Officials hold apologetic post-match meeting over call that cost Sheffield Wednesday
Officials that missed an offside decision that cost Sheffield Wednesday their first win in 171 days apologised to Owls staff in a meeting held post-match.
Wednesday went into injury time of their Tuesday evening clash with Watford a goal to the good but saw Vivaldo Semedo bag a last-gasp equaliser for the second time this season, meaning their long wait for victory rolls on. An impressive second half performance in particular left many believing the Owls deserved to take their second win of the campaign.
Semedo was offside in the immediate build-up to the goal - which was not spotted by the officials. The full time whistle sent exhausted Wednesday players to their knees in anguish. Soon afterwards both Owls boss Henrik Pedersen and first team coach Pete Shuttleworth were seen in passionate discussions with the officials.
Delayed in his press duties, Pedersen confirmed to The Star post-match that they had discussed the incident in a short meeting held after the game but accepted that the officials, led by Elliot Bell, had held their hands up for the error.
“I have a big respect for them because they said sorry for their mistakes,” the Dane said. “You have to respect that. It’s sad, the boys are working so hard for this. But he is doing the best he can and we are doing the best we can.”
Speaking with emotion, Pedersen expressed mixed emotions at the result, with a sense of injustice and missed opportunity amid pride in a strong performance. A bad tempered game saw a flashpoint in the technical area, with coaches from both sides shown a red card. Wednesday did end their long run of defeats and collected their first point of the year.
Pedersen said: "I'm very, very proud of the performance and I'm also happy to get a point, but I think it's maybe one of the closest performances and closest games we have had to get three points. So on one side I'm very, very happy with the performance, proud of the performance, and then it's of course a little bit sad that they get an offside goal to draw 1-1, but most of all I'm proud. I think we were difficult to play against tonight."
The night was a significant one on two fronts, with club captain Liam Palmer recording his 500th appearance in Wednesday colours. Administrators also confirmed the Arise group as preferred bidders to take the club on - with senior figures attached the bid in attendance at the match.