Oldham Athletic 1 - 0 Huddersfield Town: Examiner match report
Nov 15 2010 By Mel Booth
TOO MANY uncharacteristic mistakes left Huddersfield Town kicking themselves.
Quite simply, the crispness of thought and deed which normally galvanises Lee Clark’s side into a potent attacking force rarely bubbled through.
Much of that was down to Oldham’s pressurising of the man in possession and – despite Town’s much-improved efforts towards the end of the match – Paul Dickov’s side needed only one goal to preserve their unbeaten league record at Boundary Park.
It came in the 24th minute from burly Sunderland loan striker Oumare Tounkara – a wrecking ball of a human being who fed off Town’s insecurities in the first half and provided a ready outlet for his busy midfield.
That 24th minute showed how fine the dividing line can be between gaining some reward and going home empty handed in a division which is ludicrously tight.
Firstly Town should have taken the lead, Anthony Pilkington and Jordan Rhodes creating the space for Graham Carey to take aim from 12 yards, but he dragged his shot across the face of goal and agonisingly wide of the target.
Town’s brilliant following of 3,665 – who had earlier seen penalty appeals waved away when Peter Clarke was seemingly felled in the box – had barely had time to retake their seats when Oldham were carving their way quickly to the other end.
Dean Furman sensed Town were vulnerable as colleagues gave him options on both sides, but he played Tounkara straight down the middle with a pass of destructive accuracy.
Town keeper Ian Bennett – who had earlier made a brilliant double save to deny Furman and Chris Taylor, and who played superbly throughout – was unlucky not to block the powerful frontman in full flow.
But the ricochet from the challenge fell kindly for Tounkara, who was able to pass the ball into an unguarded net.
It was a simple goal for Town to concede – only 50 seconds between Carey’s chance and theirs – and Oldham were visibly lifted by going ahead.
Suddenly Furman, the excellent Portuguese Felipe Morais and the pacy Cedric Evina – a colleague of Benik Afobe in the Arsenal youth team – were all over Joey Gudjonsson and Damien Johnson in the centre of the park and Town were shaken.
Only a magnificent last-gasp tackle by Johnson in the six-yard box prevented Kieran Lee extending the lead, before Bennett grabbed a Morais free-kick and then pounced to make a breathtaking one-handed stop from Tounkara’s angled drive as Oldham broke through again.
Dale Stephens and Evina also went close as Town, battling all the way to plug the gaps, created problems for themselves by giving the ball away far too easily when they had possession.
