Yin and Yang: Huddersfield Town 2-2 Imps

I’m fascinated by the whole concept of light and dark, pleasure and pain, love and hate. The margins are so fine at times; the narrowness of a battled victory and the gaping chasm of defeat are side by side, moments apart, like a devil and an angel on your shoulder.

The narrative from yesterday’s game will be that we dropped two points, threw away a two-goal lead and tumbled in the second half when we should have done better. However, there will be those with their glasses half full, delighted with a scintillating first half performance that blew our promotion rivals away. As we know, there will be those who have a half-empty vessel, angry that we were unable to stick out for the win, blinded by the pain of the late goal and just four points from a possible 21.

Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.

I need to be the balance, the thin dividing line between pleasure and pain, between light and dark. This write-up needs to be the narrow, wiggly line you doodle before you colour in the black on the yin and yang sign. I need to be the voice of reason, but without the bias that comes from trying too hard to calm dissenters. It isn’t an easy job, I tell thee.

How do I do that? Well, to continue avoiding talking about the actual football for a bit, I imagine the game as a set of weighing scales. I put the positives on one side and the negatives on the other. I look to try to balance those out if I can, so when you read this, you’re not weighted unfairly in one direction. I always start with stats – numbers are science, the underlying data that tells us if we did well or not. Then I drop in what I saw and what I feel, and finally, I sprinkle whatever is needed on top to give you the perfect recipe for a balanced article.

This morning, I can’t decide whether my glass is half full, or half empty. In fact, I have two identical glasses in front of me (metaphorically), and I can’t decide which is which.

As a starter for ten, the team selection took a few by surprise. Bailey Cadamarteri has struggled for starts this season, but this was his game – his Dad was doing the half time draw and had played for the Terriers. It gave us an attacking look, with Ben House and Jovon Makama in as well, while Jack Moylan dropped to the bench. The game we expected was tentative, tense, and one where we took great care of the ball on the few occasions we got it. The first half we got was perhaps the best this group of players have produced all season.

To say we were magnificent in the first 45 minutes would be an understatement. We restricted the home side to a single shot on target, and we caressed the ball with care and attention. We expected to be defending for our lives against a side who, going into this game, were unbeaten in nine League One matches. Instead, they faced the Lincoln side with just three defeats in 13 across all competitions, a side full of confidence a vigour.

Our first goal wasn’t just good, it was outstanding, and it lit up a stage that has, on so many occasions, been the subject of torment for us. I haven’t gone far enough back to count the passes, but we probed, patiently, working the ball forwards and backwards, side to side, before finding the out ball. A Darikwa cross was met by Ben House, and City led. It was about so much more than the finish though, it was a team goal in every sense, and while I haven’t deconstructed it, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out Wickens had a touch. Maybe there’s a bit too much yin in that statement, and not enough yang about Huddersfield’s passive nature, but I don’t care.

Our second was classed as an own goal, but that’s a bit harsh on Cadamateri, whose effort might well have been goalward bound had it not been deflected into the net. The striker had a lively afternoon, always looking to cause issues in behind. He utterly terrorised Matty Pearson, and the former Imp (two games, both against Carshalton) certainly lost their duel. However, for the goal, it was Hackett, Erhahon, House and Makama who all combined to tee up the Sheffield Wednesday loanee. His finish might have been redirected into the net, but it was another example of an exquisite team move.

Now, here’s a dose of reality. We talk about how great the first half was, how we blew them away, but there’s a caveat. We only managed two shots on target, and the chances we created, according to xG stats, were not as good as those in the first half against Bristol Rovers and Exeter City. Huddersfield were bad; they stood off us and didn’t know how to deal with our threat.

We used the big pitch well, but our actual penetration was just the same as it has been for the last few weeks. The difference was (of course) that we scored two goals. I’m not 100% convinced we did a huge amount different to what we’ve been doing for weeks, bar a couple of minor tweaks, and this time it paid off. However, the perception is that we were outstanding. I think we’ve been a thin line from outstanding on numerous occasions, but yesterday for the first 45 minutes, everything clicked.