Sheffield Wednesday 1, Huddersfield Town 0

Aug 23 2004 By The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

HOW THEY RATED: Ian Gray Back after injury and had very little to do. An early knock was scary but he handled and kicked well throughout Rating: 7/10

Andy Holdsworth Very much involved early on and went close to scoring with a snap shot which, unluckily, went straight at keeper Lucas Rating: 7/10

Rob Edwards Answered the call to press forward more and provide a release for the midfield. Solid show and tackled well Rating: 7/10

Nathan Clarke His long throw caused problems and he made a great tackle on MacLean to prevent the striker notching No2 Rating: 7/10

Efe Sodje Had a physical and verbal battle with Lee Peacock and honours finished just about even in a fierce contest. Rating: 7/10

David Mirfin Shaded top mark with a terrific second-half show. Tackled superbly and showed great skill when helping the attack Rating: 8/10

Tony Carss Unlucky to see an early free-kick deflected wide while aiming high with another. Had to work very hard in the centre Rating: 7/10

Jon Worthington Did his usual mountain of work and set up Brandon for a good chance. He was booked for a foul on the influential Marsden Rating: 7/10

Chris Brandon Plenty of effort and took some heavy knocks. Ran his heart out. Fired his best chance straight at keeper Lucas Rating: 7/10

Andy Booth Troubled his old club in the air and unlucky to finish on the losing side on his first return to Hillsborough. Rating: 7/10

Junior Mendes Couldn't have come closer to his first Town goal than in the third minute, when his shot hit the inside of a post Rating: 7/10

VERDICT ON THE REF: A LITTLE over fussy at times, Richard Beeby had a pretty good game overall despite missing an elbow on Jon Worthington just moments after the Town midfielder had been booked for a foul on Chris Marsden. Twice Mr Beeby infuriated the Wednesday fans by stopping play when they were on the attack so that Chris Brandon and David Mirfin could receive treatment for head injuries. Got it right when not awarding Brandon a penalty on the break in the first half and was pretty much on the spot to make all his decisions.

Sheff Wednesday:

Lucas, Bullen, Collins, Heckingbottom, Branston, Whelan (Hamshaw 74), McGovern, Marsden, Brunt (Ndumbu Nsungu 89), Peacock, MacLean (Proudlock 83). Subs not used: Tidman, Wood.