Sheffield Wed. 1 : 1 Hull City - Improved second half show gets Hull City the point at Sheffield Wednesday

Posted Saturday, October 17, 2015 by PA

Hull staged a second-half recovery to earn a point in a 1-1 draw at Sheffield Wednesday in the Sky Bet Championship.

Steve Bruce's men failed to impress in the opening 45 minutes of this Yorkshire derby as the Owls deservedly led through Fernando Forestieri's instinctive finish after 28 minutes.

But Bruce clearly had words with his men at the half-time interval and they came out firing in the second half, with Abel Hernandez's 50th-minute strike earning a draw.

Both sides will feel they could have won, as several chances were missed during their respective dominant 45 minutes, but Wednesday and Hull both extend their impressive unbeaten runs.

Wednesday's first-half domination could have began much earlier had referee Keith Stroud awarded them a spot-kick inside the opening 10 minutes when Kieran Lee burst into the box and looked to be fouled by Tigers skipper Michael Dawson.

However, after continuing to look the more threatening, they took the lead in the 28th minute through Forestieri.

After a corner was cleared Ross Wallace stood a ball back into the area which Tom Lees headed down for Forestieri to hook home from eight yards.

Hull threatened an immediate response when Jake Livermore's low effort forced Owls goalkeeper Keiren Westwood into a scrambling save, but it was Wednesday who continued to boss matters.

Lucas Joao almost doubled the lead when he made space for himself on the edge of the area and sent in a stinging low shot, which Hull goalkeeper Allan McGregor failed to hold, with Forestieri denied as he was about to follow up.

And then Barry Bannan squandered an even better opportunity after blazing over at the far post following good work by Lee.

After a poor first-half showing from the Tigers it took them only five minutes to improve after the break and they levelled through Hernandez.

Westwood beat away two efforts from Livermore but he was helpless to Hernandez driving in his fifth goal of the season.

Hull were a different side and only the fingertips of Westwood stopped them taking the lead on the hour mark.

Ahmed Elmohamady whipped in an inviting cross and Hernandez's precise header was superbly tipped around the post.

Sam Clucas and Andrew Robertson both drilled over as Hull continued to press, though there was a rare moment of danger at the other end as McGregor had to produce a fine save after Robertson diverted a Wednesday free-kick goalwards.

Hull sent three men up front in the final 10 minutes in a bid to force a winner, but the only late drama was Stroud suffering an injury after taking a tumble, with the referee replaced for the four minutes of time added on by fourth official Darren Handley.