Issue Two - Darling's First Team Experience
News at Hillsborough
Sheffield Wednesday have Rejected a 180k offer for Yoann Folly from Fulham. It is believed that Wednesday feel the offer isn’t good enough for 22 year old former French under 21 centre midfielder.
Sheffield Wednesday have been drawn Port Vale in the first round of the League Cup. The match will be played at Hillsborough on Wednesday the 15th of August at 7:45pm.
The Under 18’s have been given a tough draw in the First Round of the Youth Cup and host Manchester United U18’s who have one of the best youth systems in the world. Good Luck to the lads and let’s hope Joshua Darling and pull off something special in that match.
Wednesday have offered 250k for 26 year old Preston left back Matt Hill, He appears to be the replacement for Tommy Spurr who is said to be leaving to join Sunderland or Birmingham for around 110k.
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Match Reports of Pre-Season
4-1 - Peterborough (Away)
Darling was on the bench for the whole game as Wednesday eased their way past Peterborough.
Jermaine Johnson put The Owls 1-0 up after just 2 minutes after he cut inside and hammered the ball into the bottom corner and the score was increase to 3-0 when strike partners Marcus Tudgay and Francis Jeffers slotted home on 16 and 18 minutes respectively.
The match was played at high pace and SWFC's quality was showing as Jeffers played Tudgay through who hit a shot just wide but on 45 minutes Jermaine Johnson broke through the defence again and the Winger used his skill to take it around keeper Alex Webster and put the ball home to make it 4-1.
The second half was more even and Peterborough got a goal on 78 minutes when Chris O'Shea headed home from a corner but it didn't make much difference to the final result as Wednesday won 4-1.
2-0 - Shrewsbury (Away)
Darling was on the bench again and failed to make his first appearance as Wednesday beat Shrewsbury 2-0 in this friendly.
Wednesday made it 1-0 after 3 minutes when Lee Bullen headed Kenny Lunt's corner past the Shrewsbury keeper. They made it 2-0 in the 30th minute when Akpo Sodje played Francis Jeffers through, Jeffers first shot was parried by the keeper but he reacted well and put the ball into the net.
2-0 - Bury (Away)
Wednesday kept their 100% record with another 2-0 victory of Bury. Tudgay and Deon Burton secured the win with goals in the 36th and 50th minutes.
Darling got 15 minutes in this Pre-season after he replaced Goal-scorer Deon Burton on 75 minutes but didn't make much difference.
3-2 - Macclesfield (Away)
Darling started his first match in his secondary left winger position as Wednesday faced their toughest opponents yet in Macclesfield and managed to beat them 3-2 with goals from Francis Jeffers, Yoann Folly and Richard Hinds.
Darling set up Jeffers first after running at the defence and cleverly squaring the ball to Jeffers who took one touch and put the ball past the keeper. Folly and Hinds scored from corners as Darling was replaced on 59 minutes by Wade Small.
1-0 - Gillingham (Away)
Darling started on the bench as Wednesday beat League 1’s Gillingham 1-0 in a match which they should have won by more if it wasn’t for Simon Royce in-between the sticks for Gillingham who stopped 10 of the 11 shots on target by Sheffield Wednesday to keep his side in the game throughout the match.
Jeffers put Wednesday ahead after 55 minutes when a tackle on Yoann Folly made the ball fall perfectly for the striker who placed it passed Simon Royce.
On 70 minutes, Jeffers was replaced by Joshua Darling who was fired up for this game and nearly scored with his first touch when Burton played a low ball across the face of goal which Darling got on the end of but a great reaction save by Royce kept him from getting his first goal.
15 minutes later though he almost scored again when Wednesday broke away on the counter. Darling ran the full length of the pitch to provide an option for Rocky Lekaj who had the ball on the left, Lekaj played a long ball for Darling to run onto but the ball was over hit and found its way into the keeper’s hands to the frustration of Darling.
4-0 - Liverpool Reserves (Home)
Wednesday finished their Pre-Season fixtures in style which puts the Fans and Players on top of the world after they hammered 5 times Champions League side Liverpool’s Reserves 4-0. The side included Australian international Harry Kewell who has fallen out of favour with boss Rafa Benítez.
Darling Started on the bench as Wednesday started the game full of confidence and were rewarded on 23 minutes when Johnson hit the ball from 15 yards out into the top corner and 4 minutes later Jeffers made it 2-0 after getting on the end of Sodje’s header and placing it into the back of the net, which is Jeffers 5th goal in as many games.
After the break, Wednesday and Liverpool came out and slowed the game down and the game began to become dull. In the 42nd minute Darling came on to replace Sodje and his determined attitude seemed to bring the game back to life. As Wednesday upped the tempo again Liverpool crumbled and in the 71st minute, Tudgay shot from outside the box found its way into the bottom corner.
Wednesday kept on attacking and got the 4th and final goal of the game when Joshua Darling made a clever and brave run to beat the keeper David Martin to the ball and hammered it into the back of the net. Final Score 4-0.
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The Interview
14 year old Joshua Darling has had a very different 6 weeks holiday than his friends at school this year. While his mates have been playing football at the park, Josh has been training with youth coach Sean McAuley at Sheffield Wednesday and has played friendlies with his favourite players such as Tommy Spurr, Mark Beevers and Richard Wood who he has made friends with over the past month. “They were just like me” said Josh “They know what it’s like to be the new young kid at the club and they know it is hard to break into the first team. I have two years to wait before I get my chance to play for Wednesday in competitive matches but until then I’ll do what I’ve been doing my whole life, playing matches to improve my skill, and looking up to players to gain some experience.”
When we asked him about the Pre-Season and his involvement he said “I was shocked that Laws called me up to be honest, I’m 14 and can’t play competitive football till I’m 16 so I couldn’t see why he would want to boost my fitness in the friendlies. When I asked him he just said that he wanted to see if I was everything the scout had said I was. I was so excited when we played against Peterborough, I really wanted to get onto the pitch but Laws didn’t bring me on. I was quite angry at Laws because he’d made me a benchwarmer but I kept my cool and asked him nicely when I’d get my chance. He said when he decides and I got my chance against Bury, but the match was pretty much over and I had no chances at goal. I think those 15 minutes weren’t wasted though, Laws saw a huge part of my game, my determination and ‘Never say Die’ attitude. I think that’s why he played me from the start when we played Macclesfield. I really proved myself as a good secondary striker that day; it took me 1 minute to make the impact. I got the ball and just ran at Macclesfield; I was shocked how much space I had to run into. I was through on goal and was about to shoot when I saw Jeffers running into a gap so I passed it and he scored. I was confused when he took me off just after half time but he said he wanted to get Wade Small ready for the season. I was thinking that Laws thought I was a cry baby because I seemed to moan at him everytime I was substituted or was put on the bench but when I apologised to him later in the game, He told me that he loved the fact I wanted to play and that I just had to remember who was the boss sometimes and that I was young and I’ll make mistakes but I’ll learn from them.”
When we asked him what his favourite moment of Pre-Season was he simple said “It has to be Liverpool, I played well, I scored a goal, we won 4-0 and I met Rafa Benitez all at the same match. It’s not something I’ll forget for a long time.”
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In a small article in The Sheffield Star, Sheffield Wednesday youngster Joshua Darling has pleaded Tommy Spurr to stay at Hillsborough and says that moving to a big club right now will harm your chances of first team football. Darling says “There’s a huge gap between the Championship and the Premiership and it will be hard for Tom to adjust. Many players have moved up to the premiership and have become nothing, I don’t want that to happy to Tom.”
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In Next Week’s Edition:
· Highlights from Sheffield Wednesday U18’s and Reserve League matches
· More News from Hillsborough
· A Youth Cup Round Up
· An Interview with Sean McAuley over Darling's Progress and his future.
Say Hello to the Next Wayne Rooney 
Say Hello to the Next Wayne Rooney
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