The ACN Match Review – Huddersfield (h)

The line-up

Poor Adam Idah. A few good games, some goals, thanklessly leading the line and… he gets dropped for a semi-experimental line-up that saw Jonathan Rowe up front with Ashley Barnes. The flicks and tricks of our Portman Road hero didn’t work quite so well through the middle of a crowded opposition, and with Onel wasting plenty of good work by bunging the wrong ball in the box time and again, we weren’t really clicking up front.

But it was a mostly bright performance from a team who look like they’ve got a bit more about themselves these days. And Idah showed almost immediately what we were missing, with his strength and pace setting off the move for our second goal.

The atmosphere

It was always going to be cheerier than recent home games, wasn’t it? Mostly thanks to Ipswich Town proving twice in one week that they’re not nearly as good as they think they are, with Daniel Farke having the decency to embarrass them 4-0 just before we kicked off.

A relatively compliant Huddersfield allowed us to play some creative football that kept us cheery, save for a grumbly period in the first half where we seemed to forget that playing football requires actually having the ball. But I only heard one boo at half time, so that’s nice.

Hurrah moment

Trouble-free wins haven’t been our thing since the opening fixtures of this season when we played expansive, penetrating football and looked like we’d be serious promotion contenders. How we long for those days; this was not a performance to suggest they’re coming back soon but it was definitely easier on the eye and hurrah for that.

Boooo moment

I couldn’t see what happened to Dimi Giannoulis as he hit the deck at the end of the first half but I certainly heard it, all the way from the other end of the pitch. Deliberate or not, he took a whack in the face and wasn’t seen again. No one deserves that and we can only hope he’s ok. 

Hero of the match

Sam McCallum replaced Giannoulis, tore into the opposition and scored a perfectly placed header just when we needed it. Where’s this McCallum been all season? More please.

Our post-match takeaway

Sainz scored another peach, Nunez is finally looking at home in his role, our back five have an air of confidence about them… this was an easy watch and about time too. Can we begin to be more hopeful? I fear we are going to be one of those Championship teams who go ten unbeaten, then ten without a win, etc, etc. But with players coming into form and back from injury, the play offs are not entirely out of our reach considering the size of our squad. And hey, Ipswich have shipped six goals in a week and the gap between us gets ever closer. There’s plenty of time yet; let’s enjoy this for now.