| Pos. 18th= (27 pts) | THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2019 | Pos. 20th (25 pts) | ||
| Boro | 1-0 | Huddersfield | ||
| Spence (37) | 37% 14(3) 5 12 |
POSSESSION SHOTS (on target) CORNERS FOULS |
63% 8(3) 4 7 |
|
Pearl of the day from Spence
After his trip up to Teesside last Friday night for a spying mission, Danny Cowley returned this afternoon with his entire entourage to try and put some daylight between the Terriers and Boro in this survival dog fight. To boost his numbers, he was optimistic of maybe having all or some of Fraizer Campbell, Lewis O’Brien and Alex Pritchard back from injury. Having beaten Forest away in their last outing they arrived with an air of confidence as Cowley debated in his press conference about whether he would set up to face a Boro back four or a back five and a diamond. The diamond being Boro’s shape rather than that mercurial No.10 that we have all dreamt about and presumably Bevington failed to unearth.
Boro started the game just one point behind the visitors and two goals poorer on goal difference, so on paper this one had a draw written all over it. Woodgate still had Browne and McNair suspended and the seemingly endless injury doubts over Randolph, Assombalonga, Shotton, Dijksteel and Friend. Despite that, Boro were hoping to make it four wins on the bounce at the Riverside in front of their biggest crowd of the season in stark contrast to the probable but “officially” unconfirmed lowest turnout against Stoke. This was a big one for both sides but especially Boro who now face two tough away trips to Preston and West Brom after today’s encounter. A negative result could commence an unwanted Boro slide back down the Championship table.
Cowley understandably stuck with the same eleven that had won at Forest with only Lewis O’Brien fit enough to make the bench with Pritchard and Campbell still out. For Boro there were two changes with Wing starting instead of Clayts and Johnson instead of Walker but still no sign of Assombalonga.
Darren England’s whistle got the game underway with Boro starting assertively with Spence attacking, getting a low cross in and Boro showing with a bit of early enterprise. Spence again was the catalyst as he won a throw in with Boro pressing and a resultant free kick on the left just inside the Terriers half with the big lads going up for it. The set piece was poorly executed but the early tempo continued and the visitors were clearly under pressure.
An inviting ball in from Johnson was missed by Tav with Coulson following in behind but skewed his shot high into the darkening skies. All good stuff from Boro in the opening five minutes, especially from Djed Spence. Then it was Coulson’s turn to break down the opposite wing only to be taken out by Hogg with Tav sending the free kick deep towards Ayala but he was under it and the ball went over Grabara’s crossbar.
Ten minutes in and Huddersfield hadn’t seriously threatened at all with Boro starting well and looking comfortable so far. Cowley’s game plan seemed to be to contain and keep things tight looking to his wide men to create openings. On the quarter-hour mark Johnson conceded a foul bringing down Bacuna who took the kick himself and earned a corner as the Terriers floated the ball in over everyone, past Pears’ goal and eventually going out for a goal kick via Mounie’s head.
Boro’s early exuberance had subsided as Huddersfield now settled into the game. A gift from Fry with an under-hit pass to Wing led to screams for a penalty from the packed away corner as Chalobah played in Grant who went down in the box in a warning to Boro to guard against complacency. Their midfield general Hogg inexplicably went down and looking in serious pain as Boro players took the opportunity to assemble near the touchline with a few obvious finger gestures from the Boro dugout as to who should have been doing what and where. Meanwhile Lewis O’Brien came on for Teessider Hogg as Huddersfield were forced into an early change.
The game now entered a disjointed mid-half phase as both sides were hitting balls that were failing to find targets. Spence was still looking the most likely to create something with Howson solid behind him. Half an hour gone now and both sides were dancing around the ring, jabbing but not landing any serious punches. Saville had to be alert to intercept quickly to prevent Bacuna getting a ball played into a pack of chasing Terriers.
Finding himself suddenly the centre of attention, Saville then set up Fletcher and after a series of passes it ended with Saville diving at a Spence-delivered ball to win our first corner. A melee’ in front of Grabara ended up with Fletcher being ticked off by Ref England, which made a change from it being Ayala. Tav then sent in a near post cross come mis-kick which was cleared disappointingly for Boro. After that energetic start from Djed Spence Boro had now lost their impetus whilst Huddersfield seemed content to have possession, hold us at bay and then try to pick us off.
Just as the game was looking to be 0-0 at half time, Tav broke through the middle of the pitch finding Fletcher out on his left, who ran into the 18 yard box and played a low cross evading everyone along the Huddersfield six yard box with Spence being perfectly placed to unleash a calm controlled strike to open his Boro account and put us 1-0 up on thirty-seven minutes. He took his opportunity extremely well and nobody deserved a goal this afternoon more than the youngster.
