Sheffield Wednesday’s ‘non-existent’ first half criticised – half time chat revealed

The Owls came away from Hillsborough with a 2-1 victory on Saturday afternoon, but made hard work of things as they had to come from behind following a lacklustre first half that saw them criticised by plenty in the fanbase.

And they weren’t the only ones, Moore admits that he wasn’t pleased with what he saw in the opening stanza, but liked how they managed to fight back.

“I think the first 45 minutes was non-existent from us,” Moore said afterwards. “They looked tired, and jaded, and at half time we came together and said that we needed to give more to the cause and take the game to them.

“The goal almost sparked us into life, and they were better after that. We were much more committed in the second half and forced the Exeter errors…

"You raise your voice, but it's all in context of the game. There's no point shouting at them as they have got to see the plan and vision within the game in the second half and the players have to remain calm and composed.

“It was all about getting the win and I thought we showed that better in the second half. It's not about ranting and raving and getting too anxious about the situation. It's about trying to stay calm and believing. They are an experienced group who knows what it takes.

"We are dealing with expectation here, but you have to give the players credit. There's the expectation of three points and you have to manage that and it was the same tonight.”

And though it’s no longer in their hands, Moore isn’t giving up on a top two spot…

"Not while ever it's mathematically there,” he said. “You can't. It's all about focusing on what Sheffield Wednesday are doing. We have got 90 points over the course of a season and that's remarkable really.

"Last season, we got 85 and we have still a couple of games to add to that points tally.”

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