Author: gledholt

 

A much improved Huddersfield Town, boosted by the seemingly miraculous return of Jonathan Hogg, saw off an incoherent Norwich side with a devastating 7 minute spell in the middle of the second half to march ever closer to a guaranteed play off spot.

The visitors, clearly in some turmoil and turning to Town’s erstwhile head of recruitment, Stuart Webber, for redemption, included an array of talented and expensive players, many with top flight experience, but rarely functioned as a team on a night where the hosts regained their energy levels and ran the Norfolk men ragged.

With Mooy deployed further forward to occupy the number 10 role, Billing joined Hogg in the middle and put in an assured performance alongside the miracle man.

A first half of few chances was possibly edged by Town and had Billings excellent shot following a typical Smith foray curled a little more, an early goal would have soothed any anxiety felt by a team vanquished by relegation threatened clubs in the past 2 games.

Kachunga had a header saved by McGovern but, on the whole, Norwich’s defence coped reasonably well against an energised home side and gradually, the Canaries started to come in to the game.

An early booking for Norwich had stamped the referee’s authority on the game – a welcome change from the poor officiating usually on display – and while short on goal mouth incident, the first half was an entertaining contest, and the sight of Hogg crashing in to challenges, winning headers and marauding around the middle of the park protecting his back four as if he hadn’t almost suffered a career threatening injury less than three weeks ago would have been worth the entrance fee alone.

The visitors also posed intermittent danger and in Pritchard they boast a dynamo of a midfield player who can hurt teams when in possession. Up front, Huddersfield born Jerome is strong and experienced but Town’s one time nemesis, Wildschutt, caused few problems and certainly didn’t look worth the reported £7M Wigan screwed out of Norwich.

Cameron Jerome had the ball in the net but was clearly offside, though there were one or two moments in the first half which emphasised that the visitors could not be treated lightly despite their troubles.

Overall, however, Town were the more progressive side and carried threat from both flanks without troubling the keeper too much – Kachunga’s header and a decent Mooy free kick aside. Van La Parra had served up the cross for Kachunga’s clever header and provided another inviting one agonisingly close to on rushing Town players. His decision making, while far from perfect, is improving.

As ever with Town, the first goal was going to be all important and after dominating the first 10 minutes of the second period, a glorious chance was set up by Mooy for Wells with a great through ball. The Bermudian, however, had a little too much time to think and indecision invaded instinct as he hit his shot straight at McGovern. The move had begun at left back with Loewe, involved a great ball through the lines by Schindler in addition to Mooy’s vision and exemplified Town’s fluency to that point.

Struggling to hold on to possession and forced back by yellow shirts, Town lost their way after the miss and another, rightly, disallowed goal from Jerome followed several dangerous looking situations for the visitors, with Ward forced in to a good, if routine, save from a Pritchard effort and one or two less than composed blocks and clearances during the lull.

Any worry, however, was snuffed out as Norwich’s ascendancy was killed by a long ball over the top towards Kachunga which brushed Bennet’s thigh, slowed the pace of the ball and sat up nicely for Town’s top scorer who finished nicely past the keeper, who needed to be much braver.

Norwich’s subsequent implosion was as astonishing as it was welcome to a revitalised and rampant home side. The mental state of the Canaries can only be a matter of conjecture, but the Carrow Road faithful watching on TV and, commendably, from the South Stand in decent numbers, will be very worried at the capitulation and the scale of the job facing Webber.

Seizing the initiative and propelled by the first goal in far too long, Town ruthlessly snuffed out their visibly deflated opponents.

Intricate, close passing between Van La Parra, Wells and Mooy found the Australian free in the area and, somehow, he manipulated the ball past a wrong footed Norwich keeper to double the lead and seal the points.

More good play just minutes later involving the same 3 players saw Wells grab a deserved goal to ice the cake – his contribution throughout had been inventive and important – but he was helped by some very poor goalkeeping.

At 3-0, Town didn’t take their foot off the Canaries’ throats and Kachunga brought a good save out of the otherwise hapless McGregor and a Wells turn in the box saw him crash the ball against the bar with such force that the ball flew for a throw in towards the half way line.

Dispirited Norwich, who disintegrated after the setback of the first goal, could barely conceal their lack of fight and once the final whistle blew, some of them, notably Jerome who stormed down the tunnel, seemed reluctant to extend the courtesy of acknowledgement to the fans who could’ve stayed at home to watch on Sky but made the long, tiresome journey to Yorkshire. We have all been there watching our clubs and could empathise with their despair – especially having witnessed some terrible thrashings in Norfolk over the years.

For Town, the massive boost of 3 important points, a return to at times scintillating form and, above all, the Hogg miracle couldn’t have come at a better time. With Brown and Palmer on the mend and reportedly due back for Easter, even a slim hope of automatic promotion was resurrected.

On to Forest with renewed hope.

 

A hugely disappointing afternoon, and not restricted to an undeserved but reasonably predictable defeat, saw Town’s already slim hopes for automatic ascension to the so called “Promised Land” disappear – logically, if not mathematically.

Undermined by extraordinarily weak officiating and staggeringly cynical Burton tactics, many of Town’s known flaws came rushing to the surface as yet another limited but aggressive struggler frustrated the home side to claim 3 massively important points for themselves.

It is perhaps inevitable that a team which has relied on many, many single goal, though often well managed, victories will occasionally suffer a reversal and Burton may feel vindicated revenging an undeserved defeat at home.

Rather more difficult to justify is their approach to the game. However desperate their league position, the crude cynicism they displayed – every trick in the book was utilised and indulged by a shocking referee – deserves round condemnation and while it worked for them in this encounter, it’s long term viability is very doubtful.

Blatant time wasting, which only became apparent to the referee towards the end of the first half when a long lecture didn’t result in a booking but yet more time wasted, constant haranguing of officials, professional fouls and feigned injuries were depressing to witness in a division where most teams are capable of decent football.

Competing against ugly strategies remains a conundrum for David Wagner and his team. An early goal is pretty much a prerequisite to change the dynamics of the contest and swing the control of events in Town’s favour – forcing the opposition in to greater commitment forward and allowing Town’s flair to blossom rather than stagnate.

Despite the visitors’ frequently successful attempts to interrupt play from the very beginning, Town produced some promising football in the first half with Van La Parra providing creativity on the left and some good runs which released the home side from an increasingly crowded midfield and while Lolley couldn’t reproduce this on the right he nevertheless combined well with Smith on occasion and fired over a couple of reasonable attempts.

Town’s best opportunity to take an all important early lead was denied them by a referee who refused to see a blatant foul on Smith after the full back had got in front of his opponent to threaten his customary danger.

Assuming converted, a goal at that time – within the first 15 minutes – would have changed the whole complexion of the game and Burton’s motivation to strangle the life out of the game would have disappeared.

Instead, the Brewers’ constant haranguing of the referee for Town players to be booked finally brought reward when a collision between Whitehead and Kightly was deemed to be deliberate rather than a simple coming together. Kightly’s dramatics were enough to convince the official.

A largely anonymous Quaner, presumably included ahead of Wells for his physicality, nearly met a Van La Parra cross after the Dutchman had outstripped 3 Burton players and Payne brought a decent save from McLaughlin, but Town’s general play was already becoming stodgy and slow.

For Burton, Sordell played the lone striker role very well and caused Town the type of problems our own front men rarely do – rather than show Quaner clips of his own performance, perhaps the backroom staff could show him Marvin’s movement, aggression and control. A challenge on him in the box was arguably as good a shout for a penalty as the one on Smith.

All in all, the first half performance had been pretty average – in and amongst the frustrations there were glimpses of the form which has carried the team to third place – and despite the absence of an early goal, there was talent on the bench to make a difference.

