Steve Eyre assesses PNE's draw at Sheffield Wednesday

Lancashire Post

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00:00There are obviously a couple of big moments, so Brad Potts' miss and the goal that goes

00:05in eventually is quite tame, but you spotted a couple of things in the second half that

00:11you felt played a key role as well, which I thought was interesting. Do you want to

00:13just go over those?

00:14Yes, well first of all I think we should mention the fantastic through-ball pass from Frockyard

00:21and the amazing timing of the run from Kessler-Hayden to take him into the left-hand side of the

00:26penalty area was the first golden chance. It doesn't help that he's on the wrong side

00:31of the field, naturally. And then Rhys had an extra effort after his goal, which forced

00:36a great save from the goalkeeper. And then what was encouraging was the amount of shots

00:40that North End were delivering, reining in almost on the Sheppard Wednesday goal, although

00:47the goalkeeper was well-positioned for most of them. And then I just thought half-time

00:54was fantastic for North End, it must have been great for those hearing those boos, but

00:57obviously you would have liked another 10 minutes from that point. And then I thought

01:01in the second half I was expecting Sheppard Wednesday to get better, but they didn't.

01:06It was North End that continued to continue as they were. In that first half, let's not

01:11forget that Sheppard Wednesday did have a couple of headers and shots at goal, Preston

01:16North End conceded that, but Freddie Woodman didn't look troubled. And then shortly after

01:23half-time there really was that golden opportunity to get that second goal, which would have

01:28literally sent the Hillsborough crowd home that early. They were that disgruntled when

01:33the ball came across and it fell to Brad Potts who composed himself, which is fair, and I

01:40think actually made the right choice, expected the keeper to come and dive in and around

01:45his feet from close range. And the execution of the dinked effort unfortunately missed

01:51the target. I think if he had that opportunity again and he tried the same thing again, he

01:56would slightly correct it and score. Or I think the last goal that I scored was at Deepdale

02:03that he scored. He shot and fired it right across the goalkeeper. He may have wished

02:07he'd have done that too. So that was not disappointing, but that was like a heart-in-mouth moment.

02:16But I have to say what was absolutely fantastic was the play down the left-hand side all game.

02:23Kessler-Hayden basically with the running and his effort at goal, but the link-up play

02:29between Mads Krokar basically at the heart of it all. But it was Greenwood who was devastating

02:37in the left-wing position three or four times in the game and firing the ball across as

02:42he did in that moment for Potts. But the caveat to that, George, is whilst it was as

02:48I described that, it was devastating, brilliant play. It's your centre-forward that's on the

02:53left-wing putting the ball in. So that means your other centre-forward of Rhys is not in

03:00the middle of the box tapping it in. So whilst it was brilliant from Greenwood, he is a centre-forward

03:05doing some amazing work on the left-wing. However, the chance came to Potts and as I

03:10think I've just covered, I think we all obviously would recognise he should have scored. But

03:15I really admired his positive attitude to recover from his personal disappointment of

03:21not scoring, to keep taking the game forward and hopefully to try and improve and increase

03:27the lead for North End. Sadly, it didn't come. The boos got louder. The discontent got stronger.

03:34And unfortunately, Kessler-Hayden again tackling, it was recklessly, doesn't help that he's

03:39on the wrong side of the penalty area for two moments in the game, two big moments that

03:45I didn't think helped him. One for his shot at goal in the first half and two for his

03:49reckless tackle for the penalty, which thankfully Josh Windas missed. There were still opportunities

03:56for North End to share those last minutes of the game because I did think Sheffield

04:03Wednesday started to improve because the crowd demanded so. And they basically didn't particularly

04:09get much better, but they did quicken up. But unfortunately for me, the combative brilliance

04:16really of Ali Mekhane in the middle of the pitch on a yellow card saw a less of a performance

04:21in him in the last 20 minutes, just like I saw at the last game I saw at Deepdale. And

04:26also the manager's decision to bring Frokyar off made it such that their most creative

04:33player had left the field and their most combative player was now a little bit less in combat,

04:43shall we say. So that for me allowed some impetus for Sheffield Wednesday to get to

04:48full-time, taking the game to North End. And sadly, it was a case of shaking hands on a

04:53draw, which should have really been all three. And just to finish this passage of conversation

04:59with you, George, I was so impressed with everybody and I see a brilliant first-half

05:04performance and I saw an all-round great 75 minutes. But whilst this football team have

05:09two wing-backs playing out of position, their best player not on the pitch for the last

05:1315 minutes and their most combative player on a yellow card on 60, I don't really know

05:18how Preston North End will get to full-time comfortably if this is the blueprint for future games.

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