Leeds United 1-0 Huddersfield Town

Huddersfield Town story posted by Sean Makin on 24/08/2004
Frustrated Town who battled hard against rivals and Championship side Leeds United lost 1-0 to a goal by ex-Man United player Danny Pugh.Leeds United 1-0 Huddersfield Town
The Carling Cup adventure of last year and defeating Chelsea in 1999 in the Steve Bruce ere, It wasn?t repeated this time around as Town have not scored in 3 successive games.
The Town team had once change from the side that lost 1-0 to Sheffield Wednesday, Pawel Abbott replaced Junior Mendes who sat on the bench.
Both clubs having being re-built because of financial ruin, with Leeds players still having time to gel, it was Town who had the most possession and probably the most chances. Ian Gray must have been only troubled twice during the game.

A following of 5,100 made the trip from Huddersfield to Elland Road, but during the day there was ugly scenes outside a bar in Leeds City Centre,
There was certainly little to choose from on the pitch until Danny Pugh?s strike midway through the first half in front a 30,000 crowd,
Crainey?s free-kick towards the edge of the Town box was met by the head of Michael Ricketts, His header beat Gray but smacked against the bar, Pugh got on the rebound but Gray parried the ball away only to see Pugh smack the ball into the back of the net at the second attempt.

Town, though, had the best opportunities either side of that, with their first in the 14th minute when Neil Sullivan superbly tipped over the bar a powerful header from Nathan Clarke after Andy Booth had knocked on a Tony Carss corner.
Carrs then again turned supplier just before the half hour, Carrs picked up the ball from a short pass from Brandon, And with a curling cross from the left, He picked out Pawel Abbott superbly but Abbott?s header crashed against the bar only to see no one in a red and black shirt picking up the pieces from the re-bound.

Town continued to look the more enterprising side after the break and deserved to be level until Blackwell made his first substitution in the 70th minute when he replaced Steve Guppy with Jamie McMaster.
Within two minutes of his introduction, McMaster challenged the Terriers defence before unleashing a venomous 25-yard right-foot rising drive, forcing Gray into an outstanding save to tip the ball over the bar.

Town had numerous penalty decisions turned down, The referee, Eddie Liderton, was poor and also the linesmen. Pawel Abbott ran his heart out for the entire match. Town were the better side but lacked the killer touch up front, I think a new striker a proven one for me has to be the top of list to buy as 3 games without scoring. Midway through the second half Town brought off Rob Edwards and Andy Booth who were replaced by two strikers, Junior Mendes and Youngster John McAliskey.

Town looked better when McAliskey was thrown on, Junior Mendes once again failed to impress as Town charged forward and dominated the entire second half, Mirfin has a low shot smack into the side netting after good work from Brandon. The Leeds defence of Butler and Clarke Carlisle (who had just come out of rehab because of a drink problem) protected goalkeeper Neil Sullivan as Town surged for an equalizer.

The Terriers supporters stood in their entirety to clap Peter Jackson's side off the pitch, from what was a great performance but it is a worry that Town have being nill-ed again and are out of the Carling Cup competition. Although the corner count in favour of Town and the fact that they had 3 corners in a minute during the second half, shows how much Town went for the equalising goal.

Town still have the F.A Cup to come in November but we now must concentrate on the league and the game against Peterborough United on Saturday.

With the passion Town played like against Leeds, Town won?t go far wrong but the killer punch up front has to be worked on.


Teams:

Leeds United: Sullivan, Kelly, Butler ?, Carlisle, Crainey, Richardson, Pugh, Guppy (McMaster 70), Ricketts, Joachim.

Subs Not Used: Carson, Walton, Duberry, Hignett.

Town: Gray, Holdsworth, Clarke, Sodje (c), Mirfin, Edwards (McAliskey 75), Brandon, Carss, Worthington, Abbott, Booth (Mendes 70)

Subs Not Used: Senior, Schofield, Brown.


Match Statistics
Goals: Leeds 1, Town 0
Shots on Target: Leeds 6, Town 4
Shots off Target: Leeds 3, Town 8
Corners: Leeds 8, Town 10
Bookings: Leeds 0, Town 1 (Edwards)
Red Card: Leeds 0, Town 0
Half-Time: Leeds United 0-0 Huddersfield Town
Attendance: 30,115 (5,100 from Huddersfield)
Officials
Referee: Eddie Iiderton
Assistant Referees: Wayne Lomas, Eddie Tarry
Sean?s Town Man Of The Match: Pawel Abbott

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