The first real threat of the second half came from Burton with a weak shot from Sordell ruining his excellent play to create the opportunity, before Jack Payne was replaced by Wells. The diminutive number 10 had buzzed around enthusiastically but to limited effect and the losses of both Palmer and Brown are being keenly felt.

That Wagner chose to leave Quaner on suggested he still felt that a bigger presence in the front line was needed but the German’s influence on the game was marginal at best throughout, underlining Town’s season long problems up front – sadly, Colin does not appear to be the answer just yet.

Competing with a packed midfield, Town tried to get the ball wide but Van La Parra’s first half performance was not replicated in the second as his wasteful traits came more to the fore. On the right, Smith and Kachunga (who replaced the fading Lolley) created more promising situations but the final ball too often found the welcoming arms of McLaughlin.

As desperation started to seep in to Town’s play, poor decision making increased in proportion and movement became more and more mechanical. Rare was the judicious increase in pace usually supplied by Palmer or Brown and the ball wasn’t played quickly enough often enough.

A decent effort from Mooy from a free kick earned by Van La Parra just outside the box on the left was headed over by a defender, Hefele was also thwarted by a defender’s head when the ball seemed destined for the top corner and Mooy fluffed a close in chance which almost fell to Van La Parra.

For all their dominance of the ball, much of it far too stilted, Town’s normal fluency was missing and the link between midfield and attack laboured.

During the second half, and perhaps sniffing opportunity, Clough Junior – hitherto employing tactics which would have enraged his father (referee intimidation not the least of them) – made surprisingly attacking substitutions; first introducing Mooy’s Australia national team understudy Irvine, then bringing on Varney to support Sordell. His final substitution was also positive with old boy Lucas Akins coming on to face the club who released him so many years ago.

The final 15 minutes saw the visitors perceptibly increase their threat and missed a couple of decent chances to take the lead, before a reckless challenge at a corner saw Whitehead flatten a Burton defender – once the resultant melee was over, an inevitable second yellow reduced Town to 10 men on the day and a further selection headache for Wagner for Wednesday’s game with Norwich.

Though deflated, Town continued to strive for a vital winner but lacked the necessary guile against their obdurate opponents who, in turn, managed to turn defence in to attack one final time, overturning possession from an attempted Billing long throw and racing past a thinly populated Town defence to snatch their victory.

In truth, the goal and defeat matters little – one point was barely of any use given results elsewhere – but the impact on the remainder of the season could be debilitating if not managed well.

For all Burton’s ugliness, Town’s vulnerability when faced with packed midfields and sturdy defences came once more to the fore – it is surely no coincidence that too many points have been dropped against the less expansive sides and the injuries of the past few weeks are taking a big toll.

Whitehead, other than his reckless behaviour at the end, was a decent replacement for Hogg but lacks his colleagues remarkable energy and Payne simply isn’t as good as Palmer or, particularly, Brown. This is far from being a disgrace – he has his own qualities – as both of these Chelsea loanee have very good futures ahead of them.

With automatic promotion now almost certainly out of reach, a return to form over the final games in preparation for the play offs is essential. Hogg’s miraculous return will help, but the number 10 role is arguably of more importance.

A game to forget, but a reminder that there is a lot of work to do if all the promise of a great season is not to be undone.

 

Events conspired against Town in a tense, occasionally entertaining contest to end an impressive string of results.

Derby’s loss at Elland Road on Friday night meant that the defeat was only marginally damaging, with the gap to 7th remaining at a comfortable 6 points, but Wednesday closed the gap on their Yorkshire neighbours by taking full advantage of dubious refereeing decisions as they recovered from a poor first half display.

Familiar failings in the final third – over playing, wrong decisions and plain bad finishing – meant that Town’s domination and control of the first half was all for nought and though David Wagner, rightly, defends both his squad and his Chairman, it is such a blindingly obvious issue that steps are surely being made to resolve it.

As early as the second minute, Town could have taken the lead when a raid down the right saw Smith curl a great cross to the unmarked Wells who could only head directly in to the arms of the well positioned Westwood. It is the type of chance the Bermudian has been converting lately, but he wasn’t able to generate enough power and an early lead – which has been a common prerequisite of victories this season – was not to be.

As the game settled after scrappy early exchanges, Mooy and Billing tightened their grip on midfield and a strangely passive Wednesday were reduced to punting long to Fletcher in an attempt to link with Forestieri, a ploy which rarely succeeded.

With Izzy Brown too careless too often in possession, Town’s main source of threat was down the right side with Smith and Kachunga, though the German’s form hasn’t fully returned, and with the visitors in the ascendancy the next chance fell to an unmarked Hefele from a corner only for him to head narrowly wide when he should have at least forced a save.

Opportunities to create chances floundered through over complication though one or two moves only narrowly failed at crucial moments and the movement consistently caused Wednesday problems.

After half an hour of control and superiority, Town became over indulgent in possession, as they are wont to do at times, the passing lost purpose amongst the back four and the probing which promised results faded badly.

Just before half time, and following a clever piece of trickery, Kachunga was brought down by Pudil inches short of the area – Town have now gone over 300 days since last being awarded a penalty – and Westwood was forced in to a good save by Lowe’s curling, dipping effort from an acute angle.

Clearly the better side but looking increasingly unlikely to break the deadlock, Town had frustrated their hosts and the home crowd to build a platform for the possibility of points in a tough fixture and the interruption of half time seemed unwelcome, offering as it did the opportunity for Carvalhal to make changes to his misfiring charges.

Being largely on the front foot meant the Terriers had not missed Hogg to any great extent, though Palmer’s effortless guile and Van LaParra’s unpredictability may have added the dimension missing as Town became bogged down in the latter stages of the half with thrust being replaced by possession of the dull variety.

It was no surprise that Carvahal would respond to his side’s lethargy with changes and new recruit Sam Winnall replaced the largely irrelevant Fletcher. It proved to be an important move as Winnall added competitiveness to the yawning gap between midfield and attack which had allowed Town to stroll through the first half, and in contrast to Fletcher, he began to make things happen.

Now much closer to their counterparts, the Owls began strongly and unsettled the visitors whose attempts at regaining control were thwarted by better pressing and the tenor of the game became decidedly different.

It was crucial for Town to adapt and weather an early storm, but they were to be dealt a blow when referee Graham Scott ignored a clear foul on Wells in the middle of the park – a Wednesday defender had hold of a clump of his shirt and got nowhere near the ball as he pulled his opponent down.

The ball broke to Wallace who advanced in to far too much space – suddenly, Hogg’s absence was keenly felt – and unleashed an unstoppable drive past the flailing Ward.

Wallace’s excellent strike cannot be diminished by the referee’s incompetence – it deserves to be featured as one of the goals of the season, perhaps with its provenance edited out – but Town were rightly aggrieved that the home side were handed a plainly incorrect advantage.

The goal smashed Town’s already frail attempts to regain their first half control and provided a very early reward for Carvahal’s move to inject more energy in to his side – the clearance Wells was illegally prevented from controlling was forced by Wednesday’s new found dynamism – and they were never to regain the upper hand.

Rocked back, the visitors rather grimly held on as Wednesday’s confidence grew – though Ward was rarely tested, the home side finally brought their big guns in to proceedings and an equaliser seemed a distant prospect.

Wagner responded by withdrawing the increasingly peripheral Brown for Lolley, yet another injury to Billing saw the introduction of Whitehead and the listing ship was partially righted without swinging the game back in the visitors’ direction.

