Steve happy with final 65 minutes at AFC Emley
Huddersfield Town’s Senior Professional Development Coach Steve Eyre was pleased with the way his side grew into the game during tonight’s 4-0 win at AFC Emley.
“I thought the way we approached the game was very loose,” Steve admitted to htafc.com. “We were going up the slope in the first-half and when you combine that with the way we started the game and how Emley started the game, which they can take great credit for, it made for a challenging 25 minutes. Thankfully, during the time when we weren’t great, we didn’t get hurt.
“Once we overcame that and settled down by playing some basic football, we grew into the game and scored a fantastic goal through Daniel Carr. We came into half-time in the lead, but the first half was a little bit patchy.
“We changed the shape in the second half and we knew that going down the slope would be an advantage for us. Thankfully that proved to be the case and we pretty much controlled the second half. We could have scored a lot of goals and I’m very pleased with the clean sheet.
“Overall I’m pleased with about 65 minutes of the game, but we can learn from the first 25.”
Eyre made special mention of Town’s centre back pairing of Tommy Smith and, in particular, Liam Ridehalgh, who were largely untroubled at the Welfare Ground thanks to composed performances.
He continued: “I think special mention has to go to the two experienced centre halves. It was almost like having two members of staff out on the pitch in the way they approached the game; they were a credit to the Club and an advert for any teenager wanting to still be in the game at 21 and 22.”
Academy scholars Jake Charles, Philip Billing and Joe Wilkinson also caught the eye with fleeting cameo appearances towards the end of the game and Steve explained they had to be protected in the midst of a busy schedule:
“I was very careful with the scholars, because they trained this morning and they have a game tomorrow. In normal circumstances I would have given them more time on the pitch, but I wasn’t going to put them on at all before I noticed them all looking at me in the dugout! It felt like a great time to give them the last 15 minutes.”
