Football: Bright sparks for Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday. .3

Bright 7, 32, Sheridan pen 21

QPR. . . . . . . . . .1

White 90

Attendance: 22,437

UNSUNG matches between sides which are safe but far from the glittering prizes sometimes produce memorable spectacles. Yesterday's game was not among them.

It was always open, there were abundant opportunities at both ends but as proceedings wore on the mistakes mounted like wrappers outside a chip shop and were every bit as unpleasant to the eye. Correspondingly, interest waned among players and spectators alike. There was not even the consolation of watching Ray Wilkins go through his cultured paces as he was omitted after his side's woeful recent run.

If Rangers are not upset by their fans' displeasure with their chairman, Richard Thompson, it would be fascinating to know what their excuse might be. They fell behind in seven minutes after Gordon Watson's cross in the box was deflected neatly to Mark Bright who touched it home with all the confidence of a striker who already had 20 goals.

Rangers, initially fluid going forward, might easily have equalised. But first Steve Yates and then Les Ferdinand missed opportunities, one in front of goal, the other when clear.

Wednesday scored twice more before half-time. John Sheridan, whose long passing was one of the game's few attractive features, struck a penalty after Bright was pulled back on the edge of the area and Bright himself seized on a rebound in the 32nd minute. He might have had a hat-trick but it was left to Rangers to score the game's only other goal. They might have scored before but were denied by an alert Kevin Pressman before Devon White found himself clear in the last minute. By then Des Walker had been forced to depart. If it had not been for a suspected broken bone in a foot he might have been pleased to go. Although neither of these sides' managers had any complaints about the manner of the match it was an overstatement to suggest that they were simply going through the motions.