With 20 minutes to go, an already difficult task was made severely unlikely when Payne, whose attempted burst past two players had seen him fouled, instinctively reacted to losing the ball by fouling his opponent. The referee saw malice in a routine challenge and showed the diminutive number 10 a red card.

While subsequent viewings of the offence suggested leniency should have been shown but not left unpunished, the referee’s decision was instantaneous and honest – if he saw violent intent, a sending off was inevitable and it will be interesting to see if Town appeal.

Ironically, going down to 10 seemed to galvanise the away side and in the final 20 minutes they began to exploit Wednesday’s weak left side again with Lolley and Smith and the former burst in to the area to shoot straight at Westwood when Hefele was in a better position square.

Hefele had a header easily saved from a Lowe cross and despite the numerical disadvantage, an equaliser began to look at least as possible as the Owls’ profiting from dangerous breaks (Lowe had to deny Forestieri twice with excellent last ditch tackles).

With time running out, Whitehead suffered the ignominy of being a substitute substituted. It was clearly tactical rather than a slight on his performance, but the veteran didn’t look too pleased when coming off to make way for Wagner’s much disparaged tactic of using two centre halves to try and rescue a game.

For once, the ploy was relatively successful as both Hefele and Hudson had good chances to equalise but brought their central defenders’ skills to the attempts. Hefele fired just wide when in a good amount of space before teeing up Hudson to fire high when, again, in a good position.

With 2 of the 6 added minutes gone, Wednesday settled the contest again with the help of the officials who failed to spot Forestieri in an offside position as he turned home MacManaman’s effort.

Annoying as a further decision favouring Wednesday was – the same referee had given them a late and borderline penalty in the home game – the second goal was hardly pivotal and Town had escaped several scares as their purposefully depleted defence held out against breakaway attacks.

Having made Wednesday look decidedly ordinary in a dominant first half, Town’s failure to capitalise was the primary reason for this defeat, though Carvahal’s decisive half time change energised his team to make things happen, irrespective of refereeing blunders.

The defeat is not a massive blow to Town’s play off chances – it just brought one of the existing top 6 closer, while potential challengers largely failed to make up ground – and positives can still be drawn from a day when they fell on the other side of the margins for once.

Not unnaturally, supporters’ expectations have been raised substantially- however unfair, not achieving a play off place will be seen as disappointing rather than being in contention being seen as the enormous achievement it is, and the hunger for a striker to strengthen the principal weakness has grown in to a clamour.

The absence of key players, particularly Hogg, told in the end but there is no disgrace to a referee assisted defeat at Hillsborough and the setback should be viewed as relatively minor – this squad will regroup and bounce back.

Postscripts

This is the final report for about 9 weeks as I venture in to Trump’s America to live and ski (badly) in Colorado.

Big thanks to my brother Howard for the excellent views from Box 16 of the Riverside (for 20 years!) and the numerous invites flowing therefrom, including the generous hospitality of Howarth Lynch, Nigel and Adrian yesterday which afforded me another great view of events.

Many thanks to all who read these reports and for all the great feedback (it works – poncy, obscure words are now at a premium!), the retweets and encouragement.

I may put some thoughts on the 4 live games (a luxury not afforded in previous years) but for now, this is where I am headed;

 

Relying largely on understudies, an exciting newcomer and the return of an important, if still rusty, wide man, Town swept aside a feeble Port Vale to advance to the 4th round of a competition they have seemed barely interested in since returning to the second tier.

Ignoring, for the moment, the weakness of the opposition and the consummate ease of victory, it was gratifying that Wagner was able to field a very competitive alternative eleven from back to front who were comfortable in their roles and the familiar style of play.

New loanee Izzy Brown was drafted in to the team immediately – a departure from the usual gradual introduction of new players – to form a genuinely exciting front four with Palmer, Payne and Lolley; even without a recognised striker the cumulative talent distinguished Wagner’s selections from the defensive formation adopted at Wigan which had singularly failed to deliver entertainment.

FA Cup 3rd round day rarely recaptures the days before the competition was eclipsed by the pressing need for league success or survival – a time gone forever which no amount of yearning will bring back – and mundane draws are usually accompanied by low crowds and a poor atmosphere. The interest and enthusiasm generated by a season of optimism, however, drew an engaged and enlarged audience helped in no small part by a strong away following (whose motivation remains a mystery after witnessing their team).

Having recently lost their manager and having sold their top scorer just days previously, Vale had little cause for optimism against high flying opposition, even with most of the home side’s principle actors rested and a first half dominated by the Terriers emphasised a gulf in class which remained a chasm throughout.

Quickly adapting to the new formation and faces, Town dominated possession and space with scant opposition but wayward shooting, a brave and magnificent save by the unfortunate Alnwick and over elaboration restricted the hosts to a single goal advantage at half time.

Brown and Palmer, Chelsea youngsters with similar styles and blossoming talent, caused the visitors regular problems with intelligent running, Payne was his usual busy self and, while never operating at pre-injury effectiveness, Lolley showed encouraging signs of adding much missed craft down the right, even if his shooting was wayward.

Until taking a knock, Billing glided through proceedings with smooth passing to keep the four in front of him supplied and Whitehead’s trademark combative style largely snuffed out Vale’s puny threat before it reached a solid back four.

Guilty of over elaboration at times, Town’s best early chance came when Hudson met a perfectly delivered Payne corner (sadly, many of the rest were as poor as Mooy’s) only for his downward header to be superbly tipped over. In the process, however, Alnwick collided sickeningly with his post and required lengthy treatment as a result.

The visitors were grateful to their keeper once again when he made a sharp save from Lolley, turning the ball round his post as the home side turned up the heat.

With Vale looking increasingly fragile, Town took the lead. A marvellous turn by Brown in midfield stranded 2 bewildered Vale players and opened up space for him to feed Lolley who, in turn, flicked the ball on to Payne who scored with a finish reminiscent of St James’ Park in August.

Stankovic, assured on the ball throughout, then found Palmer with a delightful ball. A deft header took the youngster past his opponent but with Alnwick narrowing the angle he fired over the bar rather than condemning the Valiants to almost certain defeat before the game was halfway through.

Even against limited opposition, Town’s inability to punish teams with goals their play deserves came back to the fore. Though Vale did not appear to have the wherewithal to take advantage of the failing, any side can throw balls in to the box and see what happens. Even in an almost entirely one sided first half, Town gave away careless free kicks to test this theory – Coleman, who looks every bit as good as Ward, collected and punched away the couple which were not more easily cleared, but the vulnerability of a narrow lead was to remain for some time in to the second half.

Overall, however, the front quartet’s movement and interplay was excellent, ably supported by colleagues and the addition of Brown to the creative hub of an ever improving squad bodes well for the rest of the season.

Vale’s resilience continued to hold after the break with Town taking a while to reestablish the authority they had exerted in the first half. Cranie had the ball in the net following a good move down the left but Palmer had drifted offside before his ball across and, in the process, he collided with Alnwick who was to leave the field a short time later.

With a succession of substitutions, the game stalled for a time and Town nearly paid the price of holding a ridiculously slender lead when a knock down from a long ball saw Thomas blast over from a decent position.

By this time, Mooy had replaced Billing – who was nursing a knock – and it was the Australian who was to orchestrate a late flurry of goals as he imposed his class on an already beleaguered Vale.

The Burslem outfit began to wilt badly as they visibly tired and the loss of the reassuring presence of Alnwick can’t have helped.

Galvanised by Vale’s miss, Town put the game to bed in the space of 10 minutes as the visitors finally succumbed to the home side’s superior skills and fitness.

Jack Payne had already seen a chance spectacularly turned off the line when a misplaced pass by Holmes-Dennis rebounded off an opponent to Palmer, whose instinctive shot took a fortuitous deflection past the substitute goalkeeper.

