Swansea City drew their first game of the new season this afternoon when they were held to a 1-1 stalemate against Sheffield Wednesday at the Liberty Stadium.
Swans manager Roberto Martinez made eight changes to the side that knocked Premiership new-boys Hull City out of the Carling Cup 2nd Round on Tuesday night, with Jason Scotland, Ferrie Bodde and Darren Pratley all returning to the starting XI.
The home side were looking for their fifth straight win in all competitions, and indeed they started brightly, with Tom Butler seeing his shot blocked by a Wednesday player within the opening minutes.
Wednesday also had their fair shar of good chances at the start of the game. Firstly, Ettiene Esajas shot straight into the hands of Dorus De Vries with three minutes on the clock, then Marcus Tudgay headed over the bar from four yards after a well-delivered free-kick.
The Swans next chance came in the 29th minute, as a great piece of link-up play involving Garry Monk and Jason Scotland ended up with Mark Gower seeing his driven shot superbly saved by Owls ‘keeper Lee Grant.
However the deadlock was broken a few minutes afterwards. Ferrie Bodde collected the ball from 25 yards out after Wednesday’s defence failed to clear the ball, took it forward, before firing the ball brilliantly past Lee Grant into the corner, giving Swansea a 1-0 lead.
The half time whistle blew, and the Swansea players retreated to the dressing-room with a relatively comfortable one goal advantage.
The second half began, and despite Swansea creating chances early on, they failed to convert them into goals, with Ashley Williams and Jason Scotland failing to find the back of the net. Supersub Gorka ‘El Toro’ Pintado, hero of the hour on Tuesday night, came on just before the hour mark as he replaced Scotland up front, and the Spaniard saw his header saved from a cross by compatriot Jordi Gomez in the 67th minute.
The Swans paid for their missed chances with 20 minutes to spare, as Wednesday equalised, with substitute Steve Watson heading home with his first touch of the game after meeting the end of a Marcus Tudgay cross to make it 1-1.
Skipper Garry Monk came close to restoring the Swans’ lead a few minutes later, seeing his header flying wide of the goal from a Mark Gower cross. Pintado also saw his header go wide on the 76th minute, again from a Gower delivery.
Swansea’s last chance of the game came deep into injury-time, as Manchester United loanee Febian Brandy saw his header strike the foot of the post. However it was not to be; the final whistle blew, and both Swansea and Wednesday finished the game with a share of the spoils. Martinez will be disappointed that his side could not leave the Liberty with all three points, as the Swans had played the better of the two for the majority of the game.
