Just back from the match, phew! I really enjoyed it (as you would when we win) but it was a game of 2 halves and they had me sweating in the last few minutes as Huddersfield pressed for the equalizer, despite it being very cold.
It got off to a bad start when Kuszczack was injured during the warm up and Brez started between the sticks.
The first half I'm not sure if we were very good or if Huddersfield were very bad, but we dominated, scored 2 with another disallowed for offside (was at the other end so no idea whether it was a good call or not) and I can't recall Huddersfield having a decent effort on goal.
The second half was a different game. Huddersfield came out and played much better (it would have been hard to have been any worse) but our defence looked ok and we still managed a couple of really good efforts; Buckley in particular had 2 very good efforts for his hat-trick and both times the keeper made very good saves (although I would have put my house on him scoring the second of these when he was through 1-on-1 on the keeper). And then, in the 89th minute, Huddersfield scored, and then the 4th official announced 4 minutes of added time. Here we go again, I thought. But we held firm for a very good away win.
Buckley played a blinder and he was clearly exhausted towards the end; what a player. Bridcutt, as usual, put in a good shift and I was impressed with Orlandi; his first touch is exquisite. I particularly liked that he ran to the fans at the end and threw his shirt to the crowd; I reckon he will become a crowd favourite.
As for the returnees, I thought Painter had a very good game although he was in the wars a bit; took a boot to the head in one instance and in another he went down in the 6-yard box and appeared to claim he had been headbutted, he was certainly quite angry about it. It was good to see Will Hoskins playing again, and he worked hard. And then there was Brez, who demonstrated again why we needed a new goalkeeper; he flapped at a couple of crosses (although to be fair he did connect with a couple of good punches) but from where I was stood it did look like he fumbled the ball just prior to their goal (again, at the other end of the pitch). Hopefully The Big Pole will return very soon.
Overall, a good team performance and an away win at one of our play off rivals is always a good thing. Anyway, I'm very happy and about to open my first can of what else but John Smith's!
It got off to a bad start when Kuszczack was injured during the warm up and Brez started between the sticks.
The first half I'm not sure if we were very good or if Huddersfield were very bad, but we dominated, scored 2 with another disallowed for offside (was at the other end so no idea whether it was a good call or not) and I can't recall Huddersfield having a decent effort on goal.
The second half was a different game. Huddersfield came out and played much better (it would have been hard to have been any worse) but our defence looked ok and we still managed a couple of really good efforts; Buckley in particular had 2 very good efforts for his hat-trick and both times the keeper made very good saves (although I would have put my house on him scoring the second of these when he was through 1-on-1 on the keeper). And then, in the 89th minute, Huddersfield scored, and then the 4th official announced 4 minutes of added time. Here we go again, I thought. But we held firm for a very good away win.
Buckley played a blinder and he was clearly exhausted towards the end; what a player. Bridcutt, as usual, put in a good shift and I was impressed with Orlandi; his first touch is exquisite. I particularly liked that he ran to the fans at the end and threw his shirt to the crowd; I reckon he will become a crowd favourite.
As for the returnees, I thought Painter had a very good game although he was in the wars a bit; took a boot to the head in one instance and in another he went down in the 6-yard box and appeared to claim he had been headbutted, he was certainly quite angry about it. It was good to see Will Hoskins playing again, and he worked hard. And then there was Brez, who demonstrated again why we needed a new goalkeeper; he flapped at a couple of crosses (although to be fair he did connect with a couple of good punches) but from where I was stood it did look like he fumbled the ball just prior to their goal (again, at the other end of the pitch). Hopefully The Big Pole will return very soon.
Overall, a good team performance and an away win at one of our play off rivals is always a good thing. Anyway, I'm very happy and about to open my first can of what else but John Smith's!
Yes congrats to Crofts and his family, but why didn't they just tell us that yesterday