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Season 2014-15
Sheffield Wednesday (a) Friendly


In association 
with NUFC.com

 
 

 
Date:
Wednesday 30th July 2014, 7.45pm.

Venue:
Hillsborough

Conditions: a perfect summer evening

Admission: £15 from NUFC in advance
(with £1 booking fee) or £15 on the gate

Programme:
£3

Sheffield Wednesday

 

Newcastle United

0 - 1

.
 

Teams

Goals

Half time: Owls 0 Magpies 0

66mins An excellent goal from United: Rob Elliot came out claim a Wednesday cross and not for the first time in the game provided a perfect long throw out to the unmarked Gabriel Obertan on the right hand side. 
 
He powered over halfway before finding Ayoze Perez with a perfect through ball that bisected the back-pedalling home defence. The Spanish youngster still had work to do, but confidently placed a right footed effort from 12 yards between Kirkland and his near post 1-0

Full  time: Owls 0 Magpies 1

We Said


Alan Pardew - booed by some away fans and taunted with "Hatem Ben Arfa" chants - said:

"It was a tough one - we brought a very young side.

“We only got off the plane two days ago, and it was a great effort. We really put in a fantastic commitment and the fans were brilliant.

"It was a good night for us. We beat a very strong team.

"We just used the guys that didn’t go to New Zealand. The two guys that didn’t come – (Gabriel) Obertan and Cheick Tiote – were excellent. That’s good for us.

"We had a really strong work ethic and a third clean sheet. We made a lot of changes. I’m really pleased with that.

"I think looking at our squad we're still shy of a striker really and that would be ideal if we could manage to get one that suited the club, we would take that forward.

"I'm really pleased with the work we've done in the summer. We're far removed from the team that finished the season last year - and quite rightly so. 

"We've invested and hopefully we've invested well."

Schalke Tournament:

"I think Tim
(Krul) and Daryl (Janmaat) are the only two who won’t play but they will come in and everybody will be together (at the tournament). I expect to have a strong side at Huddersfield on Tuesday.”


Gabriel Obertan: 

"I think he needs opportunities to start - I think that’s where his career is that. If we can’t offer him that, then I think he needs another club.

"He showed a lot - when we went 10 games unbeaten (in the 2011-12 season), he was a big part of that and he showed that sort of form.”

Hatem Ben Arfa: 

"Hatem wasn’t here.”

They Said


Owls boss Stuart Gray:

"The margins are very fine. We see it time and again in the Championship and tonight we played a Premiership side and saw it once more.

"We were on the attack and might have scored, Newcastle broke upfield and the ball is in the back of the net. That was the only disappointment really because overall we played very well and come out of that game with a lot of credit.

“I made quite a few substitutions and you could tell by the look of the players who came off that they wanted to stay on the field. That’s an indication of how well we played but at the end of the day we lost the game to a very good team with very good players.”

Stats


There was a senior debut for 18 year-old reserve forward Alex Gilliead, who wore number 41. His development squad colleague Jonathyn Quinn meanwhile warmed up but failed to get any pitch time. He didn't appear on the official teamsheet so the number he would have worn is tbc.

A 30,000 crowd witnessed our most recent visit to Hillsborough, when four goals were shared with the Owls in a Championship game on Boxing Day 2009, Kevin Nolan and Shola Ameobi scoring.

Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor played in that game but weren't involved tonight.

The last Owls friendly meeting came at Hillsborough almost eleven years to the day, when 15,000 saw a 4-3 home win, future Magpie flop Shefki Kuqi grabbing the winner. Kieron Dyer, Lomana LuaLua and Shola Ameobi netted, with another NUFC XI winning 6-0 at Hartlepool that night.

Pre-season pitch time (in minutes):

Aarons 63+68+45=176
Abeid 90+22+45+90=247
Alnwick 90
Ameobi 45+68=113
Anita 54+90+90+45=279
Armstrong 54+14+26+84=178
Bigirimana 20+60=80
Campbell 9+5+18=32
Colback 90+68+90=248
Coloccini 81+78=159
De Jong 63+45+33=141
Elliot 90+90+90=270
Dummett 70+14+14+90=188
Gilliead 6
Gouffran
45+76+85=206
Haidara 27+76+76+60=239
Obertan 90
Perez
36+36+57+72=201
Riviere 54+64+54=172
Satka 36+14+26+45=121
Streete 27+36=63
Tiote 60
S.Taylor 63+76+90=229
Vuckic 27+45+12+30=114
Yanga-Mbiwa 90+90+64+90=
334

Non-combatants:

Holiday: Cabella,
Janmaat, Krul, Sissoko
Fitness: Cisse, Good, Kemen, Mbabu, Santon
, R.Taylor, Williamson
Omitted: Ben Arfa, Ferguson, Gutierrez
Unused sub:
Quinn, Woodman

Waffle

 

 

Coming between games in New Zealand and Germany, Alan Pardew turned to his shadow squad to face Championship opponents. And although that gave his side an unfamiliar look and made for a disjointed display, the travelling support at Hillsborough witnessed a fine first goal for Ayoze Perez.

24 hours after turning 21, the Spanish forward rounded off what was by far the best move of the night after 65 minutes, scoring the only goal of the game after Rob Elliot's quick throw and Gabriel Obertan's upfield run created the chance. 

Excluded from the senior squad for the opening trio of pre-season kickabouts, the much-maligned French wide player found the insubstantial tackles of the home side and the acres of space he was afforded to his liking - providing the main supply route for our forward threat.

A fine night in South Yorkshire saw the Magpies again clad in the grey kit, wearing black armbands in memory of ex-manager Sir Bobby Robson, a day before the fifth anniversary of his passing. 

The first chance worthy of note for the visitors came on 24 minutes, when a dinked pass from Perez dropped into the path of  Emmanuel Riviere - although he couldn't get enough on his shot to trouble goalkeeper Chris Kirkland.

Amid gathering gloom, the floodlights were switched on after 26 minutes, illuminating Wednesday's path to goal with Gary Madine's effort tipped on to the crossbar by Elliot from a free kick before a linesman's flag was raised.

United then had a let off after 37 minutes, when Paul Dummett's stumble allowed Sam Hutchinson to shoot against the underside of the crossbar from seven yards. The former Chelsea player claimed that his effort bounced down behind the line, but without the benefit of goal line technology his pleas were ignored by the match officials.

Adam Armstrong shot wide early in the second half as United attacked the away end and Mehdi Abeid tried his luck with a low trundling effort, but the Premier League side looked unlikely scorers until Perez struck.

A succession of changes then did little to aid the Owls in their quest for an equaliser, but substitute Franck Betra almost did the trick when Remi Streete conceded a foul with thirteen minutes of normal time remaining.

The resultant free kick from the Wednesday left was only partly cleared and when played back in, the French-born teenager poked his first-time shot agonisingly wide. 

With two minutes remaining Obertan set up substitute Alex Gilliead,  who fired over. Had he marked his maiden senior outing by netting though, that would have given the final score a misleading look. 

Biffa


Page last updated 03 July, 2015