First Team players get v minutes under their belts
- Town EDT face Fleetwood Town in the Central League Cup
- Mark Hudson’s men showed bright sparks throughout the match
- Abdelhamid Sabiri on target for The Terriers
Huddersfield Town’s EDT faced Fleetwood Town in a match at PPG Canalside that resulted in a 3-1 defeat for Mark Hudson’s side.
Town hosted Fleetwood in the first fixture of their Central League Cup group stage games, but the contest served more purpose than just that. The game was also an opportunity for a number of David Wagner’s First Team players to get important match minutes under their belt.
Hudson’s side started the match well standing up to the attacking challenge posted by the Fleetwood team, with Abdelhamid Sabiri a clear focal point in Town’s attacking play.
Just 3 minutes in, it was Sabiri who latched on to a low driven cross from Elias Kachunga and placed it between the legs of the goalkeeper in front of him, sparking celebrations that were quickly cut short by the linesman’s flag.
Sabiri would have another chance soon after that would break the deadline between the two teams on the 20-minute mark.
The German Under 21 international scored a fantastic goal, receiving the ball from Rajiv Van La Parra, before sharply turning his man and dispatching a wonderful driven effort in to the bottom left corner of the goal. A great effort from Sabiri who showed some real technical quality to open himself space for the strike.
⚽️ Sabiri opens the scoring for #htafc's EDT take on @ftfc at @htafcCanalside!
— HTAFC Academy (@htafcacademy) November 6, 2018
Game live now ➡️ https://t.co/qt1Qzp1Ibx
ℹ️ HTTV is sponsored @absolute_ws #YoungTerriers (PS) pic.twitter.com/eXBgXfInpF
Shortly after the goal, Fleetwood began to grow in to the game, as their striker Chris Long began to make severao incisive runs through the Huddersfield defence.
On two occasions, the Fleetwood forward was put through by his midfield, but both times found Ben Hamer standing brake to make the save. On the first occasion, a deflected pass fell nicely in to the path of Long, who took it well and hit it powerful effort that Hamer tipped wide.
Minutes later, Long found himself being denied again by Hamer as he got himself into a one on one situation and fired hard and low towards the left corner, but the Town goalkeeper rushed out well and got a strong right fist to it to knock it wide.
After spurning two chances, the Fleetwood team began to threaten aerially, as towering centre back Cian Bolger looked a threat from set pieces. This paid dividends as the defender rose tallest to powerfully nod the ball home to equalize for his side on the 36th minute.
The 45-minute break saw several changes to Hudson’s side with Hamer, Smith, Van La Parra, High and Mbenza making way for Ramadan, Bacuna, Schofield, Duhaney and Diakhaby.
The second half began as the last one ended, with players focused on maintaining high fitness levels with no chances coming until Fleetwood had a goal ruled out the second of the game.
The ball was whipped in from a wide free kick and for the second time, the ball was headed in to the Huddersfield net, however, the Town had held their line well, and the goal was ruled out for offside.
However, it would be a headed effort that provided Fleetwood with the lead on the 71st minute, as they broke out of Town’s pressure to begin a rapid counter attack. The ball was sprayed down the left-hand side for left back Eddie Clarke to chase, before striking a first time cross in to the area. The ball found the lone Fleetwood trialist who headed the ball back across the goal and into the top left corner to make it 2-1.
As the half went on, Quaner and Diakhaby began a partnership that resulted in a plethora of chances, as the two became more and more cohesive as time went on. The biggest chance resulted from Quaner spraying the ball out wide to Diakhaby who had his driven strike tipped over by the Fleetwood ‘keeper.
Quaner almost got a goal himself, as he showed a good work rate to chance down Crellin in the Fleetwood goal, causing him to panic and attempt to clear. The ball ricocheted off Quaner towards the goal and was only a few inches clear of rolling into the vacant net, leaving the Fleetwood Town keeper thanking his lucky stars.
So close for Quaner!
— HTAFC Academy (@htafcacademy) November 6, 2018
Great work from the forward who closes down the Fleetwood keeper.#htafc EDT 1-2 @ftfc live now https://t.co/qt1Qzp1Ibx#YoungTerriers (PS) pic.twitter.com/Wj439bSGJP
On the 85th minute the EDT almost had an equalizer as Ben Jackson whipped a ball from deep towards the danger area around the 6 yard box. The ball rattled around the box before falling to Sabiri who slid in and could only knock the ball wide of the mark.
Whilst the EDT were looking to weave a way back into the game, Fleetwood substitute Kian Makepeace had other ideas. Fleetwood broke away in a counter attacking move and whipped a ball in from the left-hand side that found the outstretched foot of Makepeace who knocked it home for Fleetwood’s third of the game. The game concluded with a 3-1 win to the visitors.
Town’s Starting Line-Up (4-2-3-1):
Ben Hamer (Ryan Schofield, 45’); Ben Jackson, Jon Gorenc Stanković, Rarmani Edmonds-Green, Tommy Smith (Demeaco Duhaney, 45’); Scott High (Juninho Bacuna, 45’), Abdelhamid Sabiri; Rajiv Van La Parra (Ramadan Sobhi, 45’), Elias Kachunga, Isaac Mbenza (Adama Diakhaby, 45’); Collin Quaner
