Owls flying high

Sheffield Wednesday extended their unbeaten run to eight matches with a 1-0 win over struggling Port Vale at Hillsborough.

Steven MacLean's fine first half strike took The Owls to within two points of third place Tranmere Rovers on Friday evening.

A relatively subdued first half saw Wednesday look more threatening in attack, with recent signing James Quinn making his full debut for the South Yorkshire club.

The home side had more of the possession in the first 45 minutes and some slack Port Vale defending allowed Wednesday to take the lead on the quarter hour mark.

With space in front of him, former Rangers man MacLean ran at Vale's backline before teeing up a sublime right foot shot near the edge of the box that curled past goalkeeper Jonathon Brain and into the right-hand corner of the net for 1-0.

The home side pressed forward for more goals, with Chris Brunt striking a volley high and wide of goal, as The Valiants produced very little in terms of an attack by the half time whistle.

Wednesday picked up where they left off after the break, with Glenn Whelan striking over the bar before Brunt brought a routine save from Brain with a left footed free kick.

At the other end, Martin Foyle's side showed more endeavour in attack and Ryan Brown gave the home side a scare with a cross that skimmed across the face of the crossbar from the left.

Lee Matthews and Nathan Lowndes came on as second half substitutes for Vale to freshen up their attack and the pair caused Wednesday a few problems.

The best chance fell to former Bristol City hit-man Matthews, who flashed a right footed shot right across the face of goal.

The visitors kept pushing for an equaliser in the dying stages, but Sturrock's men held firm for a deserved home win on the night.

Click below for a match summary:
Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 Port Vale

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