Martinez’s saves suit Jackett
RESILIENT Wolves earned the praise of their manager Kenny Jackett after his 10-man side held out against leaders Brighton.
Wolves had to play the final 41 minutes of the game a man down after Conor Coady was sent off for fouling Liam Rosenior, but managed to collect their first clean sheet of the season.
Jackett, whose side were also indebted to a first-half penalty save from Emiliano Martinez when he denied Tomer Hemed from the spot, said: ‘It was a well-earned point against an impressive side. Brighton were good and moved the ball well and got a high number of crosses in. We had to work hard for the clean sheet in the dying minutes.
‘When they put Bobby Zamora and Elvis Manu on you wonder how the dynamics of the game are going to change.
‘But the young centre-half pairing of Kortney Hause and Ethan EbanksLandell stood firm and showed a lot of promise I felt.’ Jackett was also thankful to the heroics of Martinez and he added: ‘It was a great double save. I felt that was a turning point in the match.
‘You want your forwards to win you games but, equally, your goalkeeper can provide you with decisive and key moments in the game.’
Brighton should have taken control of affairs from the spot when winger Jamie Murphy was sent sprawling after 23 minutes following a rash Scott Golbourne challenge.
But Hemed’s weak shot – and his follow up – were both well saved by Martinez. Hemed did go some way to making up for his poor f inishing when he cleared Adam Le Fondre’s goalbound shot off the line.
Brighton manager Chris Hughton Hughton said: ‘I couldn’t fault the commitment of the players and I thought that they had a real go.
‘We had had a midweek game and Wolves hadn’t, and there were little periods in that first-half when they maybe looked a little fresher than we did.
‘So it is difficult to be too disappointed but, of course, we did have a really good opportunity with the penalty.’