Promising signs in first pre-season friendly
- Huddersfield Town Under-19s play first pre-season friendly
- Last-minute goal condemns Young Terriers to defeat
- Kian Harratt, Dom Tear & Kit Elliott score against Austria Wien
Huddersfield Town’s Under-19 side played its first friendly of pre-season, losing an action-packed game to FK Austria Wien through a late winner.
The game was the first for Dean Whitehead’s side during their stay in mainland Europe, with the Young Terriers crossing the border to play the Austrians in Windischgarsten.
Town stormed into a 3-1 lead at one stage, but understandably tired legs late in the game cost the Under-19s in the end.
Whitehead’s side fell behind in the game, with Vienna taking the lead inside 11 minutes. Left back Sam Sharrock-Peplow conceded a free-kick and the home side took it quickly, managing to squeeze a cross in that allowed the striker to smash past goalkeeper Jacob Chapman.
However, Town equalised inside five minutes through a predictable source. Kian Harratt, who is stepping up to the Under-19s after a prolific debut season with the Club, seized upon a poor back-pass and did brilliantly to round the goalkeeper under pressure from recovering defenders before slotting home.
Olly Dyson then launched a counterattack from a Vienna corner, driving forward before finding skipper Scott High. He passed to midfielder Josh Austerfield, who saw his shot pushed wide by the goalkeeper.
The second goal did soon follow midway through the first half. New signing Ilounga Pata cut out a pass and found High, who produced a stunning pass to put Dom Tear through on goal. Dom did equally well, finishing to put his side ahead.
Centre back Romoney Crichlow-Noble soon produced one of two fantastic blocks in the game to keep his side ahead and it soon could have been 3-1. Austerfield found Sharrock-Peplow and although his ball to striker Kit Elliott had too much on it, winger Dyson recovered it. He pulled the ball back to High, but somehow his shot evaded Elliott in the middle.
Substitute goalkeeper Giosue Bellagambi had a bit of good fortune 10 minutes into the second half when claims for a penalty against him were waved away, but Town were on top at this point.
Striker Elliott had already fired wide when latching onto a ball over the top, but he wasn’t to be denied when Dyson’s top-class ball into the box found him.
Another summer recruit, Kai Herbert, soon put another shot just wide after some good interplay on the edge of the box, although he did have teammates well positioned to receive a pass too.
It was with 20 minutes left that Town’s youngsters started to show understandable signs of fatigue on their first pre-season run-out, with Vienna taking full advantage.
A fantastic save from Bellagambi had already kept them at bay, but the goalkeeper could do nothing to stop Vienna’s second goal in the 73rd minute; a striker volleying home after latching onto a clip over the defence.
A simple 78th minute equaliser then followed and although Town tried to fight on, the winning goal went to the Austrians when the 17-year-old Town stopper misplaced a pass to a striker, who squared to a colleague to tap home.
The score-line was harsh on Town – and they believed Isaac Marriott was fouled in the build-up to the winner – but there were plenty of positives to take for Whitehead.
Town’s team
Jacob Chapman (Giosue Bellagambi, 46’); Sam Sharrock-Peplow, Romoney Crichlow-Noble, Oran Thompson (Mustapha Olagunju, 80’), Ilounga Pata (Tom Bamford, 75’); Scott High (c), Josh Austerfield (Kai Herbert, 60’), Isaac Marriott; Dom Tear, Kian Harratt (Kit Elliott, 25’), Olly Dyson (Will McCamley, 80’)