Sheffield Wednesday boss Darren Moore saluted a “joint effort” from his players after their dramatic late 1-0 win over 10-man South Yorkshire rivals Barnsley sealed a return to the Championship.
Josh Windass won the tie with the last action of 120-plus exhausting minutes as he emulated his dad Dean 15 years ago by bagging a dream play-off final winner.
Moore, whose Owls team return to the second tier after two seasons in League One, said: “This is a special moment – it’s a delightful moment for everyone at the club.
“It means so much to me to have taken such a great club back into the Championship.
“This shows just what can be achieved when a club comes together.
“I’m delighted for Josh. We’ve missed him quite a lot through injuries this season, but he’s got that quality and that instinct to get into the right place to score in those situations.
“It’s not just about Josh, though, it’s been a brilliant joint effort.
“Sometimes it’s about split hairs, and this was a big game at the biggest stadium, but we’ve got over the line when so much was at stake.
“It’s the stuff dreams are made of – it’s been a titanic game and we’ve won it.
“Despite having the extra man our boys were wilting a bit in extra time, but they’ve dug deep.
“Both teams gave it everything, it was incredible stuff, but this is so big for the football club and we have to go and enjoy being back in a Championship league that is so exciting.”
Chances proved to be at a premium in the opening 45 minutes.
Barnsley went closest as both Adam Phillips and Nicky Cadden fluffed decent opportunities.
Barnsley’s cause was then hindered significantly by Phillips’ 49th minute red card following a lunge on Lee Gregory, but they more than held their own as the scores remained goalless after 90 minutes.
However, their resistance, and their hearts, were finally broken with the last action of the game, leaving boss Michael Duff to reflect with pride on what had been an energy-sapping 120 minutes for his players.
Duff said: “Football is a cruel game, and frustration is the over-riding emotion I’m feeling right now.
“My players gave absolutely everything, they did everything they could and so I’m gutted for all of them.
“We’ve come out on the wrong end of a couple of decisions today, and that just adds to the frustration.
“With 11 men we would have grown more into the game, and although there’s no guarantee we would even have gone on to win on penalties, I think that would have been a fairer way to lose.
“Credit to Sheffield Wednesday and Darren Moore. They got 96 points in the regular season, but I don’t think they were the better team today.”
Duff then expanded on the Phillips red card decision and also a potential penalty award that went begging.
“Adam’s was a mis-timed tackle and a bit foolish,” added Duff.
“But there was no intent there so it was maybe a yellow card at worst.
“I’ve had plenty of text messages since the game saying it was a harsh red card, and many of them from people I totally trust in the game.
“We’ve also not had a penalty all season, and we’ve been denied what should have been one in the biggest game of all.”
Man City's clash with Chelsea will decide WSL title, suggests Taylor
Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor did not understate the importance of his side’s upcoming visit to Chelsea as he described the clash as “more than just a game”.
City currently sit top of the Women’s Super League (WSL) one point above closest rivals Chelsea on 19 points. The defending champions hold a game in hand, however, after their match against Manchester United was postponed.
Both enter the match undefeated, with Chelsea earning six wins from six while Manchester City have six wins and one draw from seven matches, only taking a point away at Arsenal.
Taylor’s managerial adversary, Sonia Bompastor, will be aiming to become the first-ever coach to win each of their first seven games in the WSL.
With City unbeaten in their last three WSL meetings with Chelsea (W2 D1), Taylor is aware of the impact a positive result at Stamford Bridge could have on his title aspirations.
"It is more than just another game, of course. We have proven so far that we can play good stuff and have got good results along the way," he said in his press conference.
"We have been difficult to play against. There is no denying, these games are really important. For us, it is a good game and the fact it is Stamford Bridge gives us something different. We are looking forward to the challenge.
"It is a game that everyone is excited about."
It will be the first time the two teams have met at Chelsea’s iconic stadium. The Blues have won all six of their previous matches at Stamford Bridge in the WSL by an aggregate score of 17-4.
It is the most any team has ever played in the competition at a home venue while maintaining a 100% win record.
While City won this fixture at Kingsmeadow last year, earning a 1-0 victory over Chelsea through a Bunny Shaw goal, their opponents ultimately went on to claim the title on goal difference on the final day.
