HOME COOKING
Boro teen Spence turns down Xmas dinner with the boss but pulls him a cracker with three points inside
DJED SPENCE turned down Christmas dinner at his manager’s house, but still ended up in Jonathan Woodgate’s good books.
The Middlesbrough teen’s 37th minute match-winner helped open up a six-point gap between Boro and the relegation zone as Woodgate’s men made it four home wins in a row. Woodgate’s gamble to give youth its chance is paying off. He picked five players aged 21 or under against Stoke last Friday, with four of them retaining their places. And none impressed more than young defender Spence, 19, whose energy and surging runs down the right flank provide Boro with a threat they had lacked.
Not only did he open his goal account but the Londoner should have had an assist to his name in the second half.
He laid a pass on a plate to Hayden Coulson, but his fellow wing-back stabbed wide of a gaping goal. Fortunately for Boro it did not matter due to some woeful Huddersfield finishing.
Jon Stankovic headed over from virtually under the bar ater 59 minutes, and four minutes later Steve Mounie blazed high and wide after Boro made a mess of an Elias Kachunga cross.
“I didn’t want Djed on his own yesterday, so I invited him to our place, but he had someone cooking for him,” said Woodgate (left).
“He sent me a picture of his meal and it looked OK.
“The lad was brilliant out there and keeps getting better, but it’s my job to push him because I want him to get to the next level.
“We had six academy players and all of them were absolutely fantastic. That’s back-to-back wins without a lot of seniors, which shows how well our youngsters are doing.”
Boro may not be prolific but when they do score, their goals are invariably good ones, and Spence’s 37th minute effort was no exception.
Marcus Tavernier’s forceful run had the Terriers’ defence on the backfoot, and he then fed Ashley Fletcher on his outside.
Although the striker’s cross was behind him the ball ran on to Spence, who converted smartly.
Huddersfield, who lost Jonathan Hogg to an early injury, scrapped gamely (below) but were below par, failing to test Boro keeper Aynsley Pears even once before the interval.
But in the 84th minute Trevoh Chalobah brought the best out of Boro’s young stopper, seeing his 25yard drive turned behind.
“Losing Hogg was a huge loss because he’s a warrior and a leader,” said Terriers’ boss Danny Cowley.
“It was a tight game but we’ve got to channel this defeat to drive us into our next two home games
and come back fighting.” MIDDLESBROUGH: Pears 6, Spence 8, Howson 6, Ayala 6, Fry 6, Coulson 7, Johnson 6 (Gestede 79, 6), Wing 6, Saville 6, Tavernier 7, Fletcher 7
HUDDERSFIELD: Grabara 5, Simpson 6, Schindler 7, Stankovic 6, Hadergjonaj 6, Hogg 5 (O’Brien 24, 5), Bacuna 5, Chalobah 7, Kachunga 6, Mounie 5,
Grant 6