Huddersfield now had to come out and get at us and in doing so Bacuna and Howson ended up rolling around on the pitch after they wrestled for the ball with Bacuna seemingly determined to keep hold of Howson like a three-year-old having a pass the parcel tantrum for which he earned a yellow. Boro responded by ending the half the way they had started it by getting at a now clearly rattled Huddersfield defence. Saville earned a free kick which was headed clear by Schindler then Tav delivered it back in which was going out for a throw in and ended with Johnson having one of his needless niggles at a Blue shirt. The whistle ended the half with a less than impressive eccentric sliced kick from Liverpool loanee Grabara in the Terriers goal to earn a few jeers.
The teams came out unchanged for the second half with the Terriers kicking off. Almost immediately a switched ball from one side of the pitch to the other allowed Spence to get forward ending up with a Boro corner after a ball to Fletcher was put out by Kachunga. It was taken short by Wing with the cross coming in towards Ayala but his header was wide as Boro had started with tempo once again. Huddersfield were struggling to launch an attack, O’Brien at one stage was forced to break out to the halfway line then with no options impersonate new Dad and ex-Terrier Clayts by recycling it back towards his defenders.
Spence dinked inside the box, found Wing who played it to the back post but Coulson was adjudged to be offside. You could perceptively sense the fear every time Spence got on the ball from the away fans as the youngster was running the show. Huddersfield without doubt had all the possession but thus far had rarely troubled the home side; however, another goal for Boro at this stage of proceedings would have made the Boxing Day entertainment a little less stressful. Caught in two minds Ayala put a ball played back to him out to concede a corner unnecessarily as the Terriers loaded the Boro box on the 60th minute. Grant fizzed it in but the ball went just wide as Stankovic should have drawn the sides level as his header went over.
That effort woke up both sets of supporters in a game which so far hadn’t produced many efforts on target. With thirty minutes remaining the visitors knew there was still something to play for and equally Boro knew they could mess this up. Just at that time a deflection from Howson broke for Mounie in the six-yard box who incredibly missed his golden moment by slicing it.
Fletcher was then booked for not getting back from a free kick as Huddersfield took it quickly, which went straight to Tav yet Ref England halted proceedings and booked Fletcher. This was the Terriers best spell now as they were now making their possession count and gaining the upper hand in the contest with twenty-five minutes remaining. Boro were looking like strangers, struggling to piece moves together with Ayala in particular uncharacteristically looking the most likely to commit a fatal mistake. A parried Pears save from Bacuna was then played back into the box with Boro looking very rattled conceding too much space and looked to be at sixes and sevens. Seventy minutes in and Boro were looking like they had taken a few body blows and a swift uppercut leaving them staggering on their feet with the home fans getting twitchy at the lacklustre spell from Boro.
A quick break from Boro saw Spence set up Coulson at the far post but he hit his effort well wide. The visitors resumed pressure with Boro holding out (or holding on depending on perspective). Another breakout from Boro ended with Fletcher’s effort being pushed away by Grabara for a Boro corner. Lewis Wing delivered it in to the back post but to no avail as the Ref blew for a foul on the eccentric keeper. Bizarrely, Grabara illustrated the Terriers growing frustrations as he tried to drag Saville up onto his feet earning a yellow card for his excesses.
Gestede then came on for Johnson to allow a Plan B outlet for Boro and a new threat to give Danny Cowley something to reconsider in his game plan. Chalabah went down like a deck of cards theatrically climbing up from the turf as though he had been hit by a double-decker bus named Coulson. Substitute O’Brien then flew in on Fry near the dugouts earning himself a yellow card in the process as discipline and focus was starting to slip with Huddersfield. At this stage it was now a case of every man for himself as the result was now far more important than the methodology for both teams in the dying moments.
A drive from Bacuna after he had lost Spence had Pears reacting to concede a corner. After the corner was recycled by the Terriers it was Bacuna again who had another effort as Pears stood upright, confident it was going wide. A run from Fletcher playing in Gestede found Tav who burst forward earning a corner off O’Brien. The ensuing corner ball was cleared but Tav had another attempt but he hit over from outside the box with three long minutes remaining.
Bacuna was causing problems as he had done all game and after he started off on yet another foray Saville unceremoniously dragged him down. The free kick was headed backwards by Gestede but Coulson let it go out for a corner instead of clearing it as Boro nerves and judgements were jangling more than Santa’s sleigh bells. Coulson however almost immediately retrieved himself from the corner with a tackle on Mounie and as Boro broke Grant earned a yellow for a cynical foul.
Four minutes added time came up. And with pantomime season in full swing Grabara made another wayward clearance that earned more ironic cheers and then continued the farce with Fletcher eventually netting after Grabara had saved it, spun up and eventually it being declared null and void and offside. The impressive Bacuna chased a late loose ball with Coulson trying to clear, the ball was now all over the place with players almost terrified of touching it but a late cross to Mounie was the final act of the game. The afternoon ended with Djed Spence being the decider and the Man of the Match. The game was far from great but the result was a massive one for Boro in their fight for survival as they now go on the road with two fixtures that will be a real test. The important thing today was winning one of their winnable games.