With the contest over, though there had been little doubt who would be progressing from fairly early on, Town turned the screw on their dispirited, hapless opponents and finally managed to score more than 2 goals in a game for the first time this season.

Mooy, who breezed through his cameo without breaking sweat or getting beyond second gear, found Bunn on the right with a raking pass which exposed the visitors’ beleaguered defence. Running in to the area, Bunn gave his opponent the illusion of a chance to rob him before sidestepping him and planting a left foot shot in to the corner.

Striking a small note of discord on a good afternoon for the team, Bunn cupped his ear in a suspiciously disrespectful way to the largely mild mannered occupants of the Riverside lower tier. A disappointing season and, perhaps, over sensitivity to criticism may have prompted his actions, but it did appear completely contrary to Wagner’s ethos of togetherness.

Payne added a deserved second to cap an effervescent performance following great work by Palmer in the middle of the park and a good ball from Holmes-Dennis and the score line finally reflected Town’s dominance.

It wasn’t difficult to feel sympathy for Vale who look to be a club with significant problems. We have been where they are now, and we have certainly witnessed similarly anaemic displays, including against them, but their lack of fight and ambition and tame acceptance of their fate was illustrated by no yellow cards being shown throughout the game.

For Town, brushing aside mediocre opposition in second gear is hardly a pointer for the future though scoring four could be cathartic and Izzy Brown’s debut was very encouraging. After several years of tame capitulation in cup competitions, it would be good to go on an eye catching run though the dangers of distraction would have to be managed. This cannot be beyond the charismatic, smart and thoughtful Wagner.

With the necessary resting of key players, including Wells, the option of a dynamic front four may well have emerged from the game – even allowing for the opposition, the movement and fluency was a joy to behold at times and could perhaps be deployed in the future; not least where Wagner wants to surprise the opposition.

Here’s hoping for a good draw on Monday.

 

 

To describe this narrow victory as scruffy would be to put far too much gloss on a hugely forgettable affair where one goalkeeping error finally settled the encounter in favour of the slightly less poor side.

With the home capitulation firmly in his mind and concerns about player fatigue, David Wagner made wholesale changes both to personnel and philosophy to pull off an important, momentum maintaining win.

In the soulless bowl Dave Whelan built for his hometown team and on a hard, unreliable surface, Town’s much changed team squeezed all the space out of the game and, with a very poor opposition unable to figure out any way past a solid defence, all semblance of entertainment was strangled at birth.

Until the late winner, it was a truly joyless experience for a huge travelling support who, nevertheless, tried to lift the atmosphere despite the thin gruel offered to them on the pitch. Many in attendance were dubious about the decision to make so many changes, though we are learning to trust in Wagner even if it means enduring a contest as grim as this one.

That a poor second half surpassed the first by some distance speaks volumes about the unrelenting dreariness endured until half time.

Slow paced and without significant movement or ambition, both sides stunk the place out with poor passing, low energy and lack of invention as the 45 minutes stretched interminably in to the cold afternoon.

Both defences coped easily with sporadic attempts at attacking play; on one occasion, Holmes-Dennis had to tug back Jacobs (whose decision making never matched his pace) and was lucky not to be booked as the referee played a dubious advantage, while Bunn fired an attempt on goal well wide.

Despite the ceaseless tedium, Town could at least take heart that the lack of space behind them and the lack of talent in front of them rendered their erstwhile tormentor Wildschutt completely anonymous, while former golden boy Nick Powell (remember when he was one of the most sought after players in the country?) was similarly ineffectual.

A packed stand behind the goal defended by the visitors tried to stir in to life and add some zest to a lacklustre fixture which barely deserved to be called a contest, but the gloom permeated even the most enthusiastic as the languor deepened with every soul sapping minute.

An early booking for Billing, playing in the Hogg role, added an unnecessary and unwelcome layer of tension to proceedings – his long legs and occasionally ungainly gait can render him susceptible to clumsy challenges – but he did his job reasonably well, even if it was wholly utilitarian rather than dynamic and not a little hesitant at times.

With 3 off target shots (2 from the visitors) barely warranting the description of attempts on goal, the sweet mercy of the referee’s whistle finally arrived and put everyone out of their misery.

The bar for the second half had been set ludicrously low, and despite a slow start, Town began to dominate possession without looking threatening. Bunn, in particular, was infuriatingly wasteful when in advanced positions though his defensive work helping Holmes Dennis quell Jacobs’ pace was important.

On the hour, Town looked vaguely dangerous from a corner only for a clearance upfield to catch Holmes-Dennis slightly flat footed and only able to prevent Wildschut breaking in to oceans of space by wrestling him to the ground. Though a long, long way from goal, the Dutch striker could have repeated his exploits of a few weeks ago and Town’s young, understudy full back’s cynical, necessary foul proved pivotal.

The introduction of Lolley shortly afterwards – Kerchunga moved left as the ineffective Bunn departed – seemed to lift Town a little and they slowly exerted control over their still enfeebled opponents. The tempo increased marginally but perceptibly, as did accuracy – though this didn’t translate in to direct threat, the team were now at least giving a passable impression of previous performances.

Replacing Billing with Whitehead also helped. His experience helped enormously and the nervousness surrounding Billing was lifted. A shot, Wigan’s second, by Wildschut which went narrowly wide minutes earlier may have decided the switch.

The breakthrough came following a good run across the front of Wigan’s defence by Kachunga, who unleashed a reasonably hard and slightly swerving shot which seemed to bamboozle the veteran Jaaskelainen, who spilled the ball in to the path of the predatory Wells.

As welcome as it was unlikely – Wells’ finish was Town’s second attempt on target as he followed up on the first – the goal sparked something resembling entertainment as the home side’s desperation left their fitter opponents with more space when they weren’t comfortably thwarting attacks.

Payne – who at least added energy at times – latched on to a weak back header to beat Jaaskelainen to the ball and head it cleverly over him, only to be halted by a covering defender.

Another break involving Lolley and Payne saw Wells in a good position to square to the unmarked Kachunga, only for the goal scorer to woefully underhit his pass and the danger was cleared.

Seeing out the game in relative comfort, Town could celebrate a streaky but important away win – the third in a row – and a hugely productive Christmas period was complete.

Successful teams grind out ugly results. It would be a considerable stretch to suggest that the woeful first half display was tactical genius, but there was no way Wagner’s charges were going to be mugged in the same fashion that they had been at home and, overall, the defensive display was reasonably admirable. Both Hudson, who demonstrated leadership and experience throughout, and Stankovic, provided the foundation for the win, ably assisted by Cranie and Holmes-Dennis.

Mooy had a much better second half than an error strewn first without hitting the heights normally associated with him and Payne’s lively contribution was a thin shaft of light in a forgettable team display.

Securing points for the second game running, Wells had suffered from severe isolation and was largely ineffective until striking, but took his chance when it came. His goals have been fewer in number this season, but most have directly earned points, particularly during this recent unbeaten run.

The return of Lolley is most welcome. Along with Van La Parra, he can offer a different threat and is more useful to the side than the one dimensional Bunn (rumoured to be on his way in any case).

Perhaps the only question mark over the manager’s selections is the nagging feeling that Whitehead and Billing started the wrong fixtures over the New Year period – Blackburn’s predictable lack of ambition did not need the over protection of a deep lying central midfielder, while a tricky away fixture was unnecessarily complicated by a naturally more progressive player in the role.

With key players rested and another 3 points in the bag, a break for the FA cup, which will surely see further utilisation of fringe squad assets, comes at a good time, before a major test at Hillsborough in two weeks, by which time, new faces may have been added.

