Bugger. Didn't want to be right with my prediction Just invited too much pressure at the end and lost our heads a bit. Thought a draw would have been fair but can't grumble too much given the amount of pressure they were putting us under and the number of balls into the box. Why we couldn't seem to push up just a little and Bagan try stop a few crosses I don't know.... Ah well.
Very disappointed with the negative way they tried to hold on to a slender lead. Allowing them so much possession and to cross time after time is not the way to defend; attack is the best form of defence. City showed in the first half they were able to pass it through midfield but after their goal they just played to hold on. Aside from the fact Huddersfield were technically better man for man in midfield, City were a match for them physically but their naivety and negativity cost them 3 points.
Watched the game on CCTV. The way we invited them on down their right hand side (our left) I felt like hiding behind the sofa everytime Sorba the Leek got the ball. Huddersfield are a decent workmanlike side, but they should never have been allowed to send the ball in to our danger zone with such ease and regularity. Only an opinion of course, but I reckon we lost that for two main reasons. 1. Far too negative from the off as though the thinking was a draw would be a good result. Getting the first goal was a huge and unexpected bonus. but in a strange way that was probably our downfall. We sat too deep asking for trouble and we got it. 2. Doyle should never have been taken off. Having got his goal he was on a high and loving it. We were leading 1-0 and I'd have put him down for another as Udders pressed forward to get something from the game. OK, so he'd picked up a yellow but that's no excuse - McGuinness had one in the first 15 minutes but was left on. Also Ralls looked unfit and off the pace - for me he wasn't ready. Not too despondent though - at least we're starting to pass the ball on the floor, we just need that bit more urgency and vision going forwards. The Doyle, Hughill and Zak Davies triumverate could put the wind up most defences if given the correct platform to work off. That means in the final 3rd instead of trying to do it from the half way line.
Likely to be from our penalty area on Saturday, not even half way. We had 7 yellows last night from 14 players who took part - 50%. Have we ever had that many in a single game before? I wasn't able to watch it. We're we kicking lumps off them, wasting time (the reason for Smithies' card I guess) or was it another fussy ref? In fairness he explained why Hugill got a yellow not a red. Some of the jumped up twerps we get to ref would have given a straight red, especially away from home.
Not sure whether Smithies yellow was for time wasting or his confrontation with an Udder's player who deliberately knocked the ball out of his hands after he'd caught it. McGuinness' early yellow was for an over-robust challenge - a foul yes, but was it worth a yellow at that early stage? Bagan, Doyle and Harris were just "professional" fouls preventing their guys from breaking away. Hugill caught a defender with a raised arm when jumping to contest a ball - nothing premeditated. How the hell do you keep your arms down by your sides when jumping to head a ball? Vaulks? - well that was just Vaulks. All in all, the ref seemed more inclined to penalise City players but what's new? Hugill got clattered a few times himself but got very little sympathy probably due to his physical style anyway. I suppose overall Mr. Langford wasn't that bad - as you say we've had much worse.
Just saw brief highlights or perhaps lowlights of last 10 minutes. Yes the crosses for both goals should have been cut out but you would still expect your defenders to deal with them. Did Flint have concrete in his boots for the second one? Missed a basic header then couldn't get in a tackle when the ball landed. Looked like good away support for around 150 miles away up't north on a sh1t February night. Well done all.
I despair at Morison claiming it was nearly a perfect away performance. First half we were the likeliest to score but poor finishing then cost us in the end. Second half incredibly we scored from one of the very few forays up front. Then failed predictably to hold on due to an inability to stop the crosses coming in. There was a screamingly obvious lack of possession and failure to take the pressure off the defence. Last season we had Ojo & to a lesser extent Murphy being released by Wilson to do those 2 things. Now it’s painful watching City holding on - they got lucky at Barnsley in 94th minute but their luck ran out last night. Morison needs a reality check if he thought that was nearly a perfect away performance.
