Sheffield Wednesday kicked off their League One campaign with a 2-1 win at Leyton Orient, though the manner of victory was rather less tidy than the scoreline suggests. Nearly 20 minutes of stoppage time, a goal credited to a backside, a quickly taken drop-ball, a disallowed effort and one of the more startling misses you will see in the third tier this season: it had everything, broadly speaking, except calm.

Lowe does the damage

The headline contributions came from Jamal Lowe, who worked a disallowed goal before winning and converting a penalty to give Wednesday the points. That is two goals in two competitive matches for Lowe, and if that form continues he will be near the top of most conversations about Wednesday's attacking threat before September arrives.

The opener arrived in rather more scruffy fashion, the ball going in off Callum Slattery's backside. Goals are goals, as the cliche goes, but it is fair to say the Owls were not exactly purring in the early stages. Leyton Orient, for their part, looked organised and purposeful. BBC Radio Sheffield reporter Rob Staton noted that "they have good players at every level of the pitch," and on-loan Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Yusuf Akhamrich was singled out as a "skilled difference maker" capable of causing problems for sides in this division.

Orient did pull one back through a well-worked equaliser off a quickly taken drop-ball, which will have given their supporters some encouragement even in defeat. Armando Dobra was then gifted a late chance to level again but, according to Staton's account, "fluffed his lines" when it mattered.

Bannan's moment to forget

The moment that will travel furthest on social media was Barry Bannan's miss. The Wednesday captain, a player supporters have trusted in big moments for years, contrived to miss in a manner that defied straightforward explanation. Staton, commentating at the time, initially called it as a goal before having to correct himself, describing it as a proper "did that really just happen?" moment. Bannan himself appeared to take it in reasonable spirits, joking on Instagram that he would be taking shooting practice on Monday. Veteran captains who can laugh at themselves tend to survive these episodes. The clip, presumably, will take longer to disappear.

Young Harry Gray had also spurned a chance before Bannan's effort, which at least means the miss was not the only one on the day. Wednesday saw out the closing stages with what Staton called "impressive control," which matters rather more than the comedy of the middle period.

A rebuild taking shape

For Wednesday, this was the kind of opening-day result that sets a tone without necessarily revealing much. They are, as Staton puts it, "very much in the first flush of their rebuild," and a win on the road against a well-organised League One side counts as mission accomplished regardless of the aesthetic. Owner David Storch, who was reportedly mobbed outside Brisbane Road before kick-off, has clearly generated goodwill among the travelling support. The away end was in good voice throughout, with songs about the club being back featuring prominently.

Wednesday's next fixture is a Yorkshire derby at home to Bradford City on Thursday evening, their first home league match of the season at Hillsborough. That fixture, with local bragging rights at stake, will tell us considerably more about where this side actually stands. A bumpy 2-1 against Orient is a foundation, nothing more. Whether the build on top of it holds up is a separate question entirely.

Leyton Orient, meanwhile, will feel there are points in this team. Losing narrowly at home on the opening day to a side most will regard as promotion contenders is not a disaster. How they respond across the early weeks will matter far more.

Frequently asked

What was the score between Leyton Orient and Sheffield Wednesday?
Sheffield Wednesday won 2-1 at Leyton Orient in their League One opening-day fixture.
Who scored for Sheffield Wednesday against Leyton Orient?
Callum Slattery's backside diverted in the opener, and Jamal Lowe scored a penalty to win the match.
What did Barry Bannan miss against Leyton Orient?
Barry Bannan missed a clear chance late in the game in what was widely described as one of the more baffling misses of the early season. He joked on Instagram that shooting practice would follow on Monday.