The exertions of an excellent winning run finally caught up with a visibly jaded Town in the second half of a game which should have been put to bed before half time.

While never being at their best against an ultra defensive Blackburn who seemed entirely uninterested in possessing the ball in an attempt to stifle their opponents’ eagerness to attack, Town created enough to take an essential first half lead over their dour opposition.

The loss through injury of Hogg saw Whitehead take on a role which, in hindsight, seemed overly cautious and arguably superfluous. Unable to provide a cohesive partnership with Mooy, booked for a rash challenge after 17 minutes and lacking Hogg’s fluency, the more progressive Billing seemed a more obvious choice. The veteran has been a good servant of the club and is a useful player to have in certain situations, but this wasn’t one of them.

Town nearly wrote a very different script in the very first minute when a blocked Van La Parra effort ballooned up for Palmer to execute an excellent bicycle kick to bring a good, if routine, save from Steele.

With an insatiable appetite for possession – helped by their opponents’ apparent distaste for it – the good start should have been the foundation for overwhelming force but while opportunities arose in a decent first half performance, the play was too often stilted and staccato as the problems of playing against an obdurate, largely disciplined defence began to mount.

As ugly as they were, Rovers clearly knew where the threats were going to come from and targeted Mooy for special attention forcing the Aussie in to uncharacteristic errors and smothering his magic. With Whitehead playing too deep and width difficult to find, the visitors largely foiled the home side’s probing and, in their only attack of note in the first half, could have taken an implausible lead when Graham was only just too late to latch on to some good work from Gallagher.

The best chance of the half, and the turning point of a game where just one goal would have changed it’s complexion entirely, fell to Wells. Hefele threaded a fantastic ball through to the marauding Smith whose low, hard cross was met perfectly by the Bermudian only for the well positioned Steele to scramble a good block and preserve his net at a crucial juncture.

The fluency of Town’s recent performances was largely absent but the unremitting possession should have proven overpowering against clearly inferior, if dogged, opposition and it seemed likely that Blackburn’s resistance would be broken with a further 45 minutes of battering in prospect.

If anything, however, the visitors had the better of the opening exchanges and even opened up a little to try to grab at least some of the possession, without sacrificing their defensive discipline.

Town became increasingly ragged as key performers, Mooy, Kachunga and Smith in particular, failed to provide any spark to a pedestrian display which deteriorated as the minutes passed.

Even Wagner’s usually astute substitutions flopped. Bunn replaced the ineffective Van La Parra and proceeded to offer even less than the Dutchman and though Payne added his trademark energy, it failed to wake his teammates from their torpor with even simple passes going astray, a lack of spontaneity reducing attacks to plodding uncertainty and a smattering of set piece opportunities completely wasted by poor delivery.

With the game petering out to a forgettable 0-0 draw, Blackburn took the lead. With typical lack of ambition, they had few players in the box and a routine high ball should have been cleared by the otherwise excellent Hefele only for his sliced attempt to hit Schindler at close range. Lowe was pushed by Gallagher as he attempted to clear but this was not spotted by the referee and the big forward laid the ball to Feeney to loft the ball to Danny Graham’s head.

As sickening as it was predictable, Town had only themselves to blame as a tired second half display had invited the calumny. Blackburn never rose above the level of mediocre but had too easily thwarted their hosts with a relatively simple tactical plan and after the break had extinguished Town’s previous threat in a similar manner to the way they had done at Ewood a few short weeks ago, by restricting space.

In the absence of attacking options on the bench – a situation hopefully to be addressed very soon – Wagner threw Hudson in to the fray and the returning captain was sent up front with Hefele; a familiar and despairing tactic which would have some credibility if either of them had ever won an attacking header in previous deployments.

Short at the back, only a poorly placed ball by Feeney to Gallagher following a break prevented Town going 2 down and the let off was to prove crucial.

With the majority of 5 minutes injury time elapsed – ludicrously, given his team’s persistent time wasting including a veritable pantomime involving shin pads, Coyle was apoplectic when the board went up – Payne was felled just outside the box to give Town their last chance to salvage something from a disappointing afternoon.

The much maligned Wells – who again played well outside the area – stepped up and curled his shot expertly over the wall and past Steele to save a point.

Despite a scruffy, error strewn second half, Town did not deserve to lose against a horribly defensive and increasingly desperate Blackburn, and could even have nicked a win in the dying seconds when presented with a free kick and the opportunity to load the box. Smith – whose attacking play disintegrated in the second half – rightly called for Mooy to give him the ball as he had a better angle for delivery, but then, inexplicably, he passed the ball to Kachunga who was easily swamped.

It is far from unusual that a dogged, relegation battling team can gain a result at a high flying venue – we have done it ourselves in the past and Wigan were to thwart Derby in similar fashion later in the afternoon – and hardly realistic not to expect dips in form from individual players following an intense round of matches, and the salvaging of a point should be viewed positively.

With 13 points from 5 games since we last played Blackburn, Town’s hugely promising season – where they are far ahead of what seemed realistic in August – it would be churlish to over criticise a below par performance which was, thankfully, not punished by rivals later on, and the remarkable progress of a club brimming with energy and ideas will continue in to the New Year.

Another tough task follows quickly against another battling side in Wigan. Wagner’s selections for that game will be interesting as they look to avenge the recent defeat; with little recovery time (for both teams) and the continued absence of the influential Hogg, maybe the time is ripe for both Billing and a cameo from Lolley?

Whatever our fate, a Happy New Year to all Town fans, players and management. Let’s make it a great one.

 

 

 

Another single goal victory in front of a packed Boxing Day crowd saw Town register a fourth win on the trot and banish their November stumble once and for all.

The narrow victory barely reflected Town’s utter dominance over a lethargic Forest side who lacked any semblance of confidence or cohesion despite being handed the advantage of a thoroughly ill deserved lead when Pereira capitalised on a lucky break with a good finish.

The anaemic visitors, embroiled in yet another interminable attempted takeover, were starved of space, time and possession by their vibrant hosts and could only be grateful that Town’s familiar failings in the final third allowed their manager to scramble for flimsy face saving positives after the game.

The cold, blustery conditions didn’t prevent the Terriers from building their victory on relentless custody of the ball with their gloved Antipodean the principal architect.

On the rare occasion he loses possession, Aaron Mooy has a ridiculously simple remedy. He goes and gets it back. The confidence he instils in his team mates is invaluable – knowing that a pass to him in virtually any circumstances guarantees a safe pair of feet is an extraordinary asset.

The glabrous Aussie continues to defy hyperbole and, yet again, dazzled in a Town performance which brimmed with intensity and controlled aggression without translating in to enough goal scoring opportunities.

Alongside Mooy, the industrious Hogg destroyed Forest’s midfield and with Van La Parra and Kachunga raiding with menace from the flanks, the visitors were stretched taut throughout the afternoon, but largely negated Town’s signature use of advancing full backs and the hosts had to find alternative, more central, routes to goal.

Scintillating as much of the passing and movement was in the first half, the final ball or shot was often disappointing and the search for a more physical striker – almost certainly complete if not finalised – to provide another dimension up front may be the key to convert thrilling possession in to goals.

Nahki Wells, who contributed a lot to general play but far too often outside the area, should have rounded off a great move between Palmer and Kachunga but failed to connect with the latter’s low hard ball across the six yard area.

Palmer threaded another good ball in to the area from the edge of the box to Wells who shot wide, while Kachunga played in Mooy late in the half for a blocked attempt.

With a pacy burst, Van La Parra disappointed with a weak, wide finish and, overall, Town simply didn’t do enough once bearing down on goal to level, even if their overall performance completely dominated Forest.

