Sheffield Wednesday vs Blackburn Rovers. Sky Bet Championship.
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Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn Rovers at Hillsborough on Saturday | Goals from Bailey Cadamarteri, Marvin Johnson and Josh Windass helped the Owls to only their second win of the season
Saturday 2 December 2023 18:42, UK
Championship bottom club Sheffield Wednesday recorded just their second win of the season as they beat Blackburn 3-1 at Hillsborough.
Bailey Cadamarteri, Marvin Johnson and Josh Windass were on target as the hosts ended the four-match winless run they had endured since they broke their duck against Rotherham in late October.
The in-form Sammie Szmodics had scored an equaliser for the visitors, who would have moved into the play-off places with a win.
Wednesday boss Danny Rohl handed a recall to Windass after suspension, with Johnson making way.
The Blackburn line-up showed two changes with Harry Leonard and Scott Wharton coming in while Tyrhys Dolan and Lewis Travis missed out through injury and suspension respectively.
There was an early blow for the hosts when Dominic Iorfa pulled up inside the opening minute with an injury. After receiving treatment, he was forced to go off.
Cadamarteri, the son of former Everton and Sheffield United striker Danny, opened his senior goalscoring account as he gave the Owls the lead after just five minutes.
On his second senior start, the 18-year-old produced a good near-post finish after connecting with Windass' low cross.
Blackburn's Callum Brittain fired off target with an effort from inside the area as the visitors tried to respond.
But Windass threatened twice in quick succession, first with a long-range shot which was well saved by by Leopold Wahlstedt and then seeing an effort blocked.
George Byers also tested Wahlstedt, with the keeper getting down low to his left to make the save.
Blackburn enjoyed a good spell towards the end of the half.
Di'Shon Bernard did well to intercept and clear when Harry Pickering played a dangerous ball across the face of goal. Hayden Carter then had a shot blocked by Bambo Diaby before Szmodics had a couple of chances, seeing a shot on the turn saved by Cameron Dawson and then having an angled effort comfortably saved.
Cadamarteri had a good chance to score soon after the interval, firing straight at Wahlstedt after receiving a pass from Barry Bannan.
Szmodics equalised in the 65th minute when he met James Hill's cross with a far-post header to score his seventh goal in five appearances.
But Wednesday regained the lead with 12 minutes left when half-time substitute Johnson made a driving run into the area and fired hard and low into the bottom corner.
To add to Blackburn's woes, manager Jon Dahl Tomasson was shown a red card after protesting to the match officials following the goal.
Wednesday added a third goal in added time when Szmodics' shot was charged down and the ball fell to Windass, who ran from his own half before slotting past the advancing Wahlstedt.
Sheffield Wednesday's Danny Rohl:
"My team fight until the end and they believe in what we are doing. I'm so happy to take the points today. We spoke in the past about what happens if we concede a goal. When you look back to the Millwall game, we conceded a goal and then it was maybe not much energy in the group, but now you see we improve this mentally. After the defeat in Birmingham, now we took four points and I think this is a huge step forward.
"I try to show my players every day that we have to believe and that I'm convinced in my players. Maybe it's sometimes helpful to come from some big clubs because then you have a little bit of the winning DNA in yourself and you always believe in the special things you can do."
Blackburn's Sammie Szmodics:
"I've not seen it [the incident that led to Tomasson's red]. There's a ref, two linesmen and a fourth official. It's hard to speak this early after a game. I don't want to get in any more trouble. The gaffer has got into trouble with it. It's tough at the minute. You don't know if you can go and speak to referees or not. I'll let people look back at the goal and make their decision.
"I don't think it should have been a 3-1. We've got back into the game with a goal and it just wasn't to be today. The gaffer said at half time that we created chances. We just needed to take one and in the first half we didn't. In the second half we got back into it, but it wasn't our day. It was one of the few headers I've ever scored. I should have volleyed it but I went down early and managed to get enough power into it. We'll recover and get to go again."
