Huddersfield v Leeds United | 2nd March 2024 | John Smith’s Stadium
Today was a near game for me so I drove instead of going to Leeds to catch the coach. There again, no doubt I’d have got back to Leeds and driven home by the time I got out of the car park. I’ve no idea what was stopping things as they were letting traffic out when people were walking down the street after the game whereas nothing moved for nearly an hour after I reached my car. As for the game itself, it was always going to be a tough one. If they’d have concentrated on playing football rather than trying to kick us off the park, I do feel they could have gone on to beat us. As it is, I will take a draw and one point is better than none.
Leeds saw their early pressure bring a save out of their keeper from Summerville. Huddersfield set out their stall very early in the game with some crunching fouls and when their player brought down Summerville, he brought one of their own down too. As someone pointed out to me at the game, taking out Summerville was already on the cards as told to him by a Town fan. It’s a shame that the first thing on their website mentioned anti-social behaviour. It’s a shame it only relates to football fans and not football players then! Meslier made a good save from a corner at the near post after their player hit the ball with the back of his foot which was on target. That was an important save to make. Meslier made another great save too to keep them out.
There was a lot of stoppages during the first half with players needing treatment plus time wasting so it wasn’t a surprise that nine minutes injury time was put up. They had a free kick on the right-hand side just as this was announced and although Meslier made a great stop on the line, but the ball spilled out and their player was the first to it to score. The drama didn’t stop there as Huddersfield were down to 10 men when their player looked and was then sent off for a blatant elbow on Firpo for his second bookable offence.
I really felt we needed to make changes at the start of the second half, but Farke stuck to the same team. Personally, I feel that as Gnonto had taken a battering he should have been replaced as we needed the pace of James on the pitch to cause them trouble. Huddersfield also came out stronger for me as it felt like they had a point to prove but we weathered the storm. Farke made the triple subs on 62 minutes which paid off as James on the wing passed the ball to Roberts and his low cross was put into the net by Bamford for the equaliser. That was a welcome relief for me as it had been quite a frustrating game from our point of view. Leeds were unlucky not to take the lead when Summerville’s shot hit the outer side of the post. I was glad when the final whistle blew as although Leeds had a lot of possession near the end of the game, Huddersfield got a break away and I didn’t want them to get a winner near the end of the game.
As I was walking back to my car after the game, I was spotted by some Huddersfield fans who were immediately clearing their throats and saying they were going to “goz” on me. When you aren’t bothering anyone, it’s a sad state of affairs, but they need to grow up. Of course, it was just intimidation, but I ignored them anyway. I had thought of not taking the car and walking the three plus miles there and back but decided against it as I didn’t want to meet anyone like this whilst on my own. A complete contrast to the Town gentleman before the game as I tried to walk up to the ground through the car park. He pointed me in the right direction and as I thanked him, I thought, it was a nice gesture.
With games against Stoke at home before away at Sheffield Wednesday next Friday, the games are coming thick and fast. No game is going to be easy for us and there will still be plenty of ups and downs before the end of the season. I go to games with an open mind and as I’ve said before, I take no notice of any other team so seeing their fans talking about them being 19th in the table and drawing with us after the game was a complete surprise to me. All we can do is concentrate on ourselves, get as many points as we can, forgetting about what is going on around us. It keeps the pressure off and to be honest, we have amassed a fantastic run since the start of 2024 so we should embrace it regardless.
See you Tuesday, LUFC – Marching on Together!
Leeds drew 1-1 with Bamford equalising for Leeds (67)
Team: Meslier, Ampadu, Rodon, Gray, Kamara, Gnonto, Summerville, Rutter, Bamford, Firpo, Gruev
Subs: Piroe for Kamara (62), James for Gnonto (62), Roberts for Gray (62), Anthony for Firpo (86)
Unused Subs: Darlow, Joseph, Cooper, Byram, Cresswell
Attendance: 21,351 (2,270 Leeds Fans)
Referee: Andrew Kitchen
Booked: Rutter