At the other end, debutant keeper Coleman had to deal with a tricky situation after just 30 seconds when the hugely disappointing and apparently disinterested Bendtner bore down on goal only for the youngster to beat him to the ball.

Forest’s goal owed a great deal to luck with a ricochet off Mooy falling perfectly for the swift Pereira who outpaced Hefele to chip in an unlikely opener. Hefele showed considerable constraint, and wisdom, not to bring the floppy haired Portuguese down.

Trailing at the halfway stage, undeservedly but ominously given that Town had gone over 50 games without overturning a mid game deficit, the fear was that the momentum of a very good December would be halted and, similar to the Wigan game, the irritation of being beaten by an inferior side was looming.

An irresistible second half display of power and control swept such doubts away. While remaining unconvincing at the sharp end of the pitch, relying on two freakish goals for the win, Town barely let the visitors breath in a second half illuminated by Mooy’s command of a football.

At times seeming to defy the laws of physics, both with his passing and retention, the Aussie stood head and shoulders above everyone else on the pitch, including some very, very good displays from team mates Hogg and Kachunga.

For all his sublime touch, however, it was his worst which provided Town with a deserved, overdue equaliser. Completely out of context – it was like watching Jack Nicklaus shank one off a perfect lie – and dripping with irony, Mooy’s comical slice from a practised corner routine found the head of Kasey Palmer who instinctively headed it goalwards. Glancing down from the bar and off the keeper’s back, Town were level.

There were to be no more guilty feet from Mooy, who purred around the midfield with astonishing poise and no little bravery at times as he evaded clattering challenges as if someone was giving him advance warning.

His appreciation of space is simply glorious and will, regrettably, be seen on a higher plane sometime soon as the football world takes notice of a sublime talent adorning an unlikely stage.

A scruffy winner, put through his own goal following a nothing cross by Van La Parra by the hapless Mancienne, whose day was shortly to get even worse, was a poor way for Town’s overwhelming superiority to be asserted, but few were complaining.

Forest, inexplicably, withdrew Pereira – whose pace was their biggest, nay only, threat – rather than the entirely ineffective Bendtner in favour of Assombalonga, and produced little in a second half where they were harried out of the scraps of possession that fell their way.

A parody of their huge and much admired teams of the past, the Tricky Trees were fortunate not to be the first team to concede 3 to Town as substitute Payne latched on to a poor back pass but was unable to squeeze the ball past the keeper inside the back post. A slight deflection made the trajectory of the ball much wider than the effort deserved.

Payne had replaced the fading Palmer, who had a very good first half including some penetrative passes in to the area for chances, just after the winner along with Lowe who replaced his understudy Holmes-Dennis at the same time.

Town saw out the game with good control, featuring two crunching Hogg tackles, a clearly superior fitness and trademark possession. They were helped with the sending off of the hapless Mancienne who (not without justification) reacted to a throw in decision with a petulance no longer tolerated by referees to earn a second yellow.

The scarcity of goals to embellish dominant performances aside, a deficiency surely to be resolved soon, this squad is performing way above expectation and deserves all the accolades and success so far. The no limits philosophy espoused by Wagner and a fearless approach to a very tough league will surely herald an exciting 2017.

As for Mooy, he is surely the most accomplished player ever to wear the blue and white of Huddersfield Town. Savour him while you can.
(Merry Christmas and a Happy, prosperous New Year to all who read these ramblings).

 

 

Carrow Road has long been the graveyard of ambition for Huddersfield Town. Supporters of all vintages will remember to the point of trauma thrashings at the hands of Norwich where their overwhelming superiority seemed inevitable with Town looking as if they had walked the interminable distance to Norfolk.

Those of us unfortunate to witness two visits within 6 months of each other in 1998, resulting in a 9-1 aggregate deficit, featuring Craig Bellamy torturing Jacko’s unfathomable decision to play a high defensive line to feed Iwan Roberts (there was an unusual streak of cruelty that year) can be forgiven our yellow tinged nightmares.

It can only be assumed that few made it in 1969 for the last victory. Dual carriageways in rural Eastern England were a far off dream back then, supporters living outside West Yorkshire were decidedly exotic or freaks and the Greaves revolution was still in its early stages.

Quite rightly, David Wagner has no interest in any of this (possibly like everyone else!); suggesting that the travails of previous teams could be visited upon the current one would undoubtedly be an insult to his intelligence and an assault on his forward looking philosophies. But he hasn’t had to witness it.

The first sign that the horrors of the past were not to be revisited was a tepid rendition of “On the Ball, City”, Norwich’s quaint anthem reputed to be the world’s oldest football chant. A full, confident and optimistic Carrow Road usually belts it out to inspire their team – just another aspect of our ritual humiliation – but this was flat.

The fear in the yellow hordes is palpable. They only have to look at the teams around them in the division, and even below, to see clubs of their size and status in otiose paralysis waiting for an Asian sugar daddy to transform their fortunes when they fail to regain admittance to the bloated league above.

The suspicion that their cheerless, dour manager was being tolerated for as long as results were acceptable are now being realised – despite an abundance of talent at his disposal, their usually vibrant identity is disappearing as function is preferred to flair. There is no other way to explain Wes Hoolihan’s banishment from their first XI.

For once, then, Town took to the Canaries’ field without the odds being stacked against them and, for the omen seekers amongst us, the victory at Newcastle followed a poor performance at a small ground and maybe the relief at playing in an infinitely better arena would inspire them back to such triumph.

Early signs were not good. Kasey Palmer was caught in possession almost immediately – the first and last mistake he would make all night and Lowe, who would also recover to have an outstanding game, was robbed of the ball by Murphy who fed Oliveira in the box only for the Portuguese to fire wide as Stankovic (a major selection surprise) slid in.

Within 5 minutes of this inauspicious start, Town took the lead and Norwich levelled in double quick time. The visitors goal owed everything to a fabulous turn, run and pass by the impressive Palmer, who found Tommy Smith in acres of space to cross for an easy Kachunga header from, admittedly, an offside position which was, luckily, hard to spot in the pace of the attack.

From the restart, Norwich raided down Town’s apparently abandoned right and Brady managed to loop over a cross before the ball went dead. Despite the lack of attention in the box, Howson did exceptionally well to generate power and accuracy from 12 yards with a header which just evaded Ward’s despairing dive.

A lesser team, and certainly the ones who have represented Town over the years at Norwich, would have crumbled in these circumstances. Instead, Town took control of the game in a half where their opponents were left chasing shadows out of possession and under constant and considerable pressure when they had it.

Mooy, Palmer and Hogg dominated their counterparts entirely and the mixture of calm keep ball and explosive bursts forward bemused the hosts in to hurried, error laden football to the increasing derision of the home support.

This was no better illustrated than a harassed Durrans spooning an attempted back pass in a despairing attempt to rid himself of the Palmer pest snapping at his heels. Wells was on to the error in a flash but his first time control took the ball slightly too wide and allowed Bennet and Bassong to combine and clear the danger.

Town’s command of the game grew with every minute and sporadic Norwich attacks were broken up effectively as the home side’s rhythm was constantly interrupted.

On 40 minutes, Town deservedly retook the lead when Kachunga and Smith combined again down the right and a simple ball inside was toe poked through Bassonga’s legs past Ruddy.

The move which lead to the goal contained 18 passes including a superb ball forward between the lines by Stankovic and emphasised the dominance enjoyed by the visitors in a first half – equaliser aside – of control, aggression and organisation which reduced the Canaries to a shambling mess.

