Huddersfield Town 0 - 1 Bristol Rovers: Doug Thomson's match report
TALK about the one that got away!
For this game to have ended as a draw would have been frustrating, so Town losing was a real hammer blow.
Will Hoskins’ curling shot in the fourth and final minute of time added on put the tin lid on a tough eight days for the club and their fans.
Town, of course, went down to a late goal at Swindon before somehow losing 3-0 at Rochdale in a match they dominated.
Then, on home turf on Saturday, a stack of good Town chances came and went before Jamie McCombe’s 89th-minute sending off for a second bookable offence.
Hoskins, held back by the big centre-half as he tried to push through on goal, then took advantage of Rovers’ numerical superiority in inspired fashion with a step-over and a sweetly-struck effort which gave keeper Alex Smithies no chance.
It could all have been so different, and while it would be unfair to suggest it was one-way traffic, Town certainly had the lion’s share of possession, and opportunities.
Joe Garner’s second-minute header from Graham Carey’s free-kick which went just wide was the first of at least 15 chances and set the tone for what was to follow as Rovers stood firm through a combination of home profligacy and their own committed defending.
Centre-back Byron Anthony and left-back Gary Sawyer both produced impressive tackles and blocks.
Meanwhile Jordan Rhodes and Carey got into great positions but were unable to convert, Town’s five-goal top scorer shooting too high after McCombe’s 10th-minute header was blocked and on-loan Celtic man Carey crashing a 55th-minute volley from Anthony Pilkington’s cross off target.
In between, Garner’s goalbound shot was deflected for a corner, Damien Johnson was just wide from McCombe’s nod-on, Rhodes had a drive blocked by Sawyer and fired off target from a cross by Pilkington, who then saw his effort blocked by Carl Regan before his low shot in first-half stoppage time was held by Danish goalkeeper Mikkel Andersen, on loan from Reading.
If anything, Town exerted more sustained pressure in the second half.
Home supporters were still reflecting on Carey’s miss when Rovers somehow kept out Peter Clarke’s header from a Carey corner.
