Huddersfield Town 2, Sheffield Wednesday 0
Huddersfield Town beat Sheffield Wednesday for the first time in over seven years after the Owls paid for an abysmal first 35 minutes at the John Smiths Stadium.
Goals by Josh Koroma and Isaac Mbenza were backed up by a gritty performance as Town kept the Owls at bay thanks to some positive interventions by goalkeeper Ben Hamer.
Town’s win margin might have been bigger if Juninho Bacuna had dispatched a penalty won early in the second half but the Terriers will count the cost of victory after they lost skipper Jonathan Hogg and in-form forward Koroma to injury.
The result leaves the visitors without a win in 8 games and struggling at the bottom of the league while the Terriers rose up to a comfortable 12th.
Town boss Carlos Corberan made just one change from the win over QPR at the weekend with defender Rarmani Edmonds-Green replacing the injured Chris Schindler (knee) in central defence.
Jonathan Hogg took the captaincy for the game against Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday who they hadn’t beaten since November 2013 but the Terriers made light of that record by scoring with both of their shots on target in a dominant first half.
Town made much of the early running against a compact looking Owls side and it was no surprise when Josh Koroma rolled in the first goal after 11 minutes after a touch by Fraizer Campbell put him clean through after Dominic Iorfa was left behind for his 6th goal of the season.
Isaac Mbenza thought he had doubled that lead two minutes later when Campbell put him through but his neat finish was ruled out by the offside flag.
Owls defender Julian Borner bore the brunt of an accidental elbow by Campbell as the veteran Town striker competed for every ball just like his teammates.
Koroma and Mbenza peppered Joe Wildsmith’s goal with shots as Town sought a second goal against their visitors who subsequently lost Borner after 21 minutes, with Liam Palmer replacing him.
Isaac Mbenza free kick doubles Huddersfield Town lead over Sheffield Wednesday
Palmer was booked within seconds of coming on by fouling Koroma 25 yards out and Mbenza’s free kick was whipped into the top corner inside the near post and beyond the fingertips of Wildsmith – his third goal of the season.
Space was opening up on the edge of the box as Koroma was allowed space to cut inside from the left and the Owls were fortunate that the Town youngster over hit his effort from the edge of the box.
Town lost captain Hogg to a knock and he was replaced after 35 minutes by Juninho Bacuna – a significant disruption to their irresistible start and the start of an Owls comeback.
Ben Hamer clawed away a header by Tom Lee’s from Barry Bannan’s corner and Hamer also collected a tame effort by Callum Paterson as the Owls made their move at the end of the first half while Naby Sarr blocked a shot by Josh Windass.
Hamer punched away another Bannan corner as the visitors tried to take advantage of the loss of Hogg from the Town midfield while Adam Reach’s cross was headed wide by Windass.
In fact the Town goalkeeper plucked the ball out of the air on several occasions as the visitors fruitlessly tried to make headway.
It was the Owls who made the next change, with Massimo Luongo hooked at half time and replaced by Joey Pelupessy.
Town won a spot kick when Iorfa brought down Bacuna in the area after the midfielder ran onto a pass from Pipa just 3 minutes after the restart.
But the Curaçao international’s terrible spot kick was dragged well wide to give the Owls some hope.
Kadeem Harris hit the side netting while Hamer twice dropped a Bannan corner without further punishment as the Terriers handled the Owl’s tame attacks.
The Terriers suffered a second injury blow when they lost Koroma to a nasty looking ankle injury as he tried to keep the ball in play at the touchline and limped off to be replaced by Jaden Brown.
Tempers flared as Harry Toffolo and Harris were booked for an off the ball incident but Town almost notched their third with 17 minutes to go when Mbenza’s cross was just too far in front of Brown who didn’t gamble on meeting it while Toffolo himself send a shot wide on a break.
The Owls brought on three ex-Town alumni in Jordan Rhodes, Elias Kachunga, and Izzy Brown while Alex Vallejo made his debut from the bench for Town but the Owls could not fashion anything to challenge Hamer.
GOALS – Huddersfield Town 2, Sheffield Wednesday 0
Huddersfield Town 1, Sheffield Wednesday 0: 11. Josh Koroma put Town into the lead, rolling the ball inside the back post after a Fraizer Campbell’s pass cut out Dominic Iorfa.
Huddersfield Town 2, Sheffield Wednesday 0: 24. Isaac Mbenza crept up to a 25 yard free kick and lashed it into the top corner inside the near post and beyond the fingertips of Joe Wildsmith who couldn’t keep it out.
MATCH STATS – Huddersfield Town 2, Sheffield Wednesday 0
Huddersfield Town: Hamer, Pipa, Edmonds-Green, Sarr, Toffolo, Hogg (c) (Bacuna 35), Eiting, Mbenza (Vallejo 83), O’Brien, Koroma (Brown 62), Campbell (Ward 83)
Huddersfield Town subs not used: Schofield, Pritchard, Diakhaby, Rowe, Phillips
Booked: Toffolo 70 (altercation with Kadeem Harris)
Goals: Koroma 11; Mbenza 24
Sheffield Wednesday: Wildsmith, Iorfa, Lees, Borner (Palmer 21), Odubajo, Kadeem Harris, Paterson (Kachunga 80), Luongo (Pelupessy 46), Bannan (c) (Brown 85), Reach, Windass (Rhodes 80)
Sheffield Wednesday subs not used: Dawson, van Aken, Dele-Bashiru
Booked: Palmer 22 (Foul on Josh Koroma), Harris 70 (altercation with Harry Toffolo), Lees 86 (foul on Harry Toffolo)
Referee: Keith Stroud