Toto Nsiala scored his first Town goal but was later controversially sent off as the Blues were beaten 2-1 by Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough, Lucas Joao netting twice for the Owls. Joao headed the home side in front in the 16th minute, but Nsiala levelled on 44. The former Shrewsbury man was very harshly red-carded for a challenge on Fernando Forestieri in the 75th minute and two minutes later Joao won it for the South Yorkshireman.

Kayden Jackson was handed his full Championship Town debut as the lone striker with Ellis Harrison moving to the wide left role.

Tayo Edun was back from his one-match suspension replacing Cole Skuse, who missed out due to his quad injury, with Jon Nolan able to start despite having been a doubt with an ankle problem. Grant Ward, who started at Derby in midweek, dropped to the bench.

Janoi Donacien blazed high and wide in the opening seconds with the Blues starting brightly. On five Toto Nsiala nodded wide from a corner after a dangerous Trevoh Chalobah ball into the box had been turned behind.

Harrison smashed well over from distance on 12, then two minutes later got his name in the book for a wild challenge on Liam Palmer.

Wednesday had begun to threaten and in the 16th minute they went in front, Town again conceding from a set piece.

Barry Bannan sent over a corner from the right, Joao pulled away from Chalobah at the far post and nodded into the net all too easily.

Four minutes later, it was almost 2-0. Bannan whipped in a freekick from the right and Jordan Thorniley’s powerful diving header flew wide when he will feel he ought to have scored.

But Town began to get back on top and in the 24th minute Jonas Knudsen smashed over a low cross from the left which Owls keeper Cameron Dawson dropped but the ball was cleared by Thorniley from inside the six-yard box before Edun or Harrison were able to pounce.

The Blues continued to play the better football but without looking particularly dangerous either from open play or set pieces with a number of potentially promising freekicks having come to nothing.

But in the 40th minute Town levelled. In the aftermath a corner on the right, an Edwards ball into the box from the left deflected into the air on the edge of the box. Edun nodded into the area, Chambers headed on and Nsiala planted a third header past Dawson from six yards.

The Wednesday players and crowd protested vociferously that the centre-half was offside but referee Jeremy Simpson waved away the protests. Replays suggested Harrison was offside but not Nsiala and that the referee was right to allow it.

Soon after the goal Bannan, evidently still annoyed, was booked for his protest having been penalised for a foul. In the final scheduled minute Atdhe Nuhiu joined him in the book for a cynical trip on the breaking Nolan.

Town ended the half the stronger side and in injury time weren’t too far away from going in front on two occasions.

First an Edun corner from the left was flicked on and Nsiala’s header at the back post was kept out by combination of Dawson and Palmer on the line.

Then shortly before the whistle, Harrison ran on to his own knockdown, cut in from the left and hit a goal-bound shot which Dawson bundled away down to his left.

The home fans booed referee Simpson off following the whistle, still believing that the Town goal shouldn’t have stood.

Whether that decision was right - as it appeared to be - or otherwise the Blues hadn’t deserved to go in behind having been the better side during the first half.

Wednesday’s goal had come against the run of the game at that stage with Town having played the better football in the early period, albeit without looking overly threatening.

Having gone behind via another set piece goal, the Blues took time to re-establish their ascendency but they gradually began to pass the ball around confidently.

They were rewarded with the equaliser and might well have found themselves ahead at the break given the two late chances.

The Blues began the second half on top, winning a couple of early corners which Edun and Nolan took short.
"From the second, in the 51st minute, Harrison pulled off an overhead kick but straight at Dawson. The Owls keeper kicked long quickly and Marco Matias got in behind the Blues’ backline as Knudsen was unable to cut it out but rather fortunately for Town the Owls forward shot wide.

Wednesday threatened again moments later, Matt Penney cutting back from the right to the edge of the box from where Bannan struck a powerful low effort which Knudsen blocked on the line.

Jackson struck a deflected shot on the turn from a Knudsen throw from the left which looped through to Dawson on 62 with the Blues still on top of an increasingly open game.

Wednesday briefly put Town under a spell of pressure but after Donacien cleared a Bannan cross, Harrison broke strongly down the left but failed to find Nolan with a pass inside with Edwards in acres of space on the right.

On 70 Knudsen was booked for pulling back Joao as they battled for a bouncing ball with the Owls starting to take control.

Two minutes later, Palmer scuffed wide from the edge of the box, before Fernando Forestieri replaced Matias.

Then, in the 75th minute, the Blues were reduced to 10 men on contentious circumstances for the second successive Saturday.

Nsiala slid in and cleanly won the ball from Forestieri, who collided with the Town defender in the aftermath. It looked a perfectly good challenge but referee Simpson immediately ran over and showed his red card to the amazed Nsiala, who complained bitterly at the decision before walking off and then again to the fourth official as he left the pitch.

The resultant freekick led to a corner from which the Owls took the lead. Joao initially headed Bannan’s flag-kick off the post but followed up to net his second of the game.

