Another positive performance for the Young Terriers on Saturday
- Huddersfield Town Under-17s showing improvement
- Second positive performance in a week for the Young Terriers
- Youngsters defeat Notts County in Youth Alliance League at the weekend
Town’s Under-17 players will take belief from another positive performance in Saturday’s Youth Alliance game against Notts County, according to Academy Manager Leigh Bromby.
On the back of a good performance and win against Burnley in the Under-17 Clarets Cup in midweek, Bromby’s Young Terriers enjoyed another impressive 90 minutes at the weekend, putting what they have learned in training into good affect on the pitch against the Magpies.
The visitors started well at PPG Canalside, hitting the bar inside the first 20 minutes, but Town’s players stuck to their instructions and continued to play out from the goalkeeper even when under pressure and in difficult weather conditions.
Eventually they got their just rewards, taking control after striker Kian Harratt scored his third goal of the week, winning 3-0 thanks to further goals from midfielder Jaheim Headley and forward Darnell Mintus.
“Our focus is on development and performance, but there’s no doubt that the last two results will give our young players belief in what we are working on every day,” Bromby told htafc.com.
“We’ve worked very hard on teaching the players the ‘Terriers Identity’ but through familiarity and hard work, the basics of team play have really come along; defensive structure, communication and defending your own box better.
“We’re winning far more individual battles now.
“We’ve been working on our ‘fight zones’ - deciding when to implement the press – and the forwards, like Kian Harratt and Josh Austerfield, are really learning when to begin those now. We’re in the fourth week of a six-week programme on that and we’ll continue that work on the training pitch this week, as well as in the analysis sessions.”
Leigh was particularly pleased with the way the players showed an understanding of the work they’ve put in on transitions through Headley’s second goal, when a patient period of passing was quickly accelerated through a smart run from the winger and a well-timed forward pass from centre back Nassim Kherbouche.
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— HTAFC Academy (@htafcacademy) September 10, 2018
Here are the goals from @KianHarratt, @JHeadleyOne & @darnell_mintus as the #htafc Under-17s put in a good performance against Notts County in the Youth Alliance on Saturday!#YoungTerriers (DTS) pic.twitter.com/4s1f3OFHB2
Leigh continued: “Transitions look different from club to club and it can be difficult for young players to understand what we’re trying to implement, but this was a good example.
“Getting ahead in the game made Notts County push on and offered us more space, which the players used well.
“It’s easier to analyse mistakes than things you do well, but we’ll be asking the players to watch Saturday’s game and tell us what they did well. I’m looking forward to hearing the feedback!”
Town played two 15-year-old trialists in the game; Myles Bright and Andre Edionhon.
“Both lads did well in the game,” Leigh commented. “They’ll spend eight weeks on trial with us, so they have feedback from their first game with us. We’ll look to help them progress with a view on them playing a full 90 minutes towards the end of the period.
“It’s important that we continually assess players with a view to next season’s Under-17 group and this is a nice, structured way to do so.”
The hard work continues for the Young Terriers this week, with no game for the Under-17s until the next Youth Alliance fixture at home to Preston North End on Saturday.
“We’ll continue to work on the detail of the mid-fight zone this week, among everything else. I expect the plan to be more detailed and the players to show further progression in this area.”
Although the Under-17s have no midweek game, Mark Hudson’s Elite Development Team travels to Brentford for a game on Wednesday; check htafc.com tomorrow for a full preview.
Town’s U17 team vs Notts County (4-2-3-1)
Giosue Bellagambi; Sam Sharrock-Peplow, Mustapha Olagunju, Nassim Kherbouche, Mohammed Diaby; Taylor Annakin, Tom Bell (Seth Meeson, 75’); Jaheim Headley (Andrew Ijiwole, 70’), Josh Austerfield, Myles Bright (Andre Edionhon, 46’); Kian Harratt (Darnell Mintus, 65’)
Final score
Huddersfield Town U17s 3-0 Notts County
Scorers
Kian Harratt, Jaheim Headley, Darnell Mintus
