Huddersfield Town 1 Bradford City 0: Why derby day was season high for Liam Manning's Terriers - and low for Bantams
‘CHAMPAGNE’ Charlie Manby, fresh from his exploits at the World Darts Championships, was the half-time guest on derby day.
It was an occasion when the Huddersfield Town supporter saw his team land the ‘big fish’ by virtue of a prized victory over a promotion-chasing contender at last and the local rivals to boot. Never mind 170 checkouts.
For new Town head coach Liam Manning, it was everything he could have possibly wished for.
‘A special game, a special day’ he remarked and it was hard not to concur from a Terriers standpoint. A statement was delivered by his players and a connection was quickly established with a previously disenfranchised fanbase.
Manning wanted to see bravery on the ball, aggression in getting it back, intensity and attacking with a purpose and got all that. The first half – in front of a watching Kevin Nagle – was pretty vintage.
Following the dismissal of Marcus McGuane for a second booking a few minutes past the hour mark, Manning would later see his players show another side in displaying their character to defend a lead and dig in with 10 men. That was useful to see as well, first up.
As for Bradford City? Well, the food for thought that they are currently receiving will become a mini-banquet, should they lose and not show themselves in a good light at second-placed Lincoln on Tuesday.
Saturday was a worrying, anaemic performance.
Including stoppage time, they played with an extra man for around 37 minutes and still never looked convincing or threatening in an attacking sense. Andy Cook might have been handy to throw on; meanwhile he was scoring for Grimsby.
There remains perspective for sure as City suffered back-to-back losses for the first time since last March. That’s a barometer of their progress.
But in the here and now, this result will sting.
Ahead of the game, Manning, when asked about the league table, suggested that anything was still possible. In a three-game week, ‘you can change everything’, he uttered. This was part one done.
Town currently hold the final play-off spot in sixth ahead of two games against sides just below them in Luton Town and Peterborough United. Navigate those and it will be about reeling in others above.
City, who have dropped to fourth place on goal difference, remain entitled to be occupied with business above them and have an opportunity to instantly put Saturday’s events behind them with a strong result at Lincoln.
Given their last two results, they might also have half an eye on the gap to seventh place. Plenty can still happen.
On City’s previous league visit to Huddersfield in March 2007, they faced a Town side who had recently sacked a manager – in Peter Jackson – and came a cropper following a non-performance.
Sadly, history repeated itself. Town, meanwhile, were more bothered about avoiding a replication of events at Valley Parade last September when they were comprehensively second best in a 3-1 defeat. This display was the polar opposite.
Two of City’s bright young things on that autumn day in Bobby Pointon and Josh Neufville barely got a kick and were hauled off at half-time. The visitors were only losing 1-0, but it was a 1-0 beating.
Joe White, on his full debut and operating in a ‘10’ role in the absence of Antoni Sarcevic, also got the hook at the interval. In fairness, several others could have been brought off. The game passed City’s players by.
Huddersfield were first to pretty much everything and won their battles as you must do on days like this. They also tactically outwitted their opponents, who palpably struggled to get to grips with Alfie May and Marcus Harness, who picked up pockets of space all over the place.
May didn’t score, when he really should have on the day and deserved to, but there was much to admire in his incessant performance. He received a raucous ovation when he was replaced in the second half.
It was fitting that the aforesaid duo linked up for the match-winning moment on 23 minutes.
May’s cross was met by Bojan Radulovic. His header was parried by Sam Walker and Harness gobbled up the rebound.
Before that, Lynden Gooch, another to excel, fired a loose ball wide with the goal at his mercy. No matter and the traffic was all one-way.
Bradford’s interval changes didn't alter the narrative. The dismissal of McGuane, hitherto excellent in his first league start, threatened to after he walked after a tired challenge on Jenson Metcalfe. Not replacing him earlier was Manning’s only minus mark on the day, albeit a small one.
Pretty much everything else went right. For City, even with an extra player, there was no onslaught in front of their visiting supporters, who left disappointed, short-changed and a little worried.
Huddersfield Town: Nicholls; Balker, Low, Wallace (Feeney 86); Gooch, McGuane, Ledson, Mumba; Harness (Sorensen 74); May (Humphreys 68), Radulovic (Charles 74). Unused substitutes: Alnwick, Miller, Alves.
Bradford City: Walker; Baldwin (Leigh 85), J Wright (T Wright 68), Tilt; Neufville (Ashby HT), Power, Metcalfe, Touray; White (Sibley HT), Pointon (Kavanagh HT); Humphrys. Unused substitutes: Hilton, Pennington.
Referee: E Duckworth (Lancs).