Bournemouth 2 v 3 Huddersfield Town

Huddersfield Town story posted by Beaker (Moderator) on 19/01/2002
Town got back to winning ways with a 3-2 victory over Bournemouth at Dean Court on Saturday.Bournemouth 2 v 3 Huddersfield Town
The Terriers stormed into a three-goal first half lead but were nearly punished for a poor second half performance.

Skipper Steve Jenkins returned from a three match ban and saw his side in front after only two minutes.Kenny Irons' cross was chested down by Danny Schofield and Andy Booth fired in his eleventh goal of the season.

It was a great start for the visitors as they looked to put Tuesday's disappointing performance at Bury behind them.

Town looked well in command with Booth winning just about everything in the air and Schofield and Chris Hay causing problems down the flanks. And it was Hay who grabbed Town's second on 23 minutes after Iron's corner was volleyed goalbound by Leon Knight.

Town continued to press and were unlucky when Booth headed Knight's cross wide of the target.
And on 37 minutes the Terriers made it 3-0.Chris Hay skipped past the defence (no really!) and crossed for Leon Knight to head in from close range to end his barren spell.It was his first goal in ten games but his seventh in Town colours.

Bournemouth were far from impressive and could offer little in reply,only a free-kick that was curled wide by Richard Hughes.

So 3-0 at half-time then and plenty more to come we thought. You'd think we'd know better by now really wouldn't you?

The second half started like we expected and Town almost made it four when Knight's pace took him clear but he could only shoot straight at Bournemouth keeper Gareth Stewart. But from then on Town inexplicably dropped deep again encouraging the Cherries to attack.Which they did.

In the first half Bournemouth had looked like a team devoid of confidence and ideas,but suddenly they were hungry for goals and Town struggled to cope,retreating deeper and deeper all the time.
Town eventually cracked on 57 minutes,Derek Holmes tapping in a rebound after Carl Fletcher's shot hit the post.

The Terriers were now all at sea and the home crowd sensed a comeback was on the cards as Town gave away possession at an alarming rate.Desperate defending was now the aim of the game and Knight,Holland and Nathan Clarke all joined Jenkins in the referee's notebook for clumsy challenges.(Jenks had replaced Adie Moses who was rewarded for some good recent performances...by getting dropped.)

Why do we insist on sitting back?
If we had continued attacking then Bournemouth would have gone to pieces-everybody in the Town end thought we were in for a goal bonanza at half-time!
But we should know what to expect from Mr.Macari and it was no suprise that when Leon Knight limped off towards the end that it would be Thomas Heary to come on in a bid to sew things up in the middle of the park.

Bournemouth had dominated the second half and we could see our worst fears coming true in the 89th minute with a second Bournemouth goal,this time from Warren Feeney.

With the fourth official holding up five minutes on his board I could hardly watch as the Cherries piled on the pressure and had penalty appeals waved away when Feeney went over in the box. But Town clung on to register their first league win of 2002 and to say we came close to throwing it away is an understatement.

The three points is all that matters though as Town bid to get back to Division One at the first attempt.

Teams:
AFC Bournemouth:
Stewart, Purches, Broadhurst, Tindall, Birmingham, Mellingan, Stock, Fletcher, Elliott, Feeney, Hayter.

Town:Margeston, Jenkins, Evans, Gray, Clarke, Hay, Schofield, Irons, Holland, Knight(Heary 83), Booth.
Att:5,307
Beaker's MOM:Andy Booth-won everything in the air in the first half and worked hard in the second when Town were under the cosh.Looked completely knackered with twenty minutes to go but kept battling to the end.

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