Owls stun Addicks
Quick-fire Wednesday come from behind at The Valley
Last Updated: September 27, 2008 5:21pm
Pardew: Lost the lead
Sheffield Wednesday scored twice in three minutes to come from behind and record a 2-1 win against Charlton at The Valley.
Alan Pardew's Addicks had taken the lead courtesy of Luke Varney, but Wade Small and Marcus Tudgay struck to earn the points.
The result sees inconsistent Charlton fall into the bottom half of the table, the Owls have climbed to ninth.
Charlton were 1-0 up and seemingly cruising after Varney's strike midway through the opening half, and he and Linvoy Primus struck the woodwork.
But Small found the net in the 38th minute with a superb solo effort from Wednesday's first real attack of the game, and they took the lead when Tudgay pounced on some dozy home defending to fire home four minutes from the interval.
Debut
On-loan Portsmouth centre-half Primus, making a second debut at the club where he started his career, met Nicky Bailey's corner with a firm header which cannoned back off Lee Grant's post after just seven minutes.
But Alan Pardew's promotion hopefuls went ahead in the 20th minute after Jermaine Johnson fouled former Owls winger Lloyd Sam.
Bailey floated in the resulting free-kick, Wednesday's defenders could not clear and when the ball dropped to Varney eight yards out the striker made no mistake with his second goal of the season.
Wednesday, who lost 6-0 at Reading in their last away game, were not at the races in the opening stages and could have found themselves further behind.
But they had a huge let-off when Varney crashed a volley against the post with Grant beaten and strike partner Andy Gray hit his follow-up over the crossbar.
Fine style
Small dragged the visitors level in fine style when he ran from the halfway line into the home penalty area before drilling the ball past Nicky Weaver.
And Tudgay turned the game on its head three minutes later when he cut in from the left and fired home from the edge of the box as the Charlton defence dithered.
After the break, Steve Watson forced a save from Weaver and the Owls had a penalty claim waved away when Bailey appeared to handle with the Charlton rearguard in some disarray.
Varney thought he had found the leveller 15 minutes from time when he prodded a loose ball goalwards from another Bailey corner, but Tony McMahon cleared on the line.
Pardew threw on striker Svetoslav Todorov for his first appearance in 11 months after a cruciate-ligament injury, but Charlton could not make the breakthrough as Wednesday survived four minutes of stoppage time to secure the points.
Matches
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npower Championship
Table
npower Championship
| Pos | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cardiff City | 46 | 87 |
| 2 | Hull City | 46 | 79 |
| 3 | Watford | 46 | 77 |
| 4 | Brighton and Hove Albion | 46 | 75 |
| 5 | Crystal Palace | 46 | 72 |
| 6 | Leicester City | 46 | 68 |
| 7 | Bolton Wanderers | 46 | 68 |
| 8 | Nottingham Forest | 46 | 67 |
| 9 | Charlton Athletic | 46 | 65 |
| 10 | Derby County | 46 | 61 |
| 11 | Burnley | 46 | 61 |
| 12 | Birmingham City | 46 | 61 |
| 13 | Leeds United | 46 | 61 |
| 14 | Ipswich Town | 46 | 60 |
| 15 | Blackpool | 46 | 59 |
| 16 | Middlesbrough | 46 | 59 |
| 17 | Blackburn Rovers | 46 | 58 |
| 18 | Sheffield Wednesday | 46 | 58 |
| 19 | Huddersfield Town | 46 | 58 |
| 20 | Millwall | 46 | 56 |
| 21 | Barnsley | 46 | 55 |
| 22 | Peterborough United | 46 | 54 |
| 23 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 46 | 51 |
| 24 | Bristol City | 46 | 41 |
