Carlos Carvalhal was left fuming at an early refereeing decision that robbed Wednesday of a penalty – and a possible three points – at Derby on Saturday.
After an excellent early save from Cameron Dawson, Wednesday took charge with our swift, neat passing game causing problems for the home defence.
And the controversial moment came on just six minutes when Adam Reach’s goalbound close-range shot was blocked on the line by what appeared to be Richard Keogh’s arm, only for the referee to wave play on.
Carvalhal said afterwards: “It is clear to everyone that it was handball,
“I don’t know how this decision has not been given and the frustrating thing is that it has such a big impact on the rest of the game.”
He added: “People talk a lot about how we need technology but why do we need a camera or a video when we have three referees on the pitch, one of them must see it. They have communication and can say it’s a clear penalty.”
Derby boss Steve McClaren said: “Keogh made a great save without his gloves on and we rode our luck in that. Game’s are turned on that one way or another and it turned our way and what you have to do in those instances is take advantage and that’s what we did.”
Carvalhal said he was proud of Wednesday’s display, despite the result, and was pleased with the football we played.
However, it was another case of us playing plenty of excellent football on our travels, dominating the possession but failing to turn the impressive approach work into all-important goals.
Former Owls loanee Scott Carson had already kept out a Fernando Forestieri header before the Reach controversy and it was against the run of play when Cyrus Christie headed the Rams in front from a corner on 17 minutes.
The game became more even as the half progressed but we again began the second half the brighter side, with Forestieri firing over after another flowing move and Carson foiling the same player with a diving save.
However, midway through the half, Derby doubled their lead when the ball deflected fortunately to Alex Pearce in the box and he shot past Dawson from close range.
The second goal deflated Wednesday and our situation worsened when substitute Steven Fletcher suffered a head injury and had to leave the field on 77 minutes, just 15 minutes after coming on as a substitute.
The 2-0 reverse sees us drop to seventh spot in the Championship and means it is now 17 games since we last beat Derby.