Sheffield Wednesday 1 Blackburn Rovers 1 - Peter White reports

DAVID Pleat spoke about the one "golden second" that cost Sheffield Wednesday victory on what was, by and large, an afternoon of mediocrity at Hillsborough.

It was a strange choice of phrase to be coined by a manager who was on the receiving end of Lars Bohinen's bullet - and clearly brassed off by it.

Yet it was certainly a golden moment for Rovers who, for the 73 minutes or so before it arrived, rarely looked like scoring the goal that might give them a lifeline.

Half a loaf was certainly better than none, and a few crumbs of comfort were more than welcome for the Rovers supporters whose spirits were raised by a fightback that was greeted rapturously at the end.

But, remembering how managers are always quick to stress that goals and results change people's thinking about performances, I am not going to fall into that particular trap. A good away point is not to be sneezed at, and, hopefully, it will instil some confidence in the side.

But you have to face facts and, on this performance, there is still a long, long way to go before Rovers can start to think they are on the right track out of trouble.

The last thing I want to do is sound like a prophet of doom, especially when the result was half decent.

Yet, this display was far from convincing.

There were far too many individual errors and only rarely did they muster a genuine threat to the Sheffield Wednesday goal.

Understandably, confidence is low and the arrogance and feelgood factor that go with a successful run are clearly absent.

In short, they aren't producing enough golden moments. It says much about the quality of the game when it was the peripheral activity which caught the eye and not only in a hyped build-up to welcome Benito Carbone.

There was Pleat trying to give instructions to his debutant Italian via a touchline interpreter and the respective booing from the two sets of supporters when the choice of each player to be substituted was revealed.

And then there were the Rovers fans themselves.

They were brilliant, lifting an otherwise extremely subdued atmosphere.

Despite seeing their team go a goal down again in the opening minutes, they sang their hearts out.

And their ironic chorus of "We're going to win the League" following the equaliser was an inspired example of black comedy at its best.

If anyone deserved to leave Hillsborough with some reward it was the 2,000-plus Rovers following.

Ray Harford rang the changes and his selection was logical. He recalled fit-again Kevin Gallacher and, for his first start in almost a year, Ian Pearce. And he also omitted George Donis and Lars Bohinen, clearly anticipating that two of his finest flair players might not be the wisest choice in the circumstances.

Neither could complain and, with both on the bench, there was still ample opportunity to let them loose if the situation demanded it.

It did, Harford sent them on, and his substitutions claimed a point and could even have won the match.

For all their faults, once Rovers levelled, they looked the only side capable of winning in the final quarter of an hour.

Earlier, however, the half-time tea was lukewarm, the sandwiches tasted as though they hadn't been long enough out of the freezer and the menu of the first 45 minutes had been equally unappetising.

The brightest first-half feature was the manner in which Gary Croft applied himself against Carbone, ensuring the Italian made little impact.

Carbone became more of a threat later but at least he did not get off to a devastating start, unlike his team-mates.

As against Arsenal, we were in only the third minute when Rovers fell behind.

David Hirst beat Henning Berg to a ball on the Wednesday right, crossed perfectly into the path of Andy Booth and all Tim Flowers could do was pick the ball out of the net. More problems for Berg and Pearce nearly brought further home goals, and, while Wednesday didn't carry that much menace of their own, Rovers' attacking threat was tepid to say the least.

They looked as though they needed an injection of power, pace and, above all else, passion.

With the second half well under way, I confess to wondering who on earth I could select as Rovers' top man.

There were few in the frame. But then Flowers made some crucial saves - the best from Booth - to keep them in with a chance and ensure the nomination.

Donis went on and looked as though he could cause problems, despite a tendency to try a shot too often.

But it was the second substitution which did the trick.

Within a minute of being sent on, Bohinen was a hero.

Skipper Tim Sherwood, who tried, as always, to lead by example latched onto a ball in the penalty area and crashed his shot against a post.

Happily, he had the presence of mind to leave the rebound to the incoming Bohinen who smacked his shot from just inside the penalty area against the other post and it ricocheted across the line - just.

From then on, Wednesday were worried but Rovers didn't have the power to finish them off and produce another "golden second".

Is it enough to spark a revival? Only time will tell.

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