Valentines Day Massacre Pt2

Huddersfield Town completed the double over Leeds United for the season, and the third consecutive win against their West Yorkshire rivals.

Loan signing Lukas Jutkiewicz made his Huddersfield Town debut in place of Keigan Parker, and Gary Roberts returned in place of Phil Jevons who had to make do with a place on the substitutes bench.

An unlikely match winning goal came from Nathan Clarke on 16 minutes as he powered home a Gary Roberts corner. The sort of position he has been getting into all season, but this time he was clinical in front of goal.

It was a perfect time for Town to get the goal, as the Home fans outsung their visitors from Leeds.

Leeds best chance of the first half came through Andy Robinson on 23 minutes, his stinging shot was brilliantly saved by Smithies, and the resulting cornern saw Smithies make another good save from Marques.

Town were unlucky not to get a couple more goals before half time with Jutkiewicz going close with a 25 yard drive, which Ankergren spilled and re collected just ahead of Gary Roberts as he looked to tap in the rebound.

Roberts then fed Pilkington straight through the middle and as it looked odds on he would score, Andy Hughes outmuscled the former Stockport man, only to turn the ball into the on rushing Collins, but Hughes managed to scramble the ball clear.

Town had anothe clear cut chance from a corner, Roberts delivery was nodded down by Clarke, and for a brief moment nobody knew exactly where the ball had gone, Jutkiewicz was the first to find it and his snap shot unfortunately hit a Leeds player en-route to goal and deflected away for a corner.

Huddersfield Town had much the better of the first half and went off at half time with a deserved lead.

The start of the second half saw Phil Jevons come on to replace the injured Lionel Ainsworth, who had much the better of Carl Dickinson, who must have been relieved to see the speedy winger depart.

Town laboured to get into the game second half, the departure of Ainsworth clearly disrupted the side, and they had Alex Smithies to thank as he made saves from Robinson and Snodgrass.

Town had chances towards the end of the game as Phil Jevons sent a specualtive volley narrowly wide and Michael Collins almost capped a superb counter attack with Towns second but he was denied by some good goal keeping from Casper Ankergren.

So 6 points taken from Leeds this season, and a game in which Town probably deserved to win on balance of play, next up 2 consecutive away trips starting at Crewe on Sat 21st Feb, Followed by a return for Pilkington to Stockport on Sat Feb 28th

Player Ratings

Smithies 9
Showed exactly why he has replaced Glennon, and why scouts continue to track the youngsters progress. Some excellent saves, and you can visibly see the confidence growing.

Holdsworth 8
Back to his best, hopefully he can keep up this form for the rest of the season

Williams 8
Shirked a few challenges with Snodgrass, but has improved massively as of late.

Butler 9
Nothing got past ‘The Tank’ Today! Commanding

N Clarke 10
A superb bullet header on 16 minutes, and commanding at the back

Goodwin 9
had a certain F.Delph in his pocket again all day

Collins 9
Some great running both defensively and in attack, unlucky not to score at the death

Ainsworth 8
Sadly had to go off injured at Half time which visibly disrupted Towns play.

Pilkington 8
Some nice touches again, has a great work rate.

Roberts 8
Didn’t look 100% match sharp, but fully commited display, went off injured in second half

Jutkiewicz 9
Just what Town have been lacking, held the ball up well and won virtually everything in the air!

Werling 7
Came on as injuries hit, looked solid but didnt have too much to do. One bizzare run down the left as Town were running the clock down, led to Werling putting a cross in to No-one! maybe his English isnt that great!

Craney 7
His arrival seemed to settle the midfield, but is definately a player who needs to start games.
Worked hard as always but didnt cause a real threat, had one speculative shot which woul no doubt have got him a 10!

Manager Rating
Lee Clark 10, Took Gerry Murphys words of wisdom and led Town to a third win over Leeds.

Opponent Rating
Simon Grayson 7, Outplayed in the first half, turned it around as his side pressed in the second but leaves a loser!