Tony gives his verdict on latest U21 match
Academy coaches Tony Carss and Frankie Bunn took charge of today’s U21 game with Steve Eyre on first team duty and the former spoke to htafc.com following the 3-2 defeat against Derby.
Town missed a host of chances in the first half and deserved far more than the 1-1 score line indicated at half-time.
“I thought we played really well in the first half; we passed and moved the ball well in midfield,” said Tony. “It was nice to see Oscar Gobern back after a long time out and he was influential in helping us get on the ball and pass it around.
“We created a lot of chances and at this level you need to put them away,” he added. “If we had put our chances away it would have made the second half easier for us and we could have played differently in to the strong wind. We had enough chances to win the game and I felt that we dominated for large periods of it.
“We worked hard in the second half and the application of the players was very good and we were just unfortunate that we couldn’t take our chances.”
Striker Godwin Abadaki was on the end of a number of Town’s move, but failed to supply the finish.
“He had a couple of chances and although he didn’t take them it was good to see him making those types of runs in behind the defenders. For any striker the minimum is that you hit the target, but ultimately you have to hit the back of the net. We had another couple of good situations where our final pass went awry.”
The goals came from Max Leonard and Connor Loftus following good interplay in the build-up to both strikes.
“Both goals were well made and taken,” Tony said. “The younger and the more experienced players stepped up and they were hungry to get on the ball and be positive.”
Tony and Frankie’s focus will now turn to the Terriers’ FA Youth Cup Fifth Round tie against Nottingham Forest next week.
"The plans are going well. It has been difficult of late because of the snow, which has restricted us getting on the grass and training. We are back on track now and all the work that we are doing is focused around the game because we don’t have one on the weekend. The focus is on the organisation and the tactical approach on what we are going to be doing next Tuesday night at Nottingham Forest."
