sheffield wednesday scored their first goals since november 7 and got their first point in 10 games as they shared the spoils with newcastle united in their boxing day clash. wednesday were unbeaten in their last five boxing day fixtures while united were undefeated in their last four.
the game started at a frenetic pace. the owls changed to q 4-3-3 formation from the side that lost to swansea last time out. it paid dividends as luke varney scored an early goal on 14 minutes, giving wednesday their first lead since october. varney heading home a chipped james o’connor cross.
promotion-hopefuls, newcastle, quickly hit back though. five minutes after varney’s goal, kevin nolan hit back, then shola ameobi scored three minutes later to make it 2-1. both sides pushed forward looking for more goals and the game settled into a more fluctuating rhythm.
wednesday pulled level on the hour as new boy, o’connor, drilled home a finish after varney hit the crossbar with a header.
the draw has hardly slowed the magpie juggernaut as it looks to bounce back into the premier league after just one season. at the other end, the point moves sheffield wednesday to within two point of safety. the worrying aspect being that the surrounding teams all have a game to come.