TOWN FALL TO FIRST DEFEAT
Huddersfield’s bright Premier League start is at an end
‘SUPER SATURDAY’ may be the sporting memory that springs to mind when mention is made of a venue that hosted the 2012 Olympics but for Huddersfield Town last night was very much a ‘Monday of Misfortune’.
Five years on from that neverto-be-forgotten night when Jessica Ennis, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah won gold to thrill the nation, the Terriers looked firmly on course to write the latest chapter of their own sporting fairytale.
With Town’s first visit to the London Stadium well into the final quarter, a place in the record books beckoned as the first newly promoted club to start life in the Premier League with four clean sheets.
Then, though, a cruel slice of luck dashed those dreams as a wicked deflection off Mathias ‘Zanka’ Jorgsensen’s back meant a shot from Pedro Obiang that was heading for the safe hands of Jonas Lossl suddenly veered off course.
As the Danish international scrambled frantically across his line, the 56,977 crowd held their breath before one final slice of misfortune for the visitors saw the ball strike the inside of the post and bounce into the net.
Five minutes later, West Ham, suddenly buoyant again after having seemed to lose their way after being unable to find a way past a solid blue and white defensive wall, had sealed the points when Andre Ayew tapped in from a corner.
If ever there was an illustration of the fine margins that can settle games at the very top level, this was it as Town’s first league visit to West Ham since 1972 ended in disappointment.
Back when the Terriers had lasted headed East with points at stake, Upton Park had been a very different venue to the one that welcomed the Yorkshire club last night.
For a start, the terraces behind each goal were so tight to the pitch – just two metres in the case of the South Bank, where most visiting fans tended to congregate – that only those at the very front had an unimpeded view of the pitch.
Now, any straining on the part of those same supporters is to see what is happening at the opposite end with the gap between goalline and first row of the stand at each end way beyond the 14.28m metres that Ennis threw a shotput en route to winning gold in the 2012 Heptathlon.
Those seated on the sides of the giant bowl are even further away but there was no mistaking the quality on show, even if the contest itself didn’t really spark into life until after the interval.
Former Manchester City midfielder Aaron Mooy once again caught the eye for the visitors with a hard-working shift.
The Australian was the standout performer among the visitors but Christopher Schindler, handed the tough task of marking Andy Carroll, ran him close on a night when Huddersfield were given a thorough examination of not only their defensive resilience but also willingness to engage in a physical scrap.
In the home ranks, Carroll and Michael Antonio quickly made it clear this was a contest the duo fancied.
Both were a handful for the Terriers, former Owls winger Antonio racing past both Chris Lowe and Tommy Smith with such speed in the first half that the full-backs had no chance of getting anywhere near him.
The first of those lightning quick darts down the flank led to Javier Hernandez firing against the crossbar, the closest the game came to a goal before Obiang’s deflected effort.
Carroll also went close with a drilled shot that turned into a cross Cheikhou Kouyate came agonisingly close to converting at full stretch, while Carroll’s aerial prowess asked searching questions of Schindler.
He answered them well, as did defensive partner Jorgensen – which made his unwitting role in the winning goal that bit crueller.
The game was over once Ayew, whose introduction in place of Hernandez had been jeered by the locals, had doubled the Hammers’ advantage.
Town, though, left the London Stadium with their heads held high after a deserved standing ovation from their 2,850 strong travelling army of fans.
As those supporters made the long trip home, they were able to reflect on not only the cruel nature of West Ham’s opener but also the chances that their side created in a second half that saw Joe Hart deny Steve Mounie and Philip Billing before Tom Ince’s shot crashed against the crossbar.