Yet when asked whether outcomes in games against Chelsea will decide the title, he said: "Everything would suggest that [it will]. It's too hard to say. They have made a good start, similar to us.
"I think for us we want to stay consistent, I think that's really important. The league table at the moment looks a little lopsided because they have a game to play and of course we want to make sure that we can give the best versions of ourselves in order to get the best result.
"I think that trying to win the game for us is the objective and it never changes.
"And we have a real good opportunity to do that, particularly with some of the performances that we have seen already this season and that for us is going to be our main goal in this game, to go to win."
There was positive injury news ahead of the clash as Taylor confirmed top scorer Shaw would be fit to start, though fans will face a nervy wait for top assister Lauren Hemp’s late fitness test to determine whether the England winger will be involved.
Real Madrid hit Twente for seven, five-star Wolfsburg also win big
Real Madrid had six different goalscorers as they trounced Twente 7-0 in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday, while Wolfsburg beat Galatasaray 5-0.
Signe Bruun opened the scoring three minutes into the Group B encounter at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, then Maria Mendez's header gave Madrid a 2-0 half-time lead.
Madrid, who had won one and lost one of their opening two games in the tournament, got a third through Naomie Feller five minutes into the second half, then Caroline Weir made it 4-0 with a brilliant free-kick.
Mendez headed home her second of the encounter shortly after the hour mark, while Oihane Hernandez and Carla Camacho got on the scoresheet late on to complete the rout.
The victory took Madrid second in the Group B standings ahead of Chelsea's trip to Celtic.
Wolfsburg were also convincing victors in Group A, getting off the mark for this season's competition as Rebecka Blomqvist scored a hat-trick in their 5-0 thrashing of Galatasaray.
The Bundesliga side – who failed to pick up a point or score a goal in their opening two matches – had a narrow 1-0 lead at half-time through Joelle Wedemeyer, before Blomqvist took centre-stage in the second period.
She tapped home after Janina Minge struck the crossbar, then added her second goal in the 77th minute and her third six minutes into stoppage time.
Vivien Endemann powered home a fifth for Wolfsburg one minute later, as they provisionally moved within three points of Lyon and Roma ahead of their meeting.
Taylor pleased with City's physical test during Hammarby win
Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor was pleased with how his team stood up to the physical challenge of Hammarby in their 2-0 Champions League victory on Tuesday.
City's win extended their unbeaten start to the season, having won every game in all competitions following a 2-2 draw against Arsenal on opening day.
“Difficult game for us, physical challenge, a physical team in Hammarby. I think they outnumber us a little bit in terms of size, considering when you look at our midfield. But I thought the girls handled it really well," Taylor said after the game
“I thought we dominated the game. In the early parts we were just a little bit off in our final action. We just needed to speed up a little bit in terms of being on the end of it, and we spoke about that at half-time, and we score with Laura getting into that type of position we’d been talking about.
“[The physicality was something] we were prepared for, but dealing with it is a different thing. Having Bunny [Khadija Shaw] and Alanna [Kennedy] on the pitch, two of our more physical players, is really important, particularly for set-plays.
“At 1-0 we were defending a couple of scenarios like that, Yama [Ayaka Yamashita] making a really good save at one point. Then Aoba [Fujino] got the goal that maybe allowed us to change things up a little bit more, get some people off that we’d like to manage.
“I think the girls have dealt with it really well tonight. We expected it, we thought it would be difficult, and they rose to the challenge.”
The victory leaves City top of their Champions League group with a 100% record after three matches, three points above second-placed Barcelona.
Taylor had made changes to City's starting XI, with Lauren Hemp among the trio to drop out from the weekend and she did not feature in the squad. Ahead of their weekend game against Chelsea, who are second in the WSL, Taylor explained the reasoning behind Hemp's absence.
“We’ve just got an issue with Lauren that we just need to analyse a little bit further, that’s all," he said.
“It’s something that potentially happened in the Palace game [on 3 November]. She was able to play in the Tottenham game [last Friday] but wasn’t able to tonight, so we’ll just take a little bit longer to assess and find out more.
“Hopefully [she can play against Chelsea]. There’s an opportunity there, we’ll just have to take a moment tomorrow, have a good conversation and find out where we’re at with the medical staff.”
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