Flynn Downes replaced Edun for Town as the Blues prepared to restart, while Wednesday goalscorer Joao was withdrawn for Steven Fletcher.

With 10 minutes left the Blues had a chance to level. Harrison was found breaking into the area and looked set to stab the bouncing ball past Dawson but before he could do so a Wednesday defender hooked it away from him.

Harrison suffered a knock as the game moved into its final five minutes and Freddie Sears took over.

Fletcher shot wide for Wednesday on 87, but Town kept pressing as the game went into four minutes of injury time.

The Blues’ last chance was Nolan freekick which was nodded back by Chambers was but was cleared from the area and Nolan’s subsequent shot was scuffed wide. Soon after, the final whistle confirmed what was an undeserved and unfortunate defeat for the Blues.

There was no doubt that the game’s key moment was Nsiala’s red card, Town appearing certain to lodge an appeal against the dismissal which would see the defender miss three games. Although Wednesday had started to get on top at that stage, Town had been in relatively little danger, while looking like they might threaten on the break.

The Blues hadn’t reorganised for the freekick which followed and then conceded from the corner immediately afterwards.

Having been the better side before the break Town had continued where they had left off at the start of the second, although without having tested Dawson further, and the game looked like anyone’s to win going into the final quarter of an hour.

The Blues still remain winless under new manager Paul Hurst - a Sheffield Wednesday supporter - and are bottom of the league going into next Sunday’s East Anglian derby at home to Norwich.

Sheffield Wednesday: Dawson, Palmer, Pelupessy, Bannan, Thorniley, Lees (c), Nuhui, Joao (Fletcher 79), Matias (Forestieri 72), Reach, Penney. Unused: Wildsmith, Fox, Hutchinson, Kirby, Baker.

Town: Bialkowski, Donacien, Nsiala, Chambers (c), Knudsen, Chalobah, Nolan, Edun, Edwards, Jackson, Harrison (Sears 85). Unused: Gerken, Spence, Ward, Roberts, Sears, Downes, Kenlock. Referee: Jeremy Simpson (Lancashire). Att: 22,499.

Photo: Pagepix

runaround added 18:09 - Aug 25 Not a good start to the Hurst era but we are certainly not getting the rub off the green currently with some of the major decisions & are not getting the results our efforts deserve. Now is the time for all fans to get behind the club and help keep the players positive and things will improve. I do believe that this season will now be about avoiding relegation and letting Hurst get the team playing how he wants even if it takes a while. Teams often suffer for a season once MM no longer manages them as it takes a long time to change the mindset and preprogramming of the players. The change had to be made though & hopefully it will be short term pain for long term gain

16

19781981twtd added 18:10 - Aug 25 Just not good enough manager out of his depth players out of their depth and deluded fans who need to be waking up and realising a miracle is needed or we will be a floundering league e team by Christmas ok now all you day dream believers can slate me but you all have that little doubt that you know I'm right or you really are totally deluded god help us next week yet more heartache coming out way at the hands of the norfolk germans !

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blueboy1981 added 18:10 - Aug 25 So near and yet so far - PH the sooner you take on board that goals win matches, the better. Not looking healthy tonight is the reality of it all, however you play, whatever you believe in, it's GOALS that win points. We are currently struggling to match the pace of the Championship, evident with players being sent off, conceding goals, and not scoring enough goals. Maybe time already to eat some humble pie, and seek some Championship advice Paul. Still convinced that for the longer term benefit, the Club has the right man - I just hope he doesn't spoil the opportunity he has by being a tad to brash in his belief ..!! Only people having a laugh tonight is McCarthy and his croney followers.

11

superbob added 18:11 - Aug 25 Only 3 players in todays line up had played Championship football before this season! ...says it all!!
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planetblue_2011 added 18:15 - Aug 25 All I'm worried about right now is beating the scum. Win that game we would of played 6 & things will be looking up & awesome beating the scum. That's my positive attitude we all need to stick together & cheer them on Sunday. Not even thinking of loosing & more doom & gloom for the club. It hasn't went right for us yet with ref disicions etc. We do need a proven striker & im sure we will get one before loan window shuts. COYB FOR SUNDAY🤞👆🏻

5

Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 18:17 - Aug 25 We played well in small patches but looked very lightweight overall. Despite Chalobah and Nolan looking semi-decent, we don't seem to control the midfield. Our goal threat is very limited, and that seems to be our biggest problem. Defending for the first goal was also woeful. The red card looked ridiculous, but I'm not sure how much it changed things. (Of course, it certainly didn't help.) Nor am I sure how much more improvement there is in this team, but perhaps with a couple of more experienced loans we could pull it round. By "pull it round," I mean manage to stay up. But I'm not optimistic about this season. League 1 is looking a distinct possibility at the moment, but if that happened, I'd still back Paul Hurst as the one to get us back up. We are where we are now, and que sera, sera. I'm committed to the ride, wherever it takes us. COYB!