Anticipating a home revival in the second half, Wagner changed tactics from expansive pressing to a defensive block, pulling the wide men deeper back and Palmer slightly advanced to try to capitalise on any over extension by Norwich.

With more of the ball, Norwich improved without adding a great deal of composure to their play, but it was Town who had the first chance of the second period when Smith and Kachunga combined yet again but for the German to screw his shot wide when a 3rd goal – its nearly Christmas and a 3rd goal in any game remains elusive – would have buried their fragile opponents.

Norwich’s best chance, by a distance, was of Town’s own making. A tiring Hogg tried to find Kachunga with a loose pass which was punted upfield towards Stankovic. With his inexperience on full display, the Serbian’s attempt at clearing the ball merely swished at the night air and Oliveira was in the clear with Ward in no man’s land. His lob, however, was misplaced and drifted wide and Town were let off the hook.

Ward, who had a good game and helped his defenders at set pieces more than is his custom with catches and punches, was called in to action on a couple of occasions to make reasonably routine saves, though he would have been beaten by a late Bassonga header had it been on target.

Town’s second half attacking was sporadic, though they may have been more incisive had Palmer not been hacked down on a few occasions when he had turned opposition players with space in front of him. A reasonable refereeing performance was a little tarnished by the leniency shown to some cynical Norwich tackling.

Infuriatingly, Wells was caught offside when a very promising break looked on and the frustrated striker was booked for putting the ball in the net long after play was halted.

With judicious substitutions – the more defensive Bunn replaced Van La Parra and Billings’ height was introduced for the exhausted Hogg – and dogged defending, Town held on for a great victory celebrated in normal fashion.

3 wins in 6 days, including at 2 very difficult venues, has reinvigorated a season which was in danger of losing momentum and Wagner is to be highly commended for sticking to his ideas and philosophies even when dips in the performances of some players had appeared to indicate some frailty.

With good displays all round, the maturity, energy and talent of Palmer shone through. While Mooy was a creditable choice for man of the match – his class graces virtually every game – the youngster from Chelsea gave a peerless performance embracing both the beauty of the game with his poise under pressure and ability to spin in to space and the ugly side of pressing opponents in to error.

It is also exciting to realise that this squad still has room for improvement. A good overall defensive display in the second half shouldn’t disguise the fact that we weren’t far from the thin dividing line between success and failure at times and the inability to kill off teams with a third goal (or more) is asking for trouble.

But a long overdue win at Carrow Road is no time for carping – it was a memorable night in a season of high achievement and great promise.

Over 20 minutes in to a dour, physical battle in a tight, cramped arena, Aaron Mooy finally registered a successful pass and there could be no more stark illustration of the lack of room available to the visitors and the severe restrictions this imposed upon them.

The Aussie improved as the game progressed, but even his mastery of space was severely tested as an energetic if limited home side demonstrated how they have turned their tiny, efficient ground in to a graveyard of ambition for many sides as they have made their remarkable rise over the past few years.

With 4 changes made from Saturday’s morale boosting win, Wagner introduced graft in an attempt to counter the stifling and aggressive style of Burton who present a unique challenge in a Championship dominated by clubs with resources ridiculously in excess of the Brewers’ wildest dreams (and, to a lesser but important extent, ours).

While there could be few complaints about Town’s resilience in a truly turgid first half – Burton managed one, easily saved shot on target, which was one more than the visitors – there was precious little connection between the component parts of the team and attacks floundered weakly on the rare occasions that the shackles were loosened.

Bunn and Billing spurned the chance to impress with rare starts. The former struggled with the lack of pitch width and the young Belgian’s languid style was barely suited to the frenzy all around him.

In contrast, the two replacement full backs Holmes-Dennis and Cranie acquitted themselves more effectively, particularly the veteran who became Town’s most effective performer and, eventually, just as much a match winner as Wells. In a bruising encounter largely bereft of entertainment, Cranie added another fine display to the one at Blackburn (in very different game circumstances) and he should surely be utilised much more on the right hand side (including centrally) of a defence which can be vulnerable.

The best that can be said of an entirely incoherent first half performance which vied for the worst 45 minutes of the season was that Town didn’t allow their complete lack of control to hand the game to their opponents. With no fluency, and possession overturned far too regularly, it was incumbent on the defence not to succumb and the whole back four were comfortably up to the challenge.

Eerily reminiscent of the Shrewsbury debacle in the League Cup, where a low energy display in similar surroundings was punished, the fear was that Burton – a far superior side than the Shrews – could turn the screw in the second half and galvanise their impressive home form; and so it was to prove.

With possession at a premium, Town rarely escaped the constraints of their aggressive and confident hosts who make up for a general lack of finesse by harnessing raw power to create opportunities. As they were in that cup game, Town were way outside their comfort zone and were forced in to an ugly resilience which could, and probably should, have been breached on several occasions.

A rare foray upfield which saw a Kachunga effort cleared off the line offered brief respite from Burton’s relentless momentum and the visitors had to strain to resist their far more progressive hosts.

Billing and Bunn’s disappointing nights were brought to an early end before the hour with Van La Parra’s unpredictability carrying far more threat and Palmer adding greater strength to an over worked midfield.

Schindler and Hefele, who had largely worked in harmony in the first half, started to become a little detached and pressure began to mount. While there was more sound and fury signifying nothing about much of Burton’s dominance, Town were grateful for a miscontrol by Dyer when put through and even more in debt to a fantastically timed block by the excellent Cranie.

Hefele, increasingly erratic, survived a hand ball appeal which, while rightfully turned down, caused palpitations for supporters well used to such decisions going against their team.

Pinned back and rarely composed, Town’s only outlet was Van La Parra who worried Burton far more than Bunn even if little came from his forays and a battling 0-0 draw seemed to be the height of expectations.

With the foul count mounting, a decent referee began to reach for his pocket regularly and had to deal with simmering feuds involving Hefele with Ward (whose snide transgressions have not reduced with his status) and Kachunga with Burton’s whole left side.

The interruptions benefited Town by relieving pressure – in open play, Burton looked by far the most likely to grab the winner – but they remained largely on the back foot until a foul on Kachunga gave Town a routine, midfield, free kick which seemed at the time simply an ideal opportunity to get the ball far from our goal with just 5 minutes left.

Mooy, who had covered a lot of defensive ground in a much improved second half display following an uncharacteristically slack first half, whipped in a decent ball towards Hefele. Jumping with 2 defenders, the German’s touch looped towards his compatriot Schindler who headed towards the back post.

Wells, whose performance had ranged between poor and missing, rose high above his marker and generated significant power to beat the keeper. It was a very good finish and a distinctly below par Town were about to mug the home team for 3 wholly undeserved but welcome 3 points.

Unsurprisingly, Burton lost most of their verve with the late setback and it was Town who should have put the contest beyond doubt in the final 10 minutes (including injury time) with a Kachunga burst only halted at the last minute – he should have shot earlier – and McLaughlin beating away a Wells effort after being put through by Palmer.

The tightly packed away terrace celebrated with the players in customary fashion, and all of them, the players and the management may have felt a tinge of embarrassment at the nature of the win, tempered by the fact that there has been precious little luck flowing our way over the past few weeks.

A very different, very yellow, challenge awaits in front of the Sky cameras on Friday night but what, on paper, looked a far more daunting task may well be welcome relief following a very uncomfortable night in Burton.

 

Roared on by a noisy, enthusiastic and hostile home crowd both enraged by a sense of injustice and buoyed by their team overcoming all too familiar and deeply infuriating officiating, Town completed a victory over a clearly talented but disappointing opposition which perfectly replicated early season triumphs to give renewed hope for the season.

