Just 22 'Cup Finals' To Go...

Wednesdayites chanted '2-1, in your cup final!' at Barnsley yesterday, but for the Owls it was just for the first of 23 'cup finals' under Alan Irvine's guidance as Wednesday look for Championship survival.

The visit of Wednesday to Oakwell is always Barnsley's highlight home tie of the season, it's always the first fixture they look out for when they're released in pre-season - don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

A 'cup final', if you like, for Reds fans eager to get the bragging rights on their 'dee dar' rivals from S6.

But the roles were somewhat reversed yesterday, or at least being shared, as Wednesday bagged three crucial points in a 'cup final' of their own yesterday the first of 23 under Alan Irvine.

It's come to the point where all Wednesdayites realise we're in a relegation dog fight, a tough one at that, and among the favourites to suffer the drop to League 1.

We didn't want it at the start of the season, but here we are, having to take each match at a time in the hope of somehow surviving thanks to the mess that Brian Laws left us in.

It was a brilliant start at Oakwell yesterday.

A point was the minimum requirement from a Barnsley side rejuvinated under Mark Robins, and it was going to be a tough ask at that.

So all three, in my opinion, was a huge boost to our hopes of survival this season.

Irvine will no doubt be telling his troops that each game is as important as the other for the remainder of the campaign, whether it be against a fellow relegation struggler, a mid-table side, or a promotion hopeful.

Each will present the Owls with the chance to bag three points, although some tasks will be tougher than others, and the focus of the management and players won't go any further than our next game.

Blackpool is our next 'cup final' this Tuesday, and the chance for Irvine to show that he and his staff really mean business.

It's the chance to show that Saturday wasn't a one-off, wasn't a fluke, and that we really do have a great chance to survive this season.

Consistency wasn't one of Brian Laws' strong points (although you could say we were consistently bad towards the end of his time here), and now we need that quality from Irvine more than ever before.

The same passion, desire and determination will be the minimum Irvine will ask of his troops for a usually tough trip to Bloomfield Road on what will surely be a wintry trip to the seaside.

We too, as supporters, can't look any further than the next game to get out of the current mess we find ourselves in.

The League 1 play-off final may have been a memorable day out in the club's recent history, but the remaining 22 games of the Owls' season will be cup finals of their own, and each could well prove just as vital for the club in the long run.

UP THE OWLS!

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