Source: PA
McDonald on target to sink Owls
Middlesbrough kept alive their outside hopes of a Coca-Cola Championship play-off place with a hard-earned 1-0 win against relegation-threatened Sheffield Wednesday.
Alan Irvine's side went into the game desperate for a win but were unable to take anything from the Riverside as Scott McDonald's deflected first-half goal proved enough for Boro.
The Owls' cause was hampered before play even began as Leon Clarke was unable to take his place in the starting line-up after suffering an injury during the warm-up.
The early setback did not deter the Owls, though, and they could have taken an early lead but for a good double save from Brad Jones, denying Darren Potter and Marcus Tudgay.
The Owls paid the price for their lack of cutting edge in front of goal as Middlesbrough took a fortuitous lead five minutes before half-time.
McDonald surged towards the Owls' backline before firing a seemingly innocuous 30-yard strike towards goal only for it to take a huge deflection off Tom Soares, wrong-footing Lee Grant.
