Huddersfield Town were knocked out in the First Round of this season’s Carabao Cup following a 1-0 defeat to Lincoln City at the John Smith’s Stadium after a below par performance.
Harry Anderson’s volley 10 minutes into the second half was enough for the visitors to progress to the Second Round of the competition.
Seven members of their starting XI were given their Huddersfield Town debuts by for the First Round tie against Sky Bet League 1 side Lincoln City, including new signing Trevoh Chalobah who joined the Terriers on loan from Chelsea last week.
Fellow summer signings Herbert Bockhorn, Reece Brown and Josh Koroma were also named in the XI whilst Young Terriers Ryan Schofield, Rarmani Edmonds-Green and Jaden Brown took their place in Jan Siewert’s starting side for the first time.
The tie was well-contested in the early exchanges under the late evening West Yorkshire sunshine with neither side putting together any significant chances in the opening 10 minutes. It was Town who were closest to threatening the first goal of the game, but Isaac Mbenza’s whipped free-kick from the left was comfortably headed to safety.
Jan Siewert’s Terriers then threatened to put together a counter-attack after some good defending from Jon Gorenc Stanković, before Herbert Bockhorn blocked a first effort of the night from Lincoln forward John Akinde.
The Imps have been known for their threat from set pieces in recent times and nearly forced the opening on two occasions from dead ball situations shortly before the 15-minute mark; Elias Kachunga headed behind a Joe Morrell free-kick before Ryan Schofield tipped over Michael Bostwick’s header from the resulting corner.
Schofield, making his debut for his hometown club, was in the action again moments later as he rushed out well to close down a Lincoln attacker who dispossessed Rarmani Edmonds-Green inside the Town box.
The young goalkeeper was having quite the first 20 minutes on his senior debut, again coming off his line to prevent John Akinde’s attempted lob during a one-on-one.
Having kept out the visitors at the other end, Town put together a neat move that worked its way to Isaac Mbenza in space on the right. The forward cut inside before seeing his shot cleared from immediate danger.
Despite possession moving swiftly up the other end, Schofield was soon back in the thick of things, producing a smart double save to ensure the deadlock was maintained.
With 10 minutes until half-time, the Terriers continued to push forward in search of the opening goal and went close but Isaac Mbenza’s free-kick could only pinball around the penalty area before Rarmani Edmonds-Green’s shot was collected by Grant Smith in the Lincoln goal.
Smith was forced into action again on 42 minutes, denying Town’s best effort of the game so far. The ‘keeper leapt to his right to parry away Juninho Bacuna’s effort from the edge of the area, before getting back on his feet to stop Jaden Brown’s well-driven strike.
It was a case of déjà vu in added time as Bacuna unleashed a goal-bound strike that Smith again got down to tip around the post, with the deadlock remaining intact at the break.
Town may not have wanted the half-time whistle to come but came back out with the same momentum that they ended the first 45 with. Herbert Bockhorn did well to intercept a loose Lincoln pass before playing in Koroma on the right who saw his cross fumbled, but eventually gathered by Smith.
From one goalkeeper to another; moments later Ryan Schofield continued what had been an impressive debut so far, stopping Jack Payne’s curling effort from finding the net.
Town couldn’t keep the visitors out from the next attack on 55 minutes, however. Winger Harry Anderson found himself unmarked at the back post and with time to pick out the bottom corner with a volley, giving the Imps the lead.
Lincoln nearly doubled their advantage soon after but visiting midfielder Jack Payne dragged his shot wide of the goal from the edge of the box.
Searching for an equaliser, debutant Reece Brown tried his luck from range after a neat turn, but his strike fell wide, shortly before Juninho Bacuna’s prodded effort was deflected away from the goal.
In need of a spark Town Head Coach Jan Siewert sent on Rajiv van La Parra in place of Josh Koroma and the substitute very nearly provided one; finding Bacuna on the edge of the box who stung the hands of the Lincoln ‘keeper with a well-struck goal-bound effort, but the score remained 1-0 heading into the final 15 minutes of the tie.
Steve Mounié then entered the fray replacing Reece Brown but the Sky Bet League 1 outfit continued to stand strong and frustrate Town who were throwing bodies forward in search of the tie-saving leveller.
The visitors then nearly ended all hope of a lifeline for Town as Tyler Walker’s low cross from the left fell to Jack Payne less than two yards out but the midfielder couldn’t connect with the ball cleanly, with Ryan Schofield there to keep it out to Town’s relief.
Rajiv van La Parra continued to cause problems for the Imps defence after coming on, his latest drive forward saw him pick out Herbert Bockhorn who fired a shot over the bar from around 20 yards out.
Having been provider in the previous attack, van La Parra then went close himself, seeing his first-time curling strike deflected before producing another save from Grant Smith.
From the resulting corner, Town had two penalty shouts waved away, for a handball and a challenge inside the box respectively, but the visitors maintained their advantage as five minutes of stoppage time was added on.
The Terriers pushed forward in the closing stages with Steve Mounié going nearest to the equalising goal, but it was Town who came up short with the visitors holding on for a narrow victory to progress to the Second Round of this season’s Carabao Cup.
Next up for Jan Siewert’s side is the visit of Fulham to the John Smith’s Stadium on Friday evening (16 August 2019) in the Sky Bet Championship.
TOWN (4-3-3)
HUDDERSFIELD TOWN (4-3-3)
Ryan Schofield; Jaden Brown, Rarmani Edmonds-Green, Jon Gorenc Stanković, Herbert Bockhorn, Reece Brown (Steve Mounié, 76’), Trevoh Chalobah, Juninho Bacuna, Isaac Mbenza, Josh Koroma (Rajiv van La Parra, 73’), Elias Kachunga (c)
Unused subs
Joel Coleman, Collin Quaner, Florent Hadergjonaj, Lewis O’Brien, Matty Daly
LINCOLN CITY (4-2-3-1)
Grant Smith; Harry Toffolo, Michael Bostwick (c) (Neal Eardley, 61’), Cian Bolger, Aaron Lewis, Joe Morrell (Michael O’Connor, 49’), Ellis Chapman, Bruno Andrade, Jack Payne, Harry Anderson, John Akinde (Tyler Walker, 70’)
Unused subs
Josh Vickers, Jordan Adebayo-Smith, Jorge Grant, Ben Sault
REFEREE
Peter Wright
GATE
6,908
