Unbeaten run ends at Huddersfield

Last updated : 01 December 2013 By Tony Scholes

I could devote this entire report to referee Eddie Ilderton and his equally incompetent assistants. After all they made three incorrect decisions between them that all had game changing consequences. Without those appalling decisions, which I will detail, we might have even won the game.

But that mustn't be allowed to disguise the fact that this was our worst performance of the season and frankly we can't really have any complaints at the scoreline in terms of the game. That we were even in the game when Ilderton and his two fools with flags intervened was much to do with the poor finishing qualities of the home forwards as much as anything else.

Sam Vokes had a goal disallowed

With no signings made during the week, and with Dean Marney still out with his thigh or groin injury, depending on which day of the week you read the official news from the club, it meant Sean Dyche started with the same eleven players who kicked off the game at Nottingham Forest seven days earlier. The only change came on the bench where 19-year-old Steven Hewitt, impressive in the under-21 win against Sunderland in midweek, replaced Ryan Noble.

I've enjoyed writing the match reports this season. There have been so many good performances and some of the games, both at home and away, have been a real pleasure to mark with some words.

This week, and for probably the first time this season, I am duty bound to report us being a clear second best during a first half which, somehow, we managed to get through  without any damage whatsoever in terms of goals.

It would be hiding from the facts to suggest that Huddersfield were the better side. The truth is they were head and shoulders better than us. They dominated the opening 45 minutes and I would think they must have gone in at half time bemused that they hadn't gone in front.

That they hadn't was down to a couple of good saves from Tom Heaton, former Claret Martin Paterson, who felt it was his role to wind up his former team mates, hitting the post and James Vaughan having one of those days when he didn't always look capable of hitting a barn door, or even a cow's arse for that matter, with a banjo; his worst miss coming when he scooped one over from right in front of goal and within the six yard box.

We were unable to do anything about it as they stormed forward. Poor David Edgar. He's clearly no central midfielder and was well and truly found out and we had heaps of problems down our left as Ben Mee, with precious little support from Michael Kightly, who had his worst game in Burnley colours, failed to offer him any assistance whatsoever.

Just before half time the manager looked to be deep in conference with both Ian Woan and Tony Loughlan and it was clear that early action, even at half time, was about to be taken to try and sort out the mess.

The only positive in the first half, other than not being behind, came early in the half when fans rose as one in tribute to 13-year-old Henry Tattersall who died this week.

The applause started just after the game had been playing for 11 minutes; fans in the away end seeing the clock reach 3:13 rather than looking at the stop watch on the other side of the big screen.

Not as though it mattered but it did catch the home club out. Eventually they placed young Henry's picture on the screen, situated in the away end, and it was then that the home fans in the other three stands started to appreciate just what was going on.

As one they rose to join the Burnley supporters in a very moving tribute to Henry. I turned to look at the big screen and the tears came, just as they did for so many others.

Huddersfield Town Football Club and their supporters were an absolute credit yesterday. Football really is just a game. It shows when we face tragedies like this and everyone came together in tribute as Burnley fans sung "He'll always be a Claret" and "He's one of our own". I can only hope that wonderful show of support has given Henry's family some strength to help them deal with the events of this week. I really do hope so.

Back to the game and Dyche did indeed make changes for the start of the second half. Neither Edgar nor Kightly could complain at being brought off. Brian Stock, who hasn't started a league game this season, took Edgar's place in the centre of midfield and Junior Stanislas came on for Kightly.

The changes almost paid immediate dividends. Right from the start of the second half we looked more positive and Stanislas fired in a good cross to the near post that Sam Vokes got to but could only hit wide of the post.

Then, I'm afraid, Ilderton and his men stepped in. Huddersfield got down the left and won the most fortunate of corners. It was clearly a goal kick but Ilderton thought otherwise. What happened next, however, none of us could have guessed.

