chances becoming few and far between.

Varney received a standing ovation from the home fans when he was replaced by Francis Jeffers, while Johnson was replaced by Etienne Esajas on the left-wing.

And that’s how the game ended, not in the spectacular fashion that some Owls’ fans may have wanted, but with three comfortable points, and the first win of the season.

Full-Time: Wednesday 4-0 Scunthorpe