Wednesday then managed to control the early Charlton onslaught, and were given a lifeline 5 minutes before half-time, when Reda Johnson, impressing on his home début was brought down in the penalty area, giving Wednesday the chance to reduce the deficit before half-time. Up stepped Tommy Miller, who had taken 30 penalties in his career and scored 100 percent of them, this his 31st effort was well struck by Miller but he was denied by a fully stretched Rob Elliot who went on to perform more heroics throughout the game. With disgruntled Wednesday fans letting the team know how they felt, things weren't looking good for the Owls, Darren Purse's every touch was being stupidly jeered by less intelligent members of the crowd and the team were surrounded by a chorus of boos as the made their way to the changing room at half-time.
A clearly furious Alan Irvine followed his players into the dressing room and one can only presume he gave the whole team the 'hair dryer treatment', Jermaine Johnson and Paul Heffernan were brought on for the second half in place of an ineffective Neil Mellor and Gary Teale who lacked his usual spark and creativity. Immediately Wednesday looked a better side in the second half and after just two minutes they were back in the game, Reda Johnson a constant threat in Charlton penalty area was there once more to flick the ball into the path of a grateful Paul Heffernan, who has not had many first team opportunities, Heffernan smashed the ball home, asking Alan Irvine the question when should Heffernan be given a starting role in the team, after coming on as a substitute in his last two Hillsborough matches to score goals. Just a few Minutes later the colossal new signing Reda Johnson was causing havoc once more in the Charlton penalty area. After good work from Chris Sedgwick on the left the ball came into the box and Johnson used every inch of his 6 foot 3 frame to power a header into the bottom corner, sending the Wednesday faithful into raptures. From then on Wednesday looked like they would be the only winners in this match, although Charlton did look a threat on the break. Daniel Jones was caught in an advanced position down the left flank leaving Reda Johnson to deal with the dangerous Scott Wagstaff, with a Brilliant hard sliding tackle Johnson dispossessed his man and had the composure to get up and safely dribble the ball out of harms way, leaving some Wednesdayites comparing him to the once so entertaining Madjid Bougherra who now play for Scottish Champions Rangers.
The second half also saw the introduction of former Wednesday Favourite Akpo Sodje who was well liked at Hillsborough, most notably for his opening goal in the Steel City derby two years previous. Fortunately for Wednesday Akpo was largely ineffective unlike so many returning former Owls. Charltons Defence tightened up with 20 minutes or so remaining and the previously dangerous Jermaine Johnson who has changed the game for a short period suddenly looked out of sorts. The game became had very little chances from then on until the fourth official announced there would be 4 minutes of stoppage time. This announcement was greeted by a huge roar from the 19,000 Wednesday fans, who were hoping for more than just a point against promotion rivals Charlton. Within seconds the players responded with the hard working James O'connor going close with a rare long range drive leaving fans all over the ground biting their nails. But with literally seconds left on the clock and fans from both sides resigning to the fact that this league one fixture would be a draw a long ball was floated into the box from new signing Michael Morrison. The stand in right back ball was an absolute peach and landed firmly on the head of the truly impressive Paul Heffernan who powered his header towards the top corner only to be denied by the finger tips of the point saving Rob Elliot, who tipped the ball onto the post, and then stood and watched as the ball dribbled along the goal line only to be cleared by a last ditch boot from a Charlton defender. Paul Heffernan was interviewed after the match and asked about his header, "When I headed it, I thought it was in; the keeper got a little touch on it, and even then I thought it was in; it hit the inside of the post and rolled across the goal. I was gutted". Contrastingly to the first half the team were given a standing ovation from the Wednesday Faithful, in a game they really should have taken all three points from.
Alan Irvine had this to say after the game, "It was a dreadful start, a good response in the second half; but for a fantastic save and the post, we would have ended up winning.
Their goals were terrible from our point of view. You can't defend like that and expect to get away with it.
I felt confident that Tommy would score with the penalty; he has a fantastic record. It didn't happen. I'm sure he will go on to score a lot more.
I was tempted to make three changes at half-time. But if you do that and pick up an injury, you're chasing the game with 10 men.
I told them at half-time it wasn't acceptable. it was time to take more responsibility. I felt a lot of players were hiding.
The impact of the two subs (Jermaine Johnson and Paul Heffernan] was dramatic. In the second half we were really looking dangerous every time we went forward."
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Wednesday go on to play Leyton Orient away on saturday and the fans will be full of hope and expectation after Alan Irvine named 2 new signings on the day of the Charlton fixture. The signings of Highly rated Youngster Gary Madine and Scottish Talent Mark Reynolds combined with the second half performance from the Owls, could lead to a new positive outlook from Hillsborough as Milan Mandaric continues to back Irvine in the transfer market, with the team looking stronger and stronger every week.
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