A wet and windy lunchtime game against the bottom club in the league has usually conjured up a perfect storm for Huddersfield Town teams of the recent and not so recent past. A late concession added a familiar dose of anxiety, too.
It is no small indication of the club’s direction of travel that successfully navigating the combination of circumstances laid before them like rakes waiting to be stepped upon took them to the top of the League One table after a dozen games.
It was far from pretty, and Wigan belied their lowly position with a more than credible performance which tested Town throughout. If they could resolve the glaring flaw in their season and put the ball in the net more often, relegation might not be the certainty already feared in Lancashire.
A bright opening by the hosts, featuring a couple of dangerous corners, one of which Bowat headed on to the bar, and Joe Low missing the target after towering over the visitors’ defenders, faded too quickly as the tricky conditions mitigated against flowing attacking play.
The best move of a half dominated by the Terriers saw Fletcher cleverly played through by Sanches Fernandes, but the former Blackpool man had his goal-bound effort deflected over by a timely defensive block.
Space was at a premium against a dogged and determined Wigan, and it took a moment of high quality from Humphreys, whose touch and delivery of a back-post cross for Bronkhorst to bury made attending this otherwise rather dour encounter completely worthwhile.
A succession of corners, all delivered towards a gaggle of home players at the back post, caused some consternation for the Latics. Their diminutive keeper, Whitworth, made a brave double save while the game was still goalless to deny Low, while the remaining corners were accompanied by ridiculous levels of shirt-pulling from both sides.
As uninspiring as much of the half had been, Town deserved their lead. Wigan’s resilience and game plan had stifled the hosts, but the visitors were bereft of threat, and it was reasonable to expect a straightforward win to be confirmed in the second half.
That confidence evaporated during a second half of struggle for the Terriers. Wigan, with a series of substitutions, became a different proposition, even if their more expansive approach failed to create danger in the areas where they could hurt their opponents until it was almost too late.
Town spluttered for the most part, and even the tricky wind could not always be blamed for the missed opportunities to exploit the spaces Wigan were leaving behind as they took the game to their hosts.
Taylor, in particular, looked a forlorn figure at times, struggling with the accuracy of forward passes, while attempts to launch attacks from wide areas generally ended up in quagmire, despite the efforts of Mumba, who was impressive once again.
It was no surprise that the crucial second goal came with Harness on the pitch. As infuriating and careless as he can be, he offers more than the ponderous Fletcher, who really needed replacing far sooner than the 69th minute.
Harness set the quicksilver Sanches Fernandes on his way to yet another goal with a beautifully weighted pass, and the most entertaining player Huddersfield has seen for many years burst confidently towards goal, keeping himself between the defenders and the ball before stroking it home.
Harness also had the opportunity to deliver a carbon-copy pass to Taylor, as he had done against Peterborough, but fluffed his execution.
Perhaps this contributed to Taylor leaving the pitch too slowly for the referee’s liking in injury time, meaning Gooch was left waiting on the touchline for a compulsory minute. During that time, Wigan finally found the net when substitute Saydee, who had already brought a decent save from Young, whipped in a fine shot which curled into the top corner from an angle.
Though Town could point to being a little harshly depleted when Wigan scored their consolation, Young flapping at a ball he should probably have caught was the more likely immediate cause.
With only a minute left, the goal should not have been concerning, but those Sheffield Wednesday memories are not being erased anytime soon.
Bitty and unimpressive though it was, Town added another win to an excellent seven days, with individual quality proving the difference against a better than expected Wigan.
Defensively sound, Town were nevertheless a little disconcerting in their overreliance on backward passing. Hopefully, it was a one-off, and a welcome free week before another lunchtime engagement at Valley Parade against low-scoring Bradford gives Town time to prepare to sit their upstart rivals down.
