Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 Swansea City: Lowe leveller denies Owls vital win

Sheffield Wednesday missed the chance to move out of the Championship drop zone after Jamal Lowe’s goal earned a point for Swansea City in a 1-1 draw.

Bailey Cadamarteri’s fifth goal of the season on 41 minutes had given the Owls a 1-0 advantage at the interval.

The draw means Wednesday remain in the bottom three, with Swansea now eight points clear of the drop zone.

A point apiece was probably the least Swansea deserved in a game where they enjoyed over 70% possession, but the failure to win after going ahead will frustrate the hosts who were so close to going 2-0 up moments before Swansea equalised.

After a dream start to life at the Owls with four wins on the spin, boss Danny Rohl had a fortnight to stew over a 6-0 defeat to promotion chasing Ipswich.

Rohl’s response was to alter his line-up with changes all over the pitch as as Pol Valentin, Akin Famewo, Liam Palmer and Bailey Cadamarteri all came into the starting XI.

Swansea boss Luke Williams had a more enjoyable international break after the Swans’ south Wales derby success and Williams made two changes to the side who beat Cardiff 2-0, with Josh Key making his first start since December and Jay Fulton also earning a recall.

The Swans have been improving on the road in recent weeks and they just about shaded the opening stages of the game, but Przemysław Płacheta could not find the target with their best opportunity.

With the stakes so high for the hosts there was a tension among the home fans, but a strong finish to the first-half saw the Owls take an advantage into the interval.

Former Cardiff City midfielder Will Vaulks missed a chance to put them ahead on 37 minutes, but four minutes later Wednesday did go in front as Cadamarteri – the son of former Everton forward Danny – got on the end of Bambo Diaby’s flick-on from Vaulks’ freekick and he applied the close-range finish.

Swansea pressed for an equaliser after the break but Jamie Paterson was twice denied as he saw a shot saved expertly by James Beadle, before a subsequent effort deflected onto the post, while Matt Grimes fired wide.

The visitors left gaps as they pushed for an equaliser and Sheffield Wednesday almost doubled their advantage when Djeidi Gassama was found in space in the penalty area, but Carl Rushworth produced an excellent save to deny him.

The game swung dramatically in the space of a minute as Ike Ugbo controlled brilliantly to set-up a shooting chance, but his right-footed effort rattled the Swansea crossbar. Within a minute, Swansea had equalised.

After all their possession it was ultimately a set-piece that saw the Swans level as Lowe intercepted Harry Darling’s header and controlled well before firing into an empty net as the hosts appealed in vain for an offside flag to save them.

Marvin Johnson did have a late chance to win it for Wednesday who kept pushing for a winner, but Rushworth denied him.