Huddersfield Town: February 2010

Hello friends and welcome to my latest update.

We were finally back at home for the first game of February and it seemed like we had been on the road forever but had returned to The Galpharm Stadium with three wins on the trot.

Our opponents were a tough side in the form of Carlisle and right from the opening kick off I knew they meant business as we were not enjoying our usual amount of possession. Of course we found the woodwork within the first five minutes when Rhodes’s header clipped off the bar and at the other end Carlisle squandered an easy chance that went wide of the post from seven yards. Anthony Pilkington who is thankfully still with us got the opening goal of the game scoring as he so often does by running into the box from the right flank and being first to the loose ball. Carlisle tried desperate to get back into the game both sides of the interval but Alex Smithies between the sticks proved why he is England’s under 20 goalkeeper. Our second came seven minutes from time when Robbie Simpson came on and immediately disrupted the Carlisle defence and created some space for Robinson to bang in the second and secure victory.

Next up was another home game this time against Swindon whom we’d had a difficult time with at the County Ground. No such problem this time though thanks to a memorable hat-trick by Theo Robinson who is now brimming with confidence. His first came after 14 minutes when he shielded the ball well from a Gasmi cross before firing into the rook of the net on the turn. His second came eight minutes from the interval with a smashing diving header into the bottom right hand corner from a Pilkington cross. Although Swindon persevered in clawing back the game young Liverpool loanee Papadopoulos was just outstanding in defence and equal to the task. Sandrinho who came on as a sub found Robinson lurking on the halfway line and his speed proved too much for Swindon and slammed the ball into the net for his third of the game.

The following game was also at home for the second leg of the Northern JPT Final against Grimsby and we had a 3-1 advantage from the first leg. It didn’t take long to add to that lead with Robinson scoring a goal inside two minutes off a Kabous through ball. I’d taken a chance and rotated a few players prior to the kick off and so with an early goal I was now less concerned about that decision. We doubled our lead just on half time when full back Peltier sent in a lovely floating cross that was met by the head of Emmanuel-Thomas. Robinson added a third early in the second half, out-running the defenders and placing neatly in the back of the net. Although Grimsby did have their chances the finishing was thankfully poor and so we are now on our way to Wembley to face Southampton in the final on March 28^th.

We travelled to Hartlepool for our next game and what an epic encounter it would be. After some early end to end melee’s the home side took the lead through Dalle Valle whose pace caught out central defender Pearce. Anthony Pilkington tied the game up 8 minutes later with one of his usual cut inside runs and a neat finish and this was followed by Pearce making up for his early mistake by heading home from a Pilkington free kick. Jordan Rhodes made it 3-1 just before half time when he towered above everyone else to nod home a Gasmi corner and so things were looking good as the referee blew for half time. Robinson and Rhodes both added to the tally following the interval and even though we had a 5-1 lead Hartlepool to their credit never gave up and their persistence paid off with two further goals. Robinson though put the game beyond all doubt with a fine breakaway goal fine minutes from time. I was delighted that we had scored six but a little concerned at conceding three as our defence has been quite solid recently.

Next up was a trip to Birkenhead to face Tranmere. Again we got off to a flyer with Rhodes finishing from distance after midfielder James Berrett broke down an early attack from the home side and his through ball found Rhodes perfectly. Six minutes later Gasmi took off down the left flank like a greyhound and his inch perfect cross found the head of Rhodes and it was 2-0. Rhodes returned the favor later in the first half by teeing up Gasmi instead of shooting himself. We were less convincing up front in the second half but nonetheless collected another three valuable points.

The final game of the month and were back at home to face league leaders Leeds United in the Yorkshire derby. We started off brightly creating a couple of early chances for Robinson which both attempts were squandered and the young forward lost his confidence and drifted out of the game. Leeds dominated much of the game and although Alex Smithies pulled off a number of good saves they eventually went ahead from a corner kick thanks to poor marking. James Berrett though got us back into the game just before half time with a lovely little lob from twenty yards out that caught both himself and the keeper by surprise. Leeds though went ahead again after the interval when Romanian Florin Soava unleashed a rocket of a free kick that almost broke the net. He then played an absolute blinder for the remainder of the game and so we endured our first loss in several matches.

Current League Table

Next months fixtures

So we’ve moved up to 13th place and we are still in with a shot at a play off spot if other results go our way and if we can get over this defeat by Leeds. Even though squad morale is superb the players are still voicing their concerns over squad harmony. Hopefully we can win the JPT and that will change everything.

Thanks for reading everyone.