Game Forty Seven - Huddersfield Town home

24 January 2009

It seems almost a lifetime ago that we headed up north to see our side take on Huddersfield back in October. So much has happened and yet the same outcome would be there at the final whistle... no matter what the score, we would be top of the league come 5pm.

Headed down to the walkers a bit earlier than normal to meet up with Jodie and to get a copy of the Yeovil game on dvd from Joe - very much appreciated Mr Baker! After collecting that, we headed back round the front of the stadium and bumped into the only and only Tunchev. He clearly didn't seem to understand a word I said to him but took the opportunity to get a quick photo with the man mountain.

Headed further round towards the away turnstiles and bumped into the Cator's and Jobber just as some more Huddersfield fans arrived.... The police were clearly keen to make an early impression and several arrests appeared to be made for what looked like nothing before they even reached the turnstiles. A quick chat there and I headed off to meet my old man who was waiting in the usual seats.... I wonder if he had a shower that day as no one seemed keen to sit close.

The 3000 or so Huddersfield fans were in good voice and creating a decent atmosphere at the far end of the ground and with both teams on form, there was the potential for a cracking match. The visitors were clearly up for it and could have scored three inside the first 5 minutes as defending that can only be described as an embarrassment presented Huddersfield with some terrific chances that were wasted - Roberts in particular heading wide with the goal at his mercy.

It wasn't long though before the travelling fans were in raptures as they saw their side take the lead. A corner was swung into the box and attempted clearances by Gilbert and Howard didn't even clear the area and an acrobatic overhead kick from Phil Jevons found the top corner of the net. Great finish.

From then on the competitive edge to the game was clear to see as the tackles flying in thick and fast with the referee never fully looking in control as he dished out cards like it was christmas. There was no consistency at all in his performance and neither set of fans were pleased with him come the final whistle.

Back to the action though and Huddersfield continued to be on top - stopping us from playing our normal passing game and keeping us pegged back inside our own half. On 11 minutes though and against the run of play, we found ourselves level. A deep free kick from Oakley was fired into the box, a hashed clearance fell to Berner whose mishit shot was turned in from close range by Michael Morrison for his first goal for the club.

It was Huddersfield who looked like increasing the scoring when some good work down the right in what was a classic battle between ex Leicester player Danny Cadamateri and Bruno Berner, resulted in the ball being pulled back for Keigan Parker only for David Martin to produce a stunning save at his near post.

Minutes later, and Martin had to be alert again to save a 30 yard pile driver thrown his way when no one closed the Town player down. It was all Huddersfield at this point and we were more than relieved to get to half time on level terms knowing full well that this was the best side to have come to the Walkers so far this season.

Headed down to the concourse in the 15 minute break to see Katy and sort out the Walsall tickets and the like, and then we were back in our respective seats for the start of the second half.... none of us prepared for what was to come...

In the 52nd minute, Huddersfield reclaimed their lead. As with the other two goals, a set piece wasn't cleared when the chance came and the ball fell to Parker on the edge of the area who curled a beauty of an effort into the top corner. Great finish but not what we needed. They then took time to toy with us, playing keep ball and restricting us from creating anything on our own patch - it was at this point that I turned to my dad and we both said we were getting nothing from this game!

Within seconds of this, a long free kick was put into the box, Howard flicked it on and Berner looped a header over the keeper to make it 2-2. So much for defending - this game had none of it!

Two minutes later and we should have had the lead in what was a manic turnaround. Yet another cross was swung in which the keeper failed to claim and King just failed to squeeze his shot past the defenders on the line.

The visitors were clearly rattled at this point and a quick free kick released Dyer down the left. His pull back was fired goalwards by Howard only for Fryatt to somehow bundle it home with the defence claiming the use of an arm was involved.... who cares though? The net was rippling and within the space of minutes, we'd gone from being a beaten side to the team in the driving seat!

This five minute onslaught rattled Huddersfield and they were starting to lose the will to battle. Mistakes started to be made and they looked a shadow of the side that had battered us for the first 55 minutes. Howard forced a good save from the keeper who followed that up by nearly scoring an own goal when he mis-controlled a routine back pass.

It was clear that there were more goals to come though and with just the one goal advantage, we were not even close to safely taking the three points... but in the 73rd minute, we took one step closer. Another set piece, this time Oakleys corner, was again won in the air by Howard who headed the ball back across goal for Hobbs to head in for his first goal. It was great to see the return of a goal that had served us so well in the Martin O'Neill days with Taggart and Elliott combining in such a fashion.

And with that goal, we pretty much just saw the game out. Neither looking like conceeding or keen to add to the lead any further. To make matters worse for Huddersfield, they finished the game with ten men as Roberts was dismissed for two offences in the space of 30 seconds. First a yellow for kicking the ball away followed by a red for foul and abusive language towards the referee (although to be fair everyone in the stadium was guilty of that on Saturday!) His red card signalled the time for many others to leave too... I wonder if they were Town fans who had snuck into the home end....

As the final whistle blew, I made a quick escape to get to the train station to make my way to Nottingham again as is fast becoming the tradition of 2009 home games. Bumped into Jimmy outside the ground and we walked that way together analysing the game and praising Huddersfield's brilliance for the majority of the game. Two games we've had with them now and come out 7-4 winners on aggregate... shame we can't play each other every week with scores like that.

It's hard to imagine anyone catching us at the top now, especially if we win our next home game on Tuesday night against Brighton and Hove Albion at the Walkers.... the return of Micky Adams and it will be interesting to see if we get the traditional 1-0 defeat when we come up against sides like this. One thing is for sure, after they turned us over 3-2 back in October, we owe them one!