Blackpool 1 v 2 Huddersfield Town

Huddersfield Town story posted by Beaker (Moderator) on 23/02/2002
Revenge was sweet for the Terriers as Leon Knight grabbed a late winner to overcome Blackpool 2-1 at a windswept Bloomfield Road on Saturday.The tiny frontman latched onto Kenny Irons' through ball to poke the ball in from close range in the second minute of stoppage time to send the travelling fans into delerium.Blackpool 1 v 2 Huddersfield Town

Town had started with skipper Steve Jenkins at left back replacing the suspended Gareth Evans.Adie Moses slotted in at right-back and Thomas Heary somehow retained his place in the centre of midfield.John Thorrington returned after seven weeks out on the right wing and the best news of all was that Delroy Facey was on the bench after his season-long lay-off.

Usual Town tormentor Martin Bullock started on the bench as The Seasiders kept faith with the side that stuffed Wycombe 4-1 in midweek.

The game was a typical Second Division encounter with both sides struggling with the pudding of a pitch we've now come to expect from Bloomfield Road.(Nice stands...shame about the pitch.)
Pretty football was not on the menu,it was just one big scrap with neither side able to get the ball down and pass it.

It was always going to be a battle and Blackpool had the better chances in the first half with Richard Walker smashing a shot against the post before Martyn Margetson made a superb save from the midfielder's rising angled drive.Scott Taylor and John Hills also went close as Town battled against the strong winds.

At the other end,the Terriers were finding it tough going and Clyde Wijnhard and Leon Knight were struggling to make an impression.Wijnhard completely missed his kick when clean through and had a shot well saved when he turned his marker shortly after.

Half-time 0-0 then and Town needed to step up a gear after a disappointing first-half showing.
So to concede a soft goal two minutes after the restart wasn't exactly what we needed.

Hills' short corner found Taylor who crossed for the unmarked and seriously overweight Ian Marshall to bundle in.

Why do we never learn?If it's a short corner then surely two men MUST go across to cover both players.Town sent only Wijnhard (who isn't exactly the ideal candidate) and so Taylor was completely free to get the ball over.To say this was schoolboy defending would be an insult to schoolboys everywhere.(Sorry Chris.)

Town needed a change and Macari responded by sending on Delroy to a hero's welcome to replace the ineffective Wijnhard.

The rumours surrounding Facey's injury (that he wasn't really injured at all....the new board just didn't want Rubery to sell him) almost looked believable as he looked as sharp and as fit as he ever has.Not bad to say he was supposed to be out until next season!

Facey terrified the Blackpool defence and he added much needed muscle to the attack.He also held the ball up well..something that Wijnhard had struggled to do all game.

On 69 minutes,the away side drew level.
Adie Moses,who had another fine game,crossed from the right and Leon Knight somehow won the header and sent the ball looping over Barnes in the Blackpool goal.(Steve MacMahon later moaned "we were mugged by a midget"...now he knows how we felt in the LDV!)

Lou Macari then sent on Kenny Irons as Town went for the kill.He replaced Thorrington who had understandably struggled in his first game back.
The Seasiders responded by throwing on Town's arch-nemesis Martin Bullock.Cue panic in the Town terrace,because as we all now know,he either runs rings round us or scores the winner.Thankfully on this occasion he did neither.

Blackpool went on the offensive for the remainder of the game and the back four had to stand firm as the pressure mounted.Blackpool's best chance fell to John Murphy after Bullock raced into the area,but thankfully the striker's shot was wide of the target.

Dwayne Mattis replaced the injured Chris Holland on 80 minutes as Town looked to hang on to a hard-fought point.But Leon Knight had other ideas.
Kenny Irons played a low ball into the area in stoppage time and Knight nipped in to send the travelling Town fans wild.

Ah...sweet revenge.

They say that the sign of a decent side is that they can play poorly and still win. Well that just about sums up this performance.It wasn't pretty and it certainly wasn't entertaining but the three points is all that matters.(I seem to say that every week these days don't I?)

Town are fast becoming the masters of the one-goal win with five games out of our last eight being won by the smallest of margins. I said after our LDV exit that I wouldn't swap a trip to Cardiff in that competition for three points at Blackpool in the league.And I stand by that...because these points might just be priceless come the end of the season.
Bring on Cardiff!

Teams:
Blackpool:Barnes, Jaszczun, O'Kane, Reid, Wellens, Murphy, Taylor, Collins, Hills, Marshall, Walker(Bullock 74).
Huddersfield Town:Margetson, Heary, Moses, Gray, Clarke, Jenkins, Thorrington(Irons 72), Schofield, Holland(Mattis 80), Wijnhard(Facey 55) Knight.

Ref:A.Bates
Att:8,981
Beaker's MOM:Adie Moses....just shades it from Delroy.Experienced defending when we needed it.Set up Knight's first goal with an excellent cross.

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