7

TimmyH added 18:17 - Aug 25 Thought we'd get a point today and by the sounds of it we played okay and had just as many chances if not more than them but having 2 contentious sendings off on 2 consecutive weekends is a bit hard to take. Although we stand bottom of the league I'm not sure our play has warranted it, we need to be more ruthless in front of goal and have a bit of lady luck on our side. I truly fancy things will change next week when Narrwwiicchhh come to PR, all will be forgotten if we beat them for the first time since 2009 and I have an inkling we will and then onwards and upwards.

4

TractorBoyTommy added 18:23 - Aug 25 Another disappointing result. Not sure how long we can blame refeering decisions, at the end of the day you make your own luck and frankly we haven't been good enough. It's all well and good playing pretty football in patches but at the end of the day it's all about the final result. Still let's look to next Sunday and hopefully our season can start then with a win over the s**t

4

martin587 added 18:24 - Aug 25 We had a good percentage of play in the first half and we were very unlucky with quite a few decisions from poor officials once again(but we cannot keep using this as an excuse),poor defending from crosses once again let us down so the sooner we rectify this the better.I noticed Tilt was left out today so maybe that's a lucky omen. The chances will eventually come I'm sure so let's not panic just yet. I don't like to see us bottom.A win against our enemy next Sunday will work wonders.Fingers.🤞

6

RobITFC added 18:24 - Aug 25 The Referee should hang his head in shame! or even better he should be banned for 3 games!!
6

algarvefan added 18:25 - Aug 25 Unlike some of you, I do think we have the makings of a good squad, but in the goal scoring or to be more precise, the creation of goal scoring opportunities we are sorely lacking at the moment. Harrison and Jackson get an A for effort and a C- for quality. We need someone who can hold up play or bang them in.
6

WoodfordTim added 18:27 - Aug 25 What was Bart trying to do for their second goal???? Very poor keeping
3

Tony88 added 18:35 - Aug 25 Midastouch. May I remind you one of your previous posts when you said you were not going to be negative until September?
1

happybeingblue added 18:37 - Aug 25 Some of the people on here talk absolute rubbish get a grip, it's a rebuild job which may mean going down before we move forward, if you know your football you would be aware of loads of teams that have had to do this, I would take 4th bottom and good football to the crap from the last few years
11

leftie1972 added 18:39 - Aug 25 still think we need to play 2 strikers.
3

midastouch added 18:42 - Aug 25 @ Tony88, I'm backing Paul Hurst but I'm just being realistic, if we lose to Norwich then people are going to be very concerned and rightly so. We're bottom of the league. It's hard to be positive when we're sitting rock bottom of the table. I even had to oil my mouse wheel as it took me so long to scroll down to find where we were! But I've said in other posts, including yesterday, Paul deserves a fair chance. But it doesn't matter what I think, the truth is this is a results business and as each week passes by without a win more and more are likely to lose confidence. A win next Sunday would be the perfect tonic, but I am concerned what the reaction will be if we lose. But I do think Paul Hurst should be given till at least Xmas. A win next Sunday would be a perfect springboard and could kickstart our season. But lose it and we really will be in the doldrums as a club.

2

Nobbysnuts added 18:44 - Aug 25 I predicted we would be bottom by Christmas. Well Christmas has come early.🎅 worrying times. The next game is massive. It could define our season. A derby win will be huge but a defeat and the trap door is well and truly open.
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BoroBlue added 18:45 - Aug 25 Hurst is a lower league manager at best for a reason. He was the cheap option because ME wouldn't pay for Lampard and now we're paying the price. He's out of his depth. Norwich could well be his stay of execution, but failure to beat them then I believe the club should act fast and just accept that it's not working out.
-4

shortmarine1969 added 18:46 - Aug 25 By xmas 25 games will have been played , and it could be done and dusted 10 to 15 games in and PH needs to have sorted it out .!!
0

Northstandveteran added 18:48 - Aug 25 Good post BraveDave. A good summarization of the season so far. Results will soon go our way, hopefully starting this Sunday.
4

Lightningboy added 18:58 - Aug 25 Hah,well August didn't quite go as well as i'd hoped. Still early days,first win is just around the corner,keep the faith,coyb,blah blah blah...big week ahead even before we kick the next ball..Championship experienced players need bringing in URGENTLY,not more from leagues 1 & 2 OR other people's kids (we have our own kids that I thought we were meant to be implementing?)..i'm not panicking but like many,worried our squad is far too inexperienced at this level. So time to stop looking at your phone Paul & start making some calls on it. Hopefully a win next week will kick start the season...defeat is almost unthinkable.

5

blue added 19:16 - Aug 25 Lets look on the bright side we cant get any lower , onward and upwards from here !!!
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pazzy added 19:34 - Aug 25 waghorn selena mcgoldric garner gone and wonder why we cant score goals
4

Swn98 added 19:34 - Aug 25 Happybeingblue so we will bounce straight back up will we just like we did when we dropped from premier. Be careful what you wish for.
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brendenward35 added 19:56 - Aug 25 I blame Mm probably giving back hander to refs as payback for the fans getting him sacked :-)
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