‘May Instil More Confidence’ – Opposition View From Huddersfield Town

December 19, 2024 Gary League One, Lincoln City 0

Credit Graham Burrell

As the saying goes, it was a game of two halves on Saturday. Terriers’ boss Michael Duff thought the same as he shared his thoughts in his post match presser as did Huddersfield fans online, writes Kyle Fox.

We started excellently in the first half. It was arguably the best half of football we’ve seen from the Imps so far this season. We were excellent in and out of possession but most importantly we were clinical and we took the best opportunities we made. It was only a matter of time before our fortunes changed as in recent weeks we’ve not played badly in any of the games but the results have not gone our way. The underlying numbers prove this as does the eye test from some of those games.

We started fast and got on the front foot early on in the game which is a staple of a Michael Skubala team on form. We won a couple of corners early on and played some nice stuff in build up as both teams settled in to the game. Cadamarteri got a couple of shots off early on which was the beginning of a great performance from him.

Our first goal came on the 14th minute mark and it was a lovely goal. It came from great patience and steady build up play. I didn’t realise until after the goal how many passes we’d made in the build up to the goal. It was unbelievable and a privilege to see in the flesh. It is something we can take massive confidence from going forward knowing we can do that. After the probing and moving the ball up and down the pitch patiently. The ball eventually made its way to Darikwa who took the ball under control, cut inside on to his left foot and swung in a lovely accurate cross straight on to the oncoming head of Ben House. House’s run was clever as he used his positioning in his slightly deeper role to crash the box at the last second to meet the cross perfectly. He directed a powerful header past Chapman in the Huddersfield goal, 1-0.

 

It was fully deserved and it was also a brilliant goal to watch. The game only swung more in our favour in the first half from this point. We kept Huddersfield out by defending well but also by recycling the ball quickly at times to launch another attack on their goal alongside a lot patient build up play. A player who was at the heart of that all game was Erhahon I felt he was excellent. He was involved in a lot of what we did that was good in possession and was clever out of possession including in the second half the way he won us a free kick a few times to break the game up. Kasumu was also brilliant for Huddersfield playing in a similar position. He was arguably the best player on the pitch and I felt he would be a threat before the game.

Credit Graham Burrell

As our pressure continued to rise in the first half, we managed to break through again around ten minutes after scoring the first. It wasn’t quite as well worked as the first one but it was still a good goal with incisive build up play. A through ball from Ethan Erhahon splits the defence after receiving the ball from Hackett. It finds Ben House once again who makes a run past the defence. He then cuts it back straight away with a clever back hell which finds Makama who pokes it to Cadmarteri. Bailey gets his shot away first time on his left foot, which deflected off the Huddersfield defender Lonwijk and took the ball in a different direction, away from the keeper and into the net. Cadamarteri deserved to be awarded the goal because the original strike was heading goalwards and his performance deserved a goal.

Huddersfield boss Michael Duff shared his frustration on his side’s first half performance as he labelled it; “Not good enough, too slow, too passive, didn’t run hard enough, lost first contacts, didn’t win any second balls. It’s a difficult sport when you don’t do the basics right. – We’ve not laid a glove on them.”

He also wasn’t impressed with our goals as he said ‘they didn’t have to do a lot to score’ which is an interesting take on it to say the least. Especially when you look at our first goal.

However, the two goals were our only two shots on target in the first half which is an issue. As good as we were, we didn’t create many clear cut chances. I think the goals themselves and also the manner in which they were scored went a long way in terms of how people perceived the performance. Similar performances in recent weeks have been labelled disappointed due to the lack of goals/chances.

Credit Graham Burrell

At half time I thought it could go one of two ways. Either we would face a siege from Huddersfield for the half or we could be resilient and catch them on the break. Unfortunately, it was the previous. That was evident from as soon as the second half started to me. They started the second half how we were in the first half.

They scored their first within five minutes of the restart which cemented the tone for the rest of the half. It came from their early pressure with a good run from Josh Koroma who then dinked a cross in to the box straight on to the head of Spencer who had a free header past Wickens. If they didn’t score so early, I think we may have been able to hold out because of our two goal advantage. Huddersfield were much improved from their performance in the first half, they looked focused instead of lost and the goal gave them and the crowd the massive boost they needed.

They attacked constantly and our 3 CB’s faced a very tough 45 minutes. However, like us they only really made two good chances which is interesting again because of the perception of the game post match. The draw was definitely a fair result in the end, especially considering the fact I thought that was a penalty against Roughan. I was waiting for him to blow the whistle and I was shocked when he didn’t. We got away with one there in my eyes.

Terrier’s manager Duff thought the same; “A big decision’s gone against us again. Sometimes you need a little bit of luck in football. Well not even luck, I think that’s bad luck.”

Their second goal ended up being fired in late on and they had earned it. A cross in from the right hand side from Spencer on to the foot of Callum Marshal who brought it down and used his first touch to beat Roughan and then smashed the ball just underneath Wickens’ outstretched leg and in to the back of the net. 2-2.

 

Then, the game heated up right near the end. It showed great passion from our boys and also broke up the game which worked in our favour as we were desperate to hold on. Lewis Montsma really riled up Helik with whatever he yelled in his face which I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy. I loved it in fact and it was exactly what we needed.

Michael Duff also had his say on this incident and his side’s fighting spirit; “Have that passion in the first ten minutes. Their lads had a free shot at Michal (Helik), which is unacceptable on a football pitch. Which wasn’t seen. I’m not surprised Michal reacted the way he did because I saw it.”

Credit Graham Burrell

The point was far and in the end it was still a really good point but it didn’t feel like that straight after the match as it almost felt like a loss. But, we probably came out of with more positives then we were expecting because of that first half performance.