Merit point for Latics

Photo: Alan Howarth

CATCH me if you can . . . Athletic striker Oumare Tounkara surges towards the Sheffield Wednesday penalty area.

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Sheffield Wed 0, Athletic 0

HUSTLE and bustle was the order of the day as Athletic earned a deserved point at Hillsborough.

Both managers will be relatively content with the ultimate result while also having plenty to build on in an uninspiring game of few real opportunities.

For Sheffield Wednesday’s Alan Irvine, the stalemate ended a sequence — barely believable when you examine the quality present on the team sheet — of four defeats in a row.

And Athletic boss Paul Dickov will be grateful for some stability away from Boundary Park after a run — albeit an unfortunate one considering Brighton’s late, late winner at the weekend — of two away losses in succession.

Dean Brill had a quiet night in the Athletic goal.

The closest Wednesday got was a shot from the edge of the area by Giles Coke which fizzed narrowly wide, though a penalty shout against ‘Big’ Jean-Yves Mvoto — ‘Big’ is now his unofficial first name and he put in a no-nonsense performance to match — for a robust challenge on Clinton Morrison could have presented the home team with a first-half penalty.

As for Athletic, several promising breaks forward came to nothing as a result of sloppy final passes, though Dickov’s men could have nicked all three points through good off-target strikes by the lively Chris Taylor and the industrious Dean Furman.

The one dark cloud on Athletic’s still-pleasant-looking horizon came in the shape of a second-half yellow card for captain Reuben Hazell, the fifth of his season, ruling the centre-back out of Saturday’s home game against Leyton Orient through a one-match ban.

The first half was one of few — if any — bona fide chances for either team.

The biggest threat to Athletic was the loud shout for a penalty right on half-time.

Morrison, recalled to the starting line-up in place of Neil Mellor, was bumped away from the ball unceremoniously by Mvoto and went to ground like the proverbial sack of potatoes, banging his hand on the turf in frustration as referee David Webb ruled it wasn’t a spot-kick.

A couple of shots had to be blocked by Athletic men throwing themselves in front of the ball, mainly leading from sloppy play in midfield in the early part of the half.

As the period progressed, Dickov’s men established some control and quietened the crowd.

Off one slaloming break by Lewis Alessandra, Oumare Tounkara went in on goal when in an offside position and would have done better to leave the ball for the breaking Ritchie Jones.

The burly French striker was nonetheless having an impact, and he also hit a 25-yard drive five yards wide, while Jones was felled cynically when set to slip in Taylor on the left edge of the penalty area eight minutes before half-time. Dale Stephens hit the resulting 20-yard free-kick three yards over.

One other moment of interest — there weren’t many — saw ex-Athletic loan man Daniel Jones emerge into the action at the expense of long throw expert Chris Spurr, who retired groggily after a clash of heads with Jones.

The second half began with Wednesday on the offensive, and Morrison hit a snap-shot which cleared the bar, while at the other end Furman’s skidding volley went narrowly wide of Nicky Weaver’s goal with the goalkeeper beaten.

Coke struck his left-footed effort off target before Taylor’s break into the area at the other end resulted in his pull-back being too easily blocked.

Marcus Tudgay appealed in vain for a penalty when he went down amid a sea of players when challenging for a corner, but it was Athletic who finished the game as the stronger side.

Paul Heffernan came off the bench for Wednesday to try to grab a goal against the club he represented on loan last season, though he had little impact.

And Taylor may have scored a late winner for the visitors with two minutes of the regular 90 remaining, cutting in from the left and lashing a shot two feet wide of the far post.