Town stars impress on world stage

HUDDERSFIELD Town Ladies dropped down to third in the table despite a well-earned victory against Sheffield FC in their FA Women’s National League game.

Town started brightly, but fell behind in the eighth minute when Milly Wortley hooked the ball in following a cross by Lisa Giampalma.

Several chances went begging for both sides until, finally, in the final minutes of the first half Town equalised through Brittany Sanderson, who tapped-in from a squared ball by captain Kate Mallin.

And Town went in front just after the break thanks to an own goal as a Sheffield defender trying to clear hit the ball against one of her teammates and it bounced into the goal.

The Sheffield keeper Lauren Santoro pulled off several saves to keep her side in the game.

But in the 63rd minute Town stretched their lead following a Mallin cross from the right which Katie Nutter, who had evaded two Sheffield defenders, headed home.

In the 78th minute Town had a strong penalty appeal turned down, but not long after Sheffield were awarded a spotkick after Molly Havard was felled by Kerry Hope. Captain Holly Housley converted to make it 3-2.

The frantic final few minutes were made even more tense for Town as they were reduced to 10 player after Shauna Legge was sent off for a high tackle on Megan Tinsley.

But Huddersfield held on for the points.

Town host fourth placed Derby County Ladies on Sunday (2pm). SIX Huddersfield Town men were in international action for their respective nations this week.

Mathias ‘Zanka’ Jorgensen, Aaron Mooy and Steve Mounie all represented their countries’ first teams over the November international break, while Ramadan Sobhi, Abdelhamid Sabiri and Isaac Mbenza turned out for their sides’ youth age groups.

Danish centre-back Zanka earned his 19th and 20th caps for the HUDDERSFIELD Town are rated long odds to open the scoring at Wolves’ Molineux Stadium on Sunday – even though they achieved the feat in away trips to Everton and Leicester City.

Midfielder Philip Billing, of course, put Town ahead in the 1-1 draw at Goodison Park. national team in their Nations League clashes with Wales and the Republic of Ireland.

Goals from Nicolai Jorgensen and Martin Braithwaite handed the Scandinavian side a 2-1 win in Cardiff before a goalless draw in Aarhus completed an undefeated group stage for the Danes, who earned promotion to the top tier of the competition.

Zanka and his team-mates also claimed a guaranteed play-off to qualify for Euro 2020, should Denmark not qualify through the usual process.

While Mathias Zanka Jorgensen who is suspended on Sunday - was first off the mark at the King Power Stadium, with Town eventually going down 3-1 to the Foxes.

This weekend, no Town player is rated at better than 11/1 to score first - with Steve Mounie, Laurent Depoitre and Collin Quaner all quoted at that price.

A total of SEVEN Wolves players are given a better chance of netting

Jonas Lossl did not feature alongside fellow Town man Zanka, having pulled out of the squad with a minor injury last week.

Mooy featured twice for Australia this international break, with the Town midfielder helping the Socceroos to a win and a draw in two international friendlies.

The Aussies claimed a last-gasp draw with South Korea in their first match after a Mooy corner was eventually turned in by Massimo Luongo in the 95th minute, before the Socceroos claimed a comfortable 3-0 win over Lebanon in their second outing.

Town striker Mounie scored his second goal for Benin over the international break, rising well to power a header beyond Gambia goalkeeper Modou Jobe and put the Squirrels ahead in Bakau.

Three second-half goals denied Benin victory and qualification to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations however, with Mounie’s national side now needing a win over Togo in March to clinch qualification.

Should Benin lose or draw to the Sparrowhawks, then they will be relying on Algeria to beat, or draw against, Gambia during the next round of fixtures to confirm their spot in the tournament finals.

In the youth age groups, Town first than anyone in blue and white stripes.

Raul Jimenez, not surprisingly, is favourite at 15/4 after netting five times in 16 appearances so far.

Second in the running with bet365 is Leo Bonatini, even though he has scored just once in nine appearances.

He is a 4/1 shot while Diogo Jota is quoted at 9/2 to open the scoring and Ivan Cavaleiro and Helder Costa winger Ramadan captained Egypt’s Under-23 Olympic squad for their two matches against Tunisia.

The forward’s side claimed a 4-1 home victory over the 2004 AFCON winners, with Ramadan recording one assist, before clinching a 1-0 win away from home in the reverse clash.

The friendlies were arranged in preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic qualifiers, with Egypt looking to qualify for the games for the first time since 2012.

Mbenza and Sabiri were in action for their nations’ Under-21 sides this week, representing - and scoring for - Belgium and Germany respectively.

Montpellier loanee Mbenza netted in Belgium’s 3-3 draw with Romania, stroking the ball into the top corner to put the Red Devils 3-1 up before two last-gasp goals snatched the victory away from the Town man and his team mates.

Sabiri too was on target in Germany Under-21s’ 3-0 win over the Netherlands, with the Town midfielder putting in a man-of-thematch performance against the Oranje.

In Germany’s second match of the break, Sabiri was given seven minutes from the bench in a 2-1 win over Italy. are both priced at 11/2. Adama Traore (13/2) and Morgan GibbsWhite (17/2) also come in ahead of the Town trio on 11/1.

Billing, by the way, is rated 33/1 to repeat his feat of Goodison Park, and you can get odds of 14/1 for the midfielder to score at any time.

Mounie, Depoitre and Quaner are all quoted at 4/1 to score at any time in Sunday’s clash, which kicks off at 4pm.