By Amos Joseph
Sheffield Wednesday manager Darren Moore and his opponent Ryan Lowe acknowledged that the FA Cup re-match between both sides could have been avoided had their players been more clinical in front of goal.
The match which kicked off at lunchtime ended in a goalless draw in front of 7,216 fans at Hillsborough Stadium.
Not many chances were created in the first half but the visitors registered their intent by thrusting the balls forward with hopes of catching the Owls on a counter-attack.
Lowe, whose men looked the sharpest in the first half said: “I’m disappointed we didn’t go into halftime with at least one-nil. Pleased that we got a clean sheet, we were so resolute but I’m not so pleased with the performance at the top end of the pitch.”
“We need to be better at taking more risks and creating a lot more chances but overall they weren’t clinical and we weren’t.”
The Pilgrims had their major chance when Wednesday goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrel decided to allow Panutche Camara’s ball across the face of his goal pass without making any contact. The ball fell to Hardie who squared to Edward but had his shot deflected into the side netting.
Another distant strike from wingback, Conor Grant, went wide as they dominated the affair at the start of the second half.
Lowe’s side had beaten Wednesday 3-0 in a League One encounter two months back, he said: The resilience of the group to keep a clean sheet when Sheffield Wednesday threw the kitchen sink at us towards the end, they made five substitutions and we only made two or three.
“They were trying to get the game won, so were we.”
“In the second half we had one or two half-chances but we weren’t just clinical enough. So, 0-0 was probably deserved,” he said.
A triple substitution that saw the introduction of Jack Hunt, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, and Lee Gregory changed the complexion of the game for the host later in the second half but the finishing touch was lacking.
“We took the game more to them in the second half on the balance of the play, Sheffield Wednesday manager Darren Moore said.
“We definitely had the better chance out of both teams. I remember Bailey pulling off a point-blank save towards the end. I Just thought we had two or three chances in the second half we could have converted better. We are probably in the final third chose the wrong pass or didn’t quite get the right touch on the ball or the right contact to make their keeper work enough which could have seen us through to the second round.”
Moore’s men were unbeaten in seven before the fixture, and he believes that a loss would have been damning to the mentality of the boys.
“While I am happy that we didn’t lose the game, it is a clean sheet, and it builds that mentality. I just thought in the final third we could have been better and more clinical,” Moore said.
Liam Palmer received a back-hill pass from Fisayo, his shot went straight at Plymouth goalkeeper, Cooper who soon pulled another save from Saido Berahino’s effort.
A Lewis Wing added time effort went over the bar further ensured that the re-match is booked for next week at Home Parl.
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