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Plymouth 3-2 Wednesday

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WEDNESDAY’S woeful form continued in League One as they fell to defeat in a five-goal thriller against ten-man Plymouth Argyle at Home Park.

Carl Fletcher, Bradley Wright-Phillips and Craig Noone bagged the goals for Argyle, who were reduced to ten-men on the stroke of half-time when Bondz N’Gala was given his marching orders for a foul on Neil Mellor.

James O’Connor had levelled for the Owls before half-time before Tommy Miller hit a response for a second-time shortly after his second-half introduction but it wasn’t enough as Noone’s strike proved to be the winner in an entertaining game.

The defeat sends Wednesday down to eleventh in the league table and will put some major questions marks above the Owls’ desire to achieve automatic promotion this season.

Owls boss Alan Irvine made two changes to the side that fell to a 1-0 defeat at home to Carlisle United last weekend.

Striker Neil Mellor returned in attack following a bout of illness to replace Clinton Morrison, who dropped to the bench, while James O’Connor came into the Owls’ midfield, replacing Gary Teale. O’Connor partnered Darren Potter in the centre of the midfield, while Giles Coke moved out to the wing in the absence of Teale.

Wednesday started positively and forced two early corners but neither troubled the Argyle defence, while Mellor forced a powerful header a foot wide of the target.

Peter Reid’s men also had a good early chance through defender Krisztian Timar in the end-to-end opening exchanges but he failed to trouble Nicky Weaver in the Wednesday goal.

Argyle upped a gear as the ten-minute mark approached and Bradley Wright-Phillips forced Weaver into a good save following some good pressure from the hosts.

The hosts were taking control of the contest in terms of chances and possession and Craig Noone fired an effort which came inches wide of giving Plymouth the lead.

An opening goal was looking likely for Argyle and it came after 19 minutes when skipper Carl Fletcher fired a low shot from outside the box which flew by Weaver into the back of the net.

Wednesday were sloppy in their passing and struggled to threaten the Plymouth goal in the first 30 minutes as the hosts sat relatively comfortably on their lead.

The attacks from the visitors were rare but with Wednesday’s first real threat of the match came their leveller out of nothing.

It wasn’t deserved on the balance of play but O’Connor wasn’t complaining as he forced his header down on to the ground and into the side netting for his third goal of the season.

Wednesday had been poor up until the goal but grew in confidence after getting on level terms and Potter fired a powerful effort way wide of Romain Larrieu’s goal minutes later.

Wednesday’s chances of turning the game around were given a boost just minutes before half-time when Plymouth’s Bondz N’Gala was sent off in controversial fashion.

N’Gala looked to have hauled down Neil Mellor en-route to goal and although the referee didn’t see the foul, the assistant did and called the man in the middle over before giving N’Gala his marching orders to the dismay of the home supporters.

Half-Time: Plymouth 1-1 Wednesday

Wednesday will have been keen to play a more attacking style on the resumption given their man advantage but they made the worst possible start to the second half.

Argyle came flying out of the traps and regained the lead just a minute after the restart when Wright-Phillips headed home a Noone cross to the delight of the home support.

And they didn’t sit back on their lead as Wright-Phillips came close to doubling his tally for the afternoon with an effort which drifted just wide of goal.

It looked more like the Owls were the team with ten men and not Argyle, who continued to look the more dangerous team.

The visitors continued to struggle creating chances at the other end but Tommy Spurr did break free to provide a cross which just evaded Marcus Tudgay.

Wednesday made a double change 18 minutes into the second half as they looked for a way back into the game with Miller and Morrison coming on to replace Potter and Sedgwick respectively.

And the changes almost worked immediately when Tudgay forced Larrieu into a fine save to divert the effort away for a corner.

They did pay off with 15 minutes to go when super-substitute Miller volleyed a superb effort into the top corner to level for a second time for the Owls.

But, after bringing former Owl Steve Maclean on in place of Wright-Phillips, Argyle hit back less than two minutes later to regain the lead for a third time in the match.

Wednesday had been poor at the back throughout the match and they were made to pay again when Noone turned from provider to goalscorer with a headed effort from a James Paterson cross.

The Owls made their third and final change when Spurr was replaced by Daniel Jones as Wednesday looked for a more attacking threat.

Morrison had a half chance to level for a third time for Wednesday when he broke the offside trap but couldn’t find the back of the net as the Owls continued to frustrate.

Captain Darren Purse also came inches wide of levelling from a set-piece but his effort went the wrong side of the post as the visitors pushed forward.

But the Owls couldn’t find their way back into the game before the end and deserved all they got from the game.

Full-Time: Plymouth 3-2 Wednesday

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