LFL: HUDDERSFIELD

After falling behind to a wonder-goal early on we struggled to make any impact in the first half. A much improved effort in the second period brought the game to penalties and Huddersfield kept their cool to win it.

BEFORE

After the disappointment of the Burnley game it would be great to get a win tonight but I’ve got the feeling it's not going to be easy. Huddersfield have had a good start to their campaign in League One and are currently in second place after four wins out of five so their tails will be up. I expect us to field an almost completely different starting eleven from the one on Saturday and we may well see one or two new faces. It's bound to take a while for the new players to gel with the older ones so we'll have to be patient. I'll be watching the match with other members of the London Branch and my match prediction is 2-1 to us.

I got to the pub around half an hour before kick-off and I was the only one of the Faithful there. As expected, there were wholesale changes in our starting eleven which was:- Patto, Huggins, Mukiele, Masuaku, H. Jones, Rigg, Neil, Le Fee, Roberts, Isidor and Guiu. Seelt, Abdullahi and Aleksic were among the subs. I hadn’t realised that Gooch was Hudd’s captain. It turned out that two Spanish lads at a nearby table were Spanish Mackems. We were playing in red and white, I was pleased to see.

THE MATCH

Gooch was awarded a free-kick against Roberts in the third minute as fans, maybe ours, chanted his name. Hudd won the first corner in the eighth minute and when Gooch took it, it came out to Casteldine who hit a great volley that hit the net giving Patto no chance. We won our first corner in the thirteenth but it led to an offside decision against us. The momentum was with us and I felt an equaliser coming but we then conceded a second corner in the eighteenth and we looked a bit at sea till Charles shot wide. We soon won a second corner but it came to nothing. We’d had the bulk of possession in the opening quarter but had only managed one effort on target.

Hudd were defending well and we were looking pretty toothless upfront. Not long after the half-hour mark Kasumu hit a powerful shot from just outside the box and it didn’t go far wide. Neil and Le Fee were getting swamped in midfield and we really weren’t creating much. Next thing Rigg put in a great cross from our left and Whatmough was forced to head out for a corner. Jones got a header on it but Nicholls collected it easily. Masuaku became the first player to go into referee Dean Whitestone’s book for a bit of verbal but almost immediately Charles joined him for a foul. With four minutes to the break Le Fee landed awkwardly and needed some treatment but was eventually able to carry on. There were three minutes of added-time and the match went from end to end but it remained 0-1 as the half-time whistle went. So, a disappointing first period for us but I still felt that we’d turn it around before the end.

As we kicked off again Jensen Jones had replaced Huggins. We’d switched to 4-3-3 so I hoped for better things. Jensen Jones had a shot four minutes in but it was well wide, though it was good to see him having a go. We won a corner in the fifty-second that resulted in Mukiele being injured but we were soon back with a corner on the other side after a decent effort from Guiu. Our pace had picked up and I could hear the crowd responding but the corner came to nothing. We kept up the pressure and won another corner just before the hour-mark, though once again we couldn’t make anything of it. We were awarded a free-kick right on the left angle of their box and Nicholls in goal did well to tip over Le Fee’s great kick. From the corner Mukiele headed just wide but really should have hit the target. Again I could feel a goal coming and after Roberts wriggle through their defence down our right, I thought that goal was coming but nobody was there to finish it off. Jensen Jones had a shot on target that Nicholls collected comfortably.

As we entered the final quarter we remained well on top but our finishing left a lot to be desired. In the seventy-second Hudd had a rare attack but Taylor headed well wide. Rigg had a double chance to get us back into the game but he passed when he should have shot and then he shot narrowly wide. There were fifteen minutes to go; plenty of time still. Isidor made way for Aleksic and Seelt replaced Mukiele at the same time, with twelve minutes left. In the eighty-fourth we got the equaliser that had been coming when a great cross from the left from Aleksic was deftly headed in by Guiu. Huddersfield were looking tired and I reckoned we could finish them off before it came to penalties. Somebody was taken ill in the crowd so there was a long delay while they were given treatment. When we kicked off again there were twelve minutes of added-time. Neil was soon yellow-carded. Hudd made two late changes, perhaps with a view to penalty-takers. We survived a late attack when Patto failed to clear properly and then a shot from Wiles wasn’t far wide. We had a good penalty shout for a foul on Guiu but nothing was given and soon that final whistle went and we waited for the penalties.

The kicks were taken in front of the Huddersfield fans. Kane took the first and scored well sending Patto the wrong way. Le Fee took our first and rolled the ball easily into the right hand side of the goal. Radulovic scored their second while Roberts slammed our second home. Harness got their third and Neil coolly got ours. Wiles scored their fourth and Rigg did the same for us. Gooch took their fifth and blasted it home and Seelt kept his cool to get our fifth from a very short run-up. So, it went to sudden death… Kasumu got their sixth but Nicholls saved Aleksic’s shot and Huddersfield had won.