An impressive points haul from the first 10 games had provided a valuable cushion against the ravages of a slump in form to the extent that a long overdue win propelled the club in to 4th position, all be it in an increasingly crowded space behind Newcastle and Brighton which adds greater vulnerability to any future barren spells.

Preston and Fulham aside, many of the performances in that late Autumn spell of fallow fruitlessness were not dissimilar to those early successes, with the team falling the wrong side of preposterously thin Championship margins at times, as good fortune faded along with the form of some of the players.

As a spectacle, the game was theatrically entertaining, replete with heroes and villains, plot twists and a welcome return of the rousing encore of celebration.

Town’s leading man was the formidable Mooy. Free of debilitating journeys, the Australian delivered a masterclass of poise, intelligence and control which almost completely overshadowed City’s Tomlin; a nightmare inducing nemesis in the past.

Even his rare errors with the script – he misplaced two passes early on – were quickly recovered and his immense presence cajoled his enthusiastic team mates back to their true potential. The speed of thought, calmness of execution and an uncanny instinct for space will surely mark him out as one of the players of the Championship season.

An unerring feature of all of Town’s wins this season has been the scoring of the first goal. Quite remarkably, every win has been built on this foundation and only a single point has been recovered from a losing start, so it was no surprise that the home side’s intent was established very quickly.

After an early set piece was defended adequately, Town continued where they had left off at Ewood Park with a good tempo and were soon troubling the visitors. An early opportunity for Wells saw the out of sorts striker attempt a long distance lob when he should have taken the ball further, but his ambition was admirable if misplaced.

With Van La Parra tormenting his would be markers – he performed some fantastic turns to launch attacks – and domination of the ball, Town were rewarded with the early goal so crucial to this season’s success when the irrepressible Kachunga found Smith on the right with a perfectly weighted ball. Impressing on his return from suspension in place of the unfortunate Cranie, the stand in captain returned the favour with an inch perfect cross for the leading scorer to head home with some ease.

Smith could have added to his impressive assist statistics just 5 minutes later when another incisive sortie down the right allowed him to find Wells in the area, but the Bermudian rather fluffed his lines first by hitting a defender and then firing a tame shot from the rebound straight at Fielding. A second goal would have eased Town’s victory considerably, but such luxury is apparently to be denied us this season.

With a platform duly built, Town’s intensity muted the visitors who became over reliant on long balls to their tall forwards which were largely dealt with by the improved Schindler and Hefele, even if they didn’t always win the aerial battles.

City manager Johnson, of whom more later, had clearly paired the prodigious talent of Abrahams with the gnarled experience of Wilbraham with the intention of exploiting the perceived weakness at the heart of the home defence, but this seemed to be at the expense of Tomlin’s artistry and the portly ex-Posh man’s frustration lead to an astonishing spat with his manager in plain sight of all and hearing shot of many.

“Never <expletive deleted> talk to me like that again” was his reported line to his young boss; sadly, we shall probably never know the context of his outburst but it was heartening to witness disharmony in the opposition. Future ramifications remain to be seen.

Meanwhile, Van La Parra’s runs, Mooy’s probing and the eager running of Kachunga and Palmer continued to worry the Robins.

A good first half hour, with the lead and control established, was cruelly interrupted following a free kick awarded for a Schindler challenge on Tomlin. Throwing their numerous big men forward to prey on the home defences’ neuroses, it was central defender Flint (who had earlier headed wide from another set piece) whose harmless looking, mistimed header should have been cleared by Palmer but instead fell back to him to hook over towards the now unmarked Wilbraham who poked the ball past Ward for Abraham to finish. Both looked suspiciously offside but an admittedly well positioned linesman gave them the benefit of the doubt – which he should – and Town were undeservedly pegged back by a scruffy goal.

Town recovered their composure and a fine effort by Van La Parra appeared to strike a defender’s arm before Fielding made a good stop. Following up, Wells’ attempt to play the ball back in to the area also appeared to be blocked by a limb – his appeals were, predictably, turned away and the two incidents, in quick succession, brought to mind penalties awarded against us at Newcastle and at home versus Wednesday and the reluctance of any referee to rule in our favour continues to bewilder and frustrate.

Towards the end of a first half he had officiated reasonably well, the referee then took centre stage. First, he allowed the already booked Freeman to get away with considerable dissent, railing against a free kick award against him. A brief lecture must have left Van La Parra baffled at the inconsistency – his rant at Reading bringing a second yellow card earlier in the season.

Mr Stroud then incurred the wrath of the visitors with a decision against Abraham which halted the Chelsea loanees’ charge in to open space following a challenge on Hefele which looked fair. Ward may well have mopped up the danger, but such is the youngster’s pace this was far from an inevitable outcome and Town had been let off the hook. Fine margins.

If his marginal decisions in the first half had, at least, a semblance of rationality, the next one was inexplicable. Early in the second half, Wells (much livelier than his sluggish performance at Blackburn) chased down a slightly underhit headed backpass which didn’t quite reach the area. Instead of clearing, Fielding went to pick it up, handling it before Wells had chance to nick it past him and, almost certainly, create a clear scoring opportunity.

Despite Johnson’s feeble mitigation that his team had cover (they most certainly did not), a red card looked inevitable. Instead of reaching for his pocket, however, Mr Stroud prevaricated and allowed ridiculous doubt to cloud his judgement before producing a yellow card.

Once the free kick had come to nought, the home crowd galvanised against the man in the middle. It is probably no exaggeration to suggest that Stroud was also taking the cumulative heat of weeks’ worth of infuriating decisions which have gone against the Terriers, but this is not to excuse his lily livered decision.

The home support, already heavily invested in a pulsating game, increased the decibels and hostility and the parallels with all those early John Smith stadium wins were building.

Feeding off the support, Town’s sense of injustice spurred them on with raids from right and left beginning to trouble the visitors who had little respite from the intensity of their opponents. Van La Parra and Lowe were combining to better effect than in previous home games and Mooy’s impeccable passing and vision allowing Town to overwhelm their stretched opponents.

The winner came just short of the hour. With delicious karma, Fielding miscontrolled a firm back pass (he knew not to pick this one up) and the vigilant Wells swooped to score.

Further chances came and went – Town were scintillating at times – but the comfort of a third goal was not to be and they almost paid the price when a lovely Tomlin flick and interchange with Wilbraham set Abraham free only for the youngster to fire high and wide under pressure from Hefele.

A visibly fading Van La Parra lost possession three times to allow Bristol to attack. Fortunately, little came of them and the Dutchman was replaced to a deserved standing ovation.

An injury to Hefele saw Lowe tap the ball in to touch only for Johnson to petulantly kick it back, with some venom, at the defender, prompting an angry reaction from the German. His ire paled, however, compared to his boss and compatriot’s when City shaped to give the ball back in sporting fashion only for them to use it as an opportunity to attack.

Given their frailty at set pieces, Town defended well against some late corners and professionally ate up the last 10 minutes in the style we became accustomed to earlier in the season.

A thoroughly entertaining encounter came to an end and, at last, 3 points has been won for the first time in 8 attempts. It had been clear in the previous two games that the mojo had returned, even if a single point had been the scant reward.

To their credit, the home support has never given up on the team, the manager or the project he wants to complete. Spurred on by anger at yet another poor referee, the noise – finely orchestrated in the south stand throughout – gave the team heart and momentum against awkward opponents.

Bristol’s comeuppance was well deserved and their manager’s antics provided further satisfaction at the win.

Two awkward away games in the space of 4 days now await, but they can be faced with the confidence of a team near to getting back to its best. Old frailties lurk – chances need to be created and taken more often and the vulnerability to high balls is improving but not eradicated – but the control of games has returned and they have nothing to fear.