Argyle were made to rue their missed chances in a 3-0 defeat against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough on Saturday afternoon.
Bradley Ibrahim and Xavier Amaechi had good opportunities to score for the Pilgrims, but goals from Billy Mitchell, Davis Keillor-Dunn and Di’Shon Bernard condemned the Greens to defeat
Head Coach Tom Cleverley made seven changes from the side that beat Swindon Town 2-1 in Tuesday night’s Jersey Mike’s Trophy fixture. James Storer, Oliver Irow, Owen Oseni, Seb Campbell, Joe Mwaro and Frankie Maund all moved to the bench, while Jared Rendle was unavailable after sustaining a head injury midweek.
Argyle lined up in a 3-4-2-1 formation, with Murphy Cooper in goal behind a back three of Wes Harding, Mathias Ross and Alex Hartridge. Ronan Curtis and Jack MacKenzie provided the width as wing-backs, while Harvey White and Malachi Boateng formed the central midfield partnership. Amaechi and Ibrahim operated just behind Will Evans, who led the line.
The Pilgrims started the stronger side and enjoyed a few early chances. The first opportunity came in the eighth minute when Amaechi nicked the ball from Jaden Heskey, drove past the halfway line and played a precise pass across to Ibrahim, but Callum Slattery got back to make a good recovery tackle.
Just two minutes later, Amaechi was causing the Owls’ defence issues yet again. The attacker dribbled into the 18-yard box and cut a pass back to Curtis on the edge of the box. Joe Lumley made a fantastic save to deny Curtis’ curling effort, before Yan Valery nudged it out for a corner under pressure from Evans.
19 minutes in, the hosts had their first goalscoring opportunity of the game, when Jamal Lowe’s header flew over the bar from Slattery’s free kick. The set piece was awarded after a high foot on Lowe, that meant Curtis was booked.
Shortly after, Harding popped up with a burst of pace to stop a Wednesday counter attack as the Argyle captain ran back to halt Barry Bannan’s progress after Davis Keillor-Dunn’s pass.
Following a small period of Wednesday pressure, momentum swung back in the favour of Argyle. Ibrahim made a strong tackle on the edge of his own box, before sprinting the length of the pitch to receive the ball from Boateng, who had made a good run with the ball down the left flank. However, Lumley rushed out to deny the Greens.
Then, after 38 minutes of play, came the Pilgrims’ best opportunity of the half. Evans received the ball with his back to goal, about 35 yards out, and flicked a pass around the corner to Amaechi, who made good progress down the right before playing an accurate cross into the box. His ball was dummied by Evans, and found its way to Ibrahim, who failed to connect with the ball when lining a shot up on the edge of the six-yard box.
Ibrahim was involved again on the stroke of half-time, making an excellent goal-line clearance to keep out Bernard’s header after Bannan’s corner.
Wednesday punished the Pilgrims for their lack of finishing, when Mitchell gave them the lead in the 45th minute. Another Bannan corner found its way to Mitchell on the edge of the 18-yard box, before the midfielder’s volley was deflected into the back of the net via Curtis’ body.
The Owls had the next big opportunity after the break and would have doubled their advantage had it not been for Cooper. Lowe took the ball past Hartridge and found space to unleash a powerful shot, but the Argyle keeper made an excellent save to limit the deficit to one, against the side who he spent time on loan at last season. Keillor-Dunn then dragged a poor effort wide of the mark on the rebound.
In the 62nd minute, for the second time in the match, Argyle should have had the ball in the back of the Wednesday net. Ibrahim popped up on the left flank and produced a pinpoint curled cross into the back post to find Amaechi, but the attacker’s header was tame and dribbled wide for a goal kick.
Cleverley opted to make an attacking double change with 26 minutes of normal time to play, replacing MacKenzie with Irow at wing-back and Ibrahim with Watts.
Another substitution was inbound as striker Oseni made his return to Sky Bet League One action, coming on in place of White.
With Argyle choosing to pile players forwards in search of an equaliser, the pitch opened up for Wednesday, and the hosts doubled their advantage. A deep free kick was headed back across goal and fell to the feet of Keillor-Dunn at the back post, who found the roof of the net with a powerful effort.
Within 120 seconds of their second, the Owls extended their advantage to three. Bernard received the ball on the halfway line after a loose Argyle pass, before the defender drove forwards, and, aided by an attacking overload, found the space to fire a shot towards goal. His effort hit the back of the net, via Cooper’s hands and the left post.
In a match where Argyle competed well but failed to make their chances count, Cleverley’s side will be looking to respond to defeat when they return to League One action next weekend, to face Peterborough United at Home Park.
Sheffield Wednesday: 1 Joe Lumley, 5 Di’Shon Bernard, 6 Liam Cooper, 7 Yan Valery, 8 Callum Slattery, 9 Jamal Lowe (2 Liam Palmer, 85), 10 Barry Bannan (capt) (11 Louie Barry, 73), 16 Billy Mitchell, 18 Jaden Heskey, 26 Sil Swinkels, 50 Davis Keillor-Dunn (24 Harry Gray, 85). Substitutes: 27 Connal Trueman (GK), 4 Ricardo Santos, 30 Ernie Weaver, 37 Jarvis Thornton.
Goals: Mitchell 45, Keillor-Dunn 80, Bernard 82
Booked: Mitchell 41, Cooper 90+1
Argyle: 1 Murphy Cooper, 2 Mathias Ross, 3 Jack MacKenzie (14 Oliver Irow, 64), 6 Malachi Boateng, 7 Harvey White (18 Owen Oseni, 77), 9 Will Evans, 10 Xavier Amaechi, 11 Ronan Curtis, 22 Alex Hartridge, 23 Bradley Ibrahim (17 Caleb Watts, 64), 45 Wes Harding (capt). Substitutes: 21 James Storer (GK), 38 Seb Campbell, 40 Joe Mwaro, 46 Frankie Maund.
Booked: Curtis 17, White 72, Harding 79
Referee: Anthony Backhouse
