Owls are too good for U’s

SHEFFIELD Wednesday proved too strong for Colchester United, as second-half goals by Rob Jones and Reda Johnson made it seven home wins out of seven for the Owls this afternoon.

The U’s held their own for the first hour, but it was only a matter of time before Gary Megson’s men got their noses in front.

Centre-half Jones was the unlikely scorer, stabbing home the opener in the 62nd minute after keeper Ben Williams had parried Chris O’Grady’s shot.

Eight minutes later and fellow defender Reda Johnson doubled the lead.

Gary Madine looked a good bet to steer home Jermaine Johnson’s free-kick from close in, but instead it was Reda Johnson who smashed the loose ball into the roof of the net.

The U’s never looked like finding a route back into the game during the final quarter.

Overpowered this afternoon, they will hope to make amends at home to Bournemouth on Tuesday evening.

The U’s actually started the game brightly, dominating possession for the first 15 minutes.

Ian Henderson headed narrowly wide from Michail Antonio’s excellent early cross, and the visitors also had penalty appeals turned down when Owls midfielder Jose Semedo appeared to block Andy Bond’s shot with his hand.

Wednesday came on strongly during the later stages of the first-half, must notably when they had a goal disallowed on the half-hour mark.

Leading scorer Madine headed home a long throw by Ben Marshall, but referee Geoff Eltringham had spotted a foul on keeper Ben Williams.

Although not over-busy, Williams did pull off a good save to palm away a long-range free-kick by Chris Lines in the 36th minute.

The U’s continued to look dangerous on the break. Antonio chased down Kem Izzet’s long ball and shrugged off the challenge of Semedo, only to shoot rather tamely at Stephen Bywater.

And two minutes before the interval, an unmarked Henderson headed disappointingly wide from Anthony Wordsworth’s corner.

The Owls were on top from the early stages of the second half, and Madine rattled the bar with a shot on the turn in the 58th minute, just 60 seconds before Jones broke the deadlock.

Jones tucked home the rebound, after Lines’ initial shot had been blocked by Williams.

And Wednesday were close to adding a second in the 62nd minute. This time Chris O’Grady’s goalbound drive was parried by Williams, with the loose ball rolling to safety.

However, it was not long before the Yorkshire club wrapped up the points. Madine was unable to bundle home Jermaine Johnson’s free-kick, but left-back Reda Johnson was in the right place to plant the loose ball into the roof of the net.

And that was game over.

TEAMS

SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY: Bywater, Buxton, Batth, Jones, R Johnson, Semedo, Lines, O’Connor (sub J Johnson, 46), O’Grady (sub Lowe, 84), Marshall (sub Palmer, 88), Madine. Unused subs: O’Donnell, Bennett.

COLCHESTER UNITED: Williams, Wilson (sub White, 88), Eastman, Heath, Coker, Izzet (sub O’Toole, 78), Bond, Wordsworth, Antonio (sub Gillespie, 68), Odejayi, Henderson. Unused subs: James, Duguid.

Referee: Geoff Eltringham (Tyne & Wear)

Attendance: 17,634