Adam Hammill took the kick but instead of playing it into the box he hit it to Burnley born Oliver Norwood some thirty yards from goal. Norwood didn't even bother taking a touch. He simply volleyed it towards goal and it crept in at the left hand post when Heaton, who was probably a candidate for our best player in the first half, failed to deal with it.

That was a big blow. To have survived the first half and then to concede so early in the second half was bound to knock us back, but worse was to come as the shocking officials took centre stage yet again.

This time the assistant referee awarded Huddersfield a penalty for hand ball against Michael Duff. It looked an excellent decision to me apart from two things. Firstly Duff was not in the penalty box and secondly he didn't handle it. Incredibly, Ilderton backed the idiot with the flag and Vaughan tricked Heaton with the spot kick and it looked all over at 2-0 with Duff also collecting just his second yellow card of the season.

It certainly took us some time to recover from that, and with some good reason. We felt hard done to and the next quarter of an hour or so was pretty non-eventful.

Then we finally started to get a foothold into proceedings and by the time the clock reached 84 minutes we'd created three good chances for ourselves.

The first of them, a headed knock down by Vokes for Danny Ings, led to Alex Smithies making a superb reaction save to deny Ings who, had he kept the ball lower would surely have scored.

Then Vokes converted a Stanislas cross only for the flag to go up for offside. This decision is much closer but it is a wrong one. Vokes is onside; the goal should have stood and had it done so we would have been right back into it at 2-1 with 13 minutes to go.

Instead we just got another yellow card, this time for Vokes who bounced the ball down in sheer frustration. He should probably have kicked it 30 yards away, that's what the Huddersfield players were doing throughout the second half without punishment.

Who knows whether we'd have scored again had that counted, but we did finally get on the scoresheet when Vokes, our best player on the day in my view, flicked a ball through for Ings who, one on one with the goalkeeper, made no mistake for his first goal away from Turf Moor since his superb goal at Derby back in August.

It was too little, too late I'm afraid. There was to be no equaliser. Ilderton did add on the six minutes lost to goals, substitutions and an injury to Kieran Trippier, when incredibly he awarded a free kick Huddersfield's way, but not a jot for the time wasting.

But the only thing of note in the extra time was a second (and correct) yellow card for Duff, a red to follow and a one match suspension that will rule him out of Tuesday's game against Watford.

I received a text today suggesting Ilderton's performance was on a par with Mason v Preston back in 2007. It is very difficult to disagree with that.

We might just have won this game had the officials got their decisions correct, but we must not let that hide the fact that this was our poorest performance of the season. We were overrun by the home side in that first half and we can't allow that sort of thing to happen too often. No matter what happened in the second half the result was, in the end, a fair reflection of the game.

A defeat, of course, has brought the usual overreaction on the message board, but the league table still shows us in second place and yesterday brought to an end a 60 day stay at the top of the league. There's not a lot wrong when you look at those stats but we can do without many performances such as the one we gave in those first 45 minutes yesterday.

We were second best, but still turned in a far better performance than the third team, Ilderton and his two flag wavers.

The teams were;

Huddersfield: Alex Smithies, Joel Lynch, Anthony Gerrard, Tommy Smith, Adam Hammill (Calum Woods 87), Oliver Norwood, Jonathan Hogg, Adam Clayton, Paul Dixon, Martin Paterson (Danny Ward 74), James Vaughan. Subs not used: Ian Bennett, Murray Wallace, Oscar Gobern, Sean Scannell, Duane Holmes.
Yellow Card: Adam Clayton.

Burnley: Tom Heaton, Kieran Trippier, Michael Duff, Jason Shackell, Ben Mee, Scott Arfield (Keith Treacy 88), David Edgar (Brian Stock ht), David Jones, Michael Kightly (Junior Stanislas ht), Danny Ings, Sam Vokes. Subs not used: Alex Cisak, Kevin Long, Danny Lafferty, Steven Hewitt.
Yellow Cards: Michael Duff, Sam Vokes.
Red Card: Michael Duff.

Referee: Eddie Ilderton (Tyne & Wear).

Attendance: 17,390 (including 3,600 Clarets).