“Straight-forward, basic, mundane..” Darren Moore on the defending that cost Sheffield Wednesday a day at Wembley

Groundhog day defending cost Sheffield Wednesday a place at Wembley as Sunderland scored twice from individual errors in a pair nip-and-tuck semi-final legs either side of the weekend.
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A heartbreaking error from Sam Hutchinson at the Stadium of Light and lackadaisical stuff late on at Hillsborough gifted the Black Cats the two goals that saw them through on a 2-1 aggregate scoreline.

And Wednesday boss Darren Moore made no secret of his frustrations at what he described as ‘avoidable individual errors’.

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Lapses in concentration at the back proved to be a repeat issue for the side all season long.

Sheffield Wednesday boss Darren Moore was dejected after the final whistle at Hillsborough.Sheffield Wednesday boss Darren Moore was dejected after the final whistle at Hillsborough.
Sheffield Wednesday boss Darren Moore was dejected after the final whistle at Hillsborough.

Asked if the nature of the goals Wednesday conceded made the result especially hard to take, Moore said: “One hundred per cent. It has been one of the tell tale things for us this season.

“When you look at both goals in the two legs, they were avoidable from our point of view. That's a disappointing thing.

“There have been far too many positives in terms of this club healing itself on and off the pitch, which is what we wanted to do this season. We wanted to take it further because the momentum is with us.

“Sometimes in football you don't get what you deserve.”

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After sublime work from Barry Bannan opened things up for Lee Gregory to level the scores in the 7th minute of Monday evening’s Hillsborough leg, things looked to be heading towards extra time before a long ball down Sunderland’s left caught Nathaniel Mendez-Laing out of position with Jordan Storey unable to stop the cross for Patrick Roberts’ gut-punch winner.

Wednesday have been susceptible to conceding late on and despite a carousel of defenders trying their luck at stemming the tide, have been vulnerable from set pieces and wide areas all season.

“I was disappointed in the manner of the goal,” Moore said. “It looked a straight-forward, basic, mundane goal to concede and it’s certainly a goal I never saw coming in that manner.

“It’s a couple of goals scored against us that in the magnitude of the game we didn’t see coming.

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“Over the course of the season we’ve suffered a couple of them and that’s been the disappointment.”

Wednesday will watch on as Sunderland meet Wycombe Wanderers in the play-off final, to be played on May 21.