It could be said everything in the second half did not. I’ve seen our final 45 described as a ‘shambles’ and ‘awful’. I’ve seen blame laid at Michael Skubala’s feet for us losing a two-goal lead (although my other glass praises him for pushing us to that two-goal lead in the first place). The problem goes back to my write-up from last week, which said, ‘If I hadn’t seen such riches, I could live with being poor‘. If we had gone 2-0 down, instead of 2-0 up, and finished level, we’d be pouring praise on the players for coming away from one of the division’s big spenders with a point. Let’s not forget, this is a team we go toe-to-toe with in the promotion race, who could afford to pay us in the region of £500,000 for one of our players, a team likely to spend a seven-figure sum on Joe Taylor as soon as the window opens. We might be equals in terms of the division we compete in, but they’re a much, much bigger club.
That said, they were much, much better in the second half. They played like a side with four wins in a row behind them in the league. They looked every inch a team who have dropped out of the Championship and have zero intention of waiting around for games against Walsall and Crewe next season. They pushed Koroma out wide, and he immediately tied up Darikwa, cutting out one of our threats. Josh Ruffels had no luck against our veteran full back, but Koroma did, and that was one main change. Football is like a game of chess, and they moved a key piece to a much more strategic place on the board, giving us all kinds of problems.
This will sound stupid, but had we not conceded early, I think we’d have been okay. Their crowd had turned, the boos rang out at half time, and we needed to frustrate them, to keep that negative air around the stadium. The only way they could lift the gloom was with a goal, and that’s what they did. Darikwa was singled out for criticism in the build-up, giving away a free kick, which they took quickly, but I’m also going to have to point to Cadamarteri, the hero of the first half. He’s tracking Spencer as he wanders into the box, but he loses his man, watching Koroma’s run. Sure, Koroma gets the ball over, but when he does, it’s an unchallenged header. The other players have followed their men, but they don’t see the sub coming in the back.
That gave them the spark they needed to light the home firework, and after that, the second period was a tough watch. It felt a lot like Swindon Town away, back in January 2019, the difference being back then we only had nine men. Huddersfield made it feel like they had a numerical advantage, they got belief behind them and looked to cut us open as much as they could. Reeco Hackett, excellent in the first half, couldn’t get out. Instead, we relied on the back three, all magnificent, to thwart attack after attack, wave after wave of blue and white shirts coming at us.
Well, that’s the narrative. Like us in the first half, they actually only had two shots on target. Across the whole 90 minutes, neither side did enough to score a single goal – our xG was just 0.3, theirs just 0.83. This was a good game of football, meaty at times, expressive in moments, and yet there wasn’t a raft of chances. Both teams, combined, had fewer efforts on target inside 90 minutes than we had in just the first half against Cambridge last season. That was scintillating; this was deceptive.
I think the observation of ‘shambles’ is also deceptive. Huddersfield made their changes and we struggled to cope, just as they had in the first half. We tried to adapt by shuffling the attacking options we had, but that didn’t make a difference. I know the ‘eye test’ brigade will ask why fan-favourite Cadamarteri came off when he did, but he had 27 minutes of the second half, and managed no crosses, no dribbles, no shots and no touches in the penalty area. That’s not a slur on him; it’s an observation that underlines how his being on the field didn’t help us in the second period. If that was the sum of his 27 second-half minutes, what could have changed over the next 25-odd minutes? Cadamarteri was involved in 17 actions, seven of which were successful. Draper, on for 26 minutes, was involved in 17 actions, six of which were successful. There’s little difference in the two.
The issue for supporters is we were simply outclassed in the second half by a better side who adapted to our threat and did what was needed to get a point. Their final goal is frustrating, because we’d defended well all half, restricted them to little in terms of chances, even if they dominated. It came from a drop ball which is really annoying as well, and there was apparently a foul in the build up. I’m not actually having that – we got away with a 100% stonewall penalty against Sean Roughan, something they had every right to be angry at, and the referee had been fairly consistent throughout with his method of letting the game flow. In the end, the Terriers huffed and puffed, and the (back) three little piggies couldn’t hold the door up. They got what they deserved, as did we.
After that, it all got a bit heated, and rightly so. They’ve nicked managers and players from us, and I want to see it matter. Their big defender Helik reportedly believes Lewis Montsma spat at him, and it all got a bit tetchy. That was brilliant for us – they could easily have nicked it, and we’d hung on for so long, but between their goal and the final whistle, there were ten full minutes. I really felt they’d go on and win (making this a very different write up), so to have the game descend into a scrappy, niggly affair, was just what the doctor ordered. It went on a bit after the final whistle, staff and players involved, and that isn’t a terrible thing. At least it shows some passion.
Overall, this was a great point. If you’d asked me yesterday morning if 2-2 would be sufficient, I’d have asked for 1-1 (more points for Paudie in my EFL Fantasy Team) and then packed up and gone home. We’d have taken a draw when Huddersfield were relegated, when the fixtures came out yesterday morning and right up to kick-off. The only time we would not have taken a 2-2 draw was after 25 minutes. Again, (and I might just have this on copy and paste for a few weeks) ‘If I hadn’t seen such riches, I could live with being poor.’
I was impressed by Reeco, I thought he looked a real threat once again. Ethan Erhahon was magnificent, as were the back three, and that was in both halves. It’s easy to find bright spots when you’re 2-0 up, but not so easy when your backs are against the wall. It’s important to maintain that perspective, and yesterday, perspective tells me we did okay at a side I would be surprised to be playing next season.
That’s the fine line though, isn’t it? If you come at this game from a ‘we were 2-0 up’ angle, it feels like two dropped. If you come at it from a ‘no league wins in six before the game against a side with four in four’ it becomes a big point. The actual performance was both good and bad, yin and yang, light and dark. The only difference, is how you choose to see it.
Thanks for the report Gary. Only but which surprised was that their fans booed them off at HT…..after 9 unbeaten. At least it’s not just some of our fans who are bonkers.