THE VERDICT: TOWN 2 BRISTOL CITY 0 Town have come a long way, now it gets serious!
PARTY ATMOSPHERE AT JOHN SMITH’S WILL BE REPLACED BY TENSION OF PLAY-OFF SEMI-FINAL
AS FAR as end-of-season games go, this was about perfect. A comfortable two-goal victory against a side with nothing to play for, capped at the end by late drama elsewhere to allow Huddersfield Town to rise to third in the table.
If the attention at the final whistle was more on what was happening in Hull City’s game against Nottingham Forest than the lap of honour the Terriers players and staff were taking with their families, then fair enough.
Both sides scored late on in Humberside, with Forest taking the lead from the penalty spot only to be pegged back moments later to shunt them down to fourth.
Terriers fans were, meanwhile, relishing in the joy of being well out of the drama on the final day – and over the past few years, those late-season nerves have been all about avoiding relegation.
This time, it was a party. A top-six place had already been sewn up more than two weeks ago, and with Carlos Corberan’s side in the form they’re in, fans knew they could accept the news of who their opponents in the play-off would be without fear either way.
As it turns out, it will be Luton Town. But after 19 points from the last possible 21 – including four wins in a row and two goals scored in each of the last six games despite a fleet of changes to the line-up through injuries and rotation – Carlos Corberan’s men should fear nobody.
Everyone who has come into the side has made a contribution when they have needed to. We do not envy the task of the head coach of trying to put his teamsheet together next week.
The end-of-term feeling in the air at the John Smith’s Stadium was reflected in a pretty unremarkable game. Both sides huffed and puffed through the opening stages without particularly
Toffolo (33), Ward (44) 50%
50%
13
7
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11
2
Bentley, Cundy (Idehen, 74), Klose (King, 77), Atkinson, Scott, James, Massengo (Tanner, 54), Dasilva, Weimann, Martin, Semenyo. Subs: , O’Leary, Wells, Bell, Conway.
creating anything of note.
Slowly but surely, though, Town started to find more and more joy up the flanks – the right, in particular, with Pipa and Duane Holmes playing with gleeful abandon as they continually raced into the gaps left behind by the over-ambitious Bristol City full-backs.
That growing ability to identify and exploit an opposition weakness has been a hallmark of Town’s successes over the past few months, and in time that approach paid off for them. But