Six. That’s the number of points Huddersfield Town have watched slip through their fingers in the dying embers of their last three League One matches. A painful tally that has all but extinguished their hopes of securing a coveted play-off position.
Agonising 101st and 95th-minute equalizers at home against Wycombe Wanderers and Cardiff City, respectively, left the Terriers needing a win to keep their play-off bid alive. But, sadly for Town, they completed an unwanted hat-trick in Saturday’s trip to Bolton Wanderers, delivering what was surely their most painful implosion yet in Lancashire.
Not even a 3-1 lead and a numerical man advantage felt safe for the travelling Huddersfield faithful at the Toughsheet Community Stadium. The recent history of late collapses in League One loomed obnoxiously large, casting a shadow of doubt over what should have been a routine path to victory. A goal thirteen minutes from the end by Johnny Kenny instilled panic in an already brittle Town backline, a tension that seemed to fuel the Trotters, already confident of their own play-off ticket.
And Ibrahim Cissoko’s spectacular leveller 11 minutes into additional time looks to have put paid to their fading promotion aspirations. Their chances now look incredibly slim, with them now relying on perfection and an unlikely set of dice falling in their favour elsewhere in the last few weeks of the regular season. But in all honesty, with a degree of intelligent game management and calmness in key moments, they could still have had a say in their own destiny.
Huddersfield’s Recurring Nightmare
No team is immune to conceding late goals; it’s part and parcel of football. However, to have lightning strike three times in one week, at this crucial stage of the season, is enough to leave any Terriers supporter utterly despondent.
While Cissoko’s sweet, curling strike into the top corner felt more like a freak occurrence than an avoidable concession, the same could not be said for their two prior late collapses. The sucker punches delivered by Wycombe’s Nathan Lowe and Cardiff’s Yousef Salech bore stark similarities, with the Huddersfield Town defence left to rue the loss of not one but two headers from routine deliveries into their penalty area.
Speaking to Huddersfield Town TV following the defeat in Bolton, interim head coach John Stead struggled to contain his frustration, stating that the team “needs to be coming out of the game with a win”. His anger was surely fueled by the fact that his team, despite playing the majority of the second half against ten men after Jordi Osei-Tutu’s red card and even establishing a comfortable lead with the man advantage, still couldn’t secure the win.
Perhaps haunted by being caught out by their previous naive defensive failings in added time against Wycombe and Cardiff, Huddersfield’s tactics seemed to shift out of fear, adopting a deeper and more rigid defensive setup on Saturday to defend what they had, even against ten-man Wanderers. Football is as much a mental game as it is technical, and there’s a strong argument to suggest that the Huddersfield players’ minds were scrambled by the fresh trauma of recent late heartbreaks.
Terriers Made To Pay For Cautious Strategy
In hindsight, John Stead must be questioning why his team didn’t go for the jugular against ten-man Bolton, especially after David Kasumu’s goal gave them a commanding two-goal lead. The decision to adopt a more proactive setup and draw the sting out of the game ultimately backfired, as Wanderers, playing with little pressure and buoyed by a strong season, were able to build up a head of steam despite being a man down.
The old adage that “when you have the ball, the opposition doesn’t” surely would have worked wonders for the Terriers here, especially after Kasumu’s deflected strike wrong-footed Bolton’s goalkeeper Jack Bonham, leaving the home side looking like a beaten team. Given that sixth place in League One could yet hinge on goal difference, Huddersfield should have seized the opportunity to overwhelm the ten men when it presented itself, even if the three points were always the most important thing on the day.
Twice coming close to sealing victory against the Bluebirds in stoppage time, only to be silenced by a last-second sucker punch, seemed to have a detrimental psychological impact on the Huddersfield players this weekend, forcing them to revert to a defensive shape and cede ground to their hosts. While it may have provided a greater sense of control in their defensive line, it always presents as a more risqué tactic, leaving oneself open to a moment of individual brilliance or an individual mistake that could cost you.
It will be scant consolation right now, but ahead of next season, the squad can carry forward some difficult but important lessons from what is turning out to be an unsuccessful finish to the current campaign.
