Sheff Wed boss Danny Rohl grateful for double penalty-saving hero Cameron Dawson

Posted Sunday, January 07, 2024 by PA

Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl was grateful to Cameron Dawson after the goalkeeper’s penalty-saving heroics helped seal a 4-0 FA Cup win against Cardiff.

Dawson kept out quickfire spot-kicks from Cardiff skipper Ryan Wintle and Callum Robinson inside the opening seven minutes after Josh Windass had given Wednesday a second-minute lead.

The Owls keeper was in inspired form for his hometown club, pulling off a string of further saves to keep Cardiff at bay, while Romaine Sawyers’ own goal and Liam Palmer’s stunning volley put the Owls 3-0 up at half-time.

Cardiff were made to pay for a long list of squandered chances in either half and Owls substitute Mallik Wilks completed the scoring in added time.

Rohl said: “Cameron has shown in the past that he is there. Today he has saved two penalties, it was great.

“I always protect my players and in the past when there were some mistakes – I think today he showed he is ready.

“It was a performance everyone will speak about, but we won’t speak about individuals, it was just the team. The team did the job we have to do and that’s it.”

The Owls are enjoying a mini-revival under Rohl, who became the English Football League’s youngest manager when appointed as Xisco Munoz’s replacement in October.

This latest win was their sixth in nine games in all competitions and the 34-year-old German, who left out Barry Bannan and Bailey Cadamarteri, was delighted his side maintained their momentum.

“For sure, it was for me clear,” he said. “You always think after this tough period maybe some players need a rest.

“For me, it was about whether there was a risk and if there was we wouldn’t risk to play with some players.

“But my team did well for the result. It was OK, next round. Now it’s about keeping going, recovery and I’ve always spoken about the momentum. I want to keep this.”

Cardiff made six changes following their 2-1 win at QPR on New Year’s Day and in the absence of manager Erol Bulut, who had stayed at home due to illness, assistant Nikolaos Karydas was philosophical in defeat.

“Disappointed I cannot say because the result sometimes does not reflect the performance of the team,” Karydas said.

“We saw many positive things, especially in the second half. I cannot say as an excuse we missed a lot of players.”

On his side’s two missed penalties and a glut of other spurned chances, he added: “In football, you can expect anything. Even this is a part of the game.

“Maybe if we had scored the result would be opposite, but we have to accept it now and look forward to the next game.

“In football if you don’t score, you lose the game. You have to score. But we’ll say we are satisfied by the pictures that the players showed.”