Young Terriers beat Blackpool in latest Central League match
- Town’s EDT side showed a clinical edge in the first half
- Harratt, Daly, Mbenza and Crichlow-Noble were all on target
- Five First Team players featured for Leigh Bromby’s youngsters
Huddersfield Town’s Elite Development Team produced a prolific first half display to narrowly beat Blackpool 4-3 in the Central League at Squires Gate.
Leigh Bromby’s side put on a clinical performance with first half goals from Kian Harratt, Matty Daly, Isaac Mbenza and Romoney Crichlow-Noble securing all three points for the Young Terries despite a late Seasiders resurgence.
Town began in the ascendancy and took the lead inside the opening 10 minutes with their first chance of the match. Daly displayed tenacity to win possession in the final third of the pitch before evading several challenges and squaring the ball to Harratt who tapped in from an unmissable range.
The home side responded almost instantly, however, drawing level in a similar fashion to Town’s opener. Blackpool drove forward down the right and whipped a low cross across the face of goal towards Ryan Hardie, who applied the finishing touch to equalise for the hosts.
Town reclaimed their advantage midway through the first half following a clinical passage of play. Daly released Mbenza on the left who swiftly returned the ball into the path of the midfielder to precisely place his effort into the bottom right corner.
Bromby’s side increased their lead two minutes later courtesy of Mbