Managers at odds on Ipswich Town penalty decision that killed off Sheffield Wednesday hope
A late penalty decision that killed off any Sheffield Wednesday hopes of a result against Ipswich Town has proven controversial.
With the scoreline already opened up a few minutes earlier, lively attacker Jack Clarke jinked his way past Sean Fusire at the very corner of the penalty area and earned a spot kick having flown through the air theatrically. Replays showed the Owls youngster did leave his leg in the challenge and it is not known how much contact was felt, with few protestations evident from an exhausted Wednesday side.
Clarke, a perennial tormentor of the Owls in his time at Sunderland, rose to score the penalty himself and take any notion of a Wednesday result out of the equation in a match that had long since swung the way of the promotion-chasing Tractor Boys. Speaking after the match, the two managers - who have a great respect for one another - expressed opposing views on the legitimacy of the penalty. Referee Tom Reeves was the subject of anger from the home crowd at Hillsborough as he left the pitch with his officials.
“I have not seen that again, but it was not my feeling that it was a penalty when I saw it in the game,” Owls boss Henrik Pedersen said in a week that saw his side denied a only a second win of the campaign with an offside equaliser at home to Watford on Tuesday evening.
“I have not seen it again yet,” Pedersen continued. “Yes, it was tough the other evening, it was tough against Millwall. But we all do the best we can and we have all our focus where we have influence.”
Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna took a simpler view, shrugging his shoulders when asked by a Suffolk journalist for his views on the decision. “Unless somebody tells me differently it looked clear,” he said. “Look, I didn’t think it’s one that’s debateable. I thought it was a clear penalty.”