Simon overjoyed with Wolves victory
Simon Grayson was elated with his side’s display as they returned to winning ways on home soil with a 2-1 victory over Wolves.
James Vaughan and Jermaine Beckford scored the goals to cap what Simon described as a ‘memorable day’.
“It was probably one of the best performances that I have had from a team as a manager,” said Simon.
“The players’ intensity, desire and quality on the ball – against tough opposition – was superb, they are a credit to themselves. We put them under heavy pressure in the first half and if we had come in five goals up, I don’t think anyone could have had any complaints.
“Wolves had nothing to lose in the second-half and after they got the goal they put us on the back foot. We were out on our feet in the last ten minutes because of the effort that we had put in, but we held on firm. We won the game courtesy of our first half display and our desire to keep them out in the final ten minutes.”
Vaughan’s and Beckford’s goals were each players first on home soil for the Terriers – and both after superb crosses from Jack Hunt and Adam Clayton respectively.
“Both goals were fantastically created and finished. Jack Hunt’s cross was a superb piece of skill and James Vaughan provided the finish. For the second one, Adam Clayton cleared the ball, picked up the second ball and then produced a fantastic cross, which saw Jermaine (Beckford) produce a sublime finish.”
Delight was strewn across Simon’s face following Beckford’s goal – and the boss admitted that he enjoyed the on loan Leicester man’s finish.
“I am an extremely passionate person and when my team produces what they did in the first half, it is only right that you show some emotion. You have to enjoy the good moments because there are dark days in football. I love it when my team plays like they did today.”
Town changed formation during the latter stages of the game and Simon explained the reasoning behind his decisions.
“Oliver Norwood had played in Portugal during the week, so we wanted to freshen things up in midfield. When they scored we wanted to be more solid so we went 4-5-1 and replaced the unbelievable James Vaughan for Lynch (Joel), to see the game out. Sometimes that doesn’t always work but you do whatever you can to try and win the game. Calum Woods had a bit of cramp which saw Paul Dixon come on."
Simon told htafc.com that although Lynch made a cameo appearance he is still a few games away from being fully match fit; “He is still a bit away from being 100% fit. We have got a development game at Barnsley on Monday, so he may go and have 45 minutes in that. He has only trained a couple of games so he was never in contention to start.”
