Sheffield Wednesday couldn't quite get back to winning ways, but Tuesday night's 1-1 draw with Cambridge United was the most encouraging 90 minutes we've seen at Hillsborough in weeks. Mason Burstow's brilliant strike early in the second half put the Owls in front, Sullay Kaikai hit back soon after, and both sides went for the jugular in a lively final half hour without either finding a winner.
It was a strange old night to be a Wednesdayite. Henrik Pedersen was sacked on Sunday after back-to-back 2-0 defeats at Notts County and Doncaster, so it fell to Matt Hamshaw to take the reins on an interim basis. The former Rotherham boss, a promotion winner here as a player in 2005, only joined Pedersen's staff as first-team coach this season. Against a Cambridge side sitting sixth and two points above us, anything resembling the last two performances would have meant another long walk home. Instead, we got a team that looked like it fancied it.
Team news
Hamshaw didn't tinker around the edges, making five changes from the defeat at Doncaster. Liam Cooper was left out altogether to get some rest, which finally opened the door for Ernie Weaver to make his first league start in almost 13 months, alongside Max Lowe at centre-back. Callum Slattery was back after his suspension, Harry Gray returned to the starting line-up, Reece James came in at left-back, and with Jaden Heskey missing, Burstow was handed the job of leading the line.
First half
Weaver wasted no time showing why so many of us have been calling for him. Inside the first minute, after Maynard-Brewer had kept out Cathal Heffernan's header, he got back on the line to block Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu's follow-up and let the Kop know all about it, and he spent the rest of the half flinging himself into blocks and attacking every header going. It was the kind of debut-style performance that wins a crowd over in one go.
He needed to be busy, because Cambridge were the better side early on and could easily have gone ahead. Ben Knight's shot bobbled just wide, Liam Bennett went close, and Ashley Maynard-Brewer had to be brave more than once to keep it level.
Gradually, though, Wednesday found their feet. Slattery hammered one that Jake Eastwood could only push away, James forced another save after a string of good moments down the left, and Gray's footwork was giving the U's right side plenty of headaches, and he volleyed wide at the far post after Burstow nodded on a James cross. Mpanzu still fired one just over for Cambridge before the break, and 0-0 was about right.
Second half
Unchanged at the restart, Wednesday came out with real intent and were ahead on 50 minutes. Slattery was fouled, looked up straight away, and spotted Burstow peeling off his man. The free kick was taken quickly and curled beautifully over the top, and Burstow did the rest: holding off his marker, then smashing a shot in off the post. It was a genuinely top-class finish, the sort a striker might only hit a handful of times in a season.
He should have had a second on 64 minutes. The ball broke kindly for him inside the six-yard box and he was already wheeling away before Eastwood, a boyhood Wednesdayite of all people, somehow got a hand to it. Looking back, that was the moment the night turned.
Cambridge responded well. Neil Harris made a triple change on the hour, and Shayne Lavery almost had an instant impact with a looping header that Maynard-Brewer tipped over. James was booked for halting one counter, and two minutes later two of those substitutes combined to punish us. Lavery capitalised on an error by Billy Mitchell, sprinted clear down the left and squared for Kaikai, who drilled it in from the edge of the box to make it 1-1 on 67 minutes.
To Hamshaw's credit, he kept the side on the front foot. Barry Bannan curled a lovely effort against the post on 73 minutes, and Kieran Morrison replaced Gray on 74 minutes. Maynard-Brewer had to be sharp at the other end to keep out a clever Lavery chip as the game opened up. With eight minutes left, Liam Palmer replaced the limping Yan Valery and Ali Al-Hamadi came on for Bannan, as Wednesday switched to a 4-4-2 to chase the winner.
The closing stages were frantic, and in truth Cambridge finished the stronger. Three minutes from time Maynard-Brewer kept out a Heffernan header from a corner, and in the pinball that followed, shots from Heffernan and Owen Moxon were blocked before Maynard-Brewer and Weaver both cleared off the line.
Five added minutes felt like they could go either way. Sil Swinkels made his return from injury in place of Weaver, and that stoppage seemed to take the sting out of the finale.
Verdict
A draw was a fair result, and for once that doesn't feel like faint praise. This was a proper game of football, played with energy and a bit of belief, and plenty of Hamshaw's big calls were vindicated. Weaver has surely done enough to keep his place, provided the knock that forced him off is as minor as Hamshaw suggested, Burstow showed what he can do with decent service, and Slattery's quick thinking created the best moment of the night.
The numbers back that up. Wednesday had 64% of the ball and 19 shots to Cambridge's 18, and expected goals finished almost dead level at 1.73 to 1.72. Cambridge actually hit the target nine times to our five, which tells you how busy Maynard-Brewer was.
Hamshaw summed it up afterwards: "Frustrating, I think, is the key word." He also made no secret of wanting to stay on in some capacity once the new man is appointed. Neil Harris, meanwhile, felt Cambridge being disappointed with a point here showed how far they've come, and with 1,200 of their fans making the trip, it's hard to argue with him.
The frustration is the same one we keep coming back to: Wednesday were the better side for long spells after the break and couldn't put it to bed. Eastwood's save from Burstow and Bannan's shot off the post were the fine margins between a winning start for Hamshaw and another point.
The crowd deserve a mention of their own. A gate of 30,701 means seven home games in a row above 30,000, something Hillsborough hasn't seen since 1953. Whoever walks through the door next, with Dave Challinor among the names in the frame, inherits a fanbase that keeps turning up in huge numbers despite everything. Hamshaw may only get the one night in charge, but he handed the next man something to build on.
Match details
Sheffield Wednesday: Burstow 50'
Cambridge United: Kaikai 67'
Booked: James 65' (Wednesday); Lavery 90+5' (Cambridge)
Wednesday subs: Morrison for Gray 74', Palmer for Valery 82', Al-Hamadi for Bannan 82', Swinkels for Weaver 90+5'
Attendance: 30,701 (1,200 away)
Sources: Cambridge Independent, Yorkshire Post, The Star, Sheffield Wednesday FC, The Wednesday Word