There are times in every football supporter’s life when you just have to take a moment to enjoy the chaos unfolding in front of you.
Three minutes into eight minutes of injury time last night, it seemed as though the unbeaten run was coming down. Bolton were only drawing, Cardiff losing, so we didn’t lose too much ground, but still, this run is so much fun. Nobody wants it to end.
I felt every time we came forward, we might score. I maybe didn’t believe we would, but I felt we would. We’d flipped the script against Huddersfield, we’d had more possession, we’d been the front-footed team playing better, passing football. They played like plucky underdogs, half the budget and hoping they had a slice of luck as the game wore on. Earlier in the season (Bolton away), that was us. Everything has gone topsy-turvy.
Remember, this is Huddersfield Town, away. Our arch-nemesis, the team who take our better players, who take our manager, with a reputation bigger than ours and a budget that puts ours in the shadow. They were curled up in a ball in front of the goal hoping not to concede, and we were banging hard, looking for the winner, fresher, hungrier, full of belief.
Then, Ryley Towler stabs home, perhaps guilty of not taking an earlier chance, but absolutely ready to step up and make himself the headline, just as almost every other player has done this season. The net bulges, fans go wild and for a moment, reality sets in.
We’re actually doing this. We’re top of the league, not by a point, not by a win, but by five points with a better goal difference. Win, lose or draw, we’ll be top next time this week. We’re 15 points clear of Bolton Wanderers, needing only to match three of their results to go up (see also Bradford and Stockport). We only need the same outcome against managerless Rotherham United, desperate Port Vale and struggling Orient as they get against Cardiff City, Stockport and Bradford. Or, Huddersfield, Luton and Plymouth.
It was like a snooker ball in a sock, knocking me back. This has surely gone too far for us to drop the ball now. 2010/11 isn’t relevant; we were poor then and dropped the ball. In 2006/07, our collapse started in January. 2020/21, we only got 77 points all season, we’re already four ahead. Every time we take a step this season, it is forward, not backwards. Last night wasn’t sideways; we matched Bolton and bettered Cardiff. We moved closer, thanks to that goal.
It’s thanks to other moments and goals, and you’d struggle to find a player who hasn’t had his moment this season. It’s been a team effort, a cacophony of individuals all wanting to be seen and heard. Alfie Lloyd and Ryley Towler being booked for celebrating their goals isn’t indiscipline; it is an indication of how much it means to every single member of this squad to feel that they have played their part.
The game itself is worthy of comment. Michael Skubala has made a living out of outsmarting opponents, but you can’t win all the time, and like Peterborough in January, a rival manager thought they’d got the better of us. We started sharply, but not sharply enough, and Huddersfield made use of the spaces. They set up to hit us on the counter, to let us have the ball, and it worked. Two poor goals from a defensive point of view, but it was shock as much as anything.
The first is decent play by them, but unlike us. McGrandles misses a tackle, then so does Bradley. Reach can’t get in the way, and Hardie finishes. Interesting positioning from the referee, by the way, as he almost gets in their way in the build-up. It wasn’t a brilliant night from Ben Speedie, as we’ll see.
The second, there isn’t a lot of blame. Sean Roughan’s throw has got longer, and the ball is met by Hamer. His header could have gone anywhere, but this once, it drops to Ledson. Most teams take a touch, and when they do, we’re on them like a fat kid on cake, but in this instance, he shoots first time. Best way to beat us, I think, and so it seemed as it went to 2-0. Roughan enjoyed that goal, fair play to him.
The next nine minutes were the ones that have made me believe the most. There were seasons, recently, where we go 2-0 down and the game is over. We didn’t have the tools to unpick a lock, or to knock a door down. We didn’t have the knowledge and know-how, but we do now. Some might say our route back into the game was fortunate, a long throw nodded home by their man, but is it? Is it fortune that Hamer’s throw is at Bradley, or that Bradley is contesting the header, allowing Feeney to climb on him? No, it isn’t.
Half-time, City trailed 2-1, but even the final knockings of the half saw us on the attack. Deep into stoppage time, the free kick goes in, Bradley hooks it forward and there is Moylan, surging in, only to see his shot cleared off the line. There is a shout for a penalty here (a weak one), as the keeper collides with Moylan, not the ball, and takes him out. When the cleared ball comes back, Moylan would have been on his feet ready to attack it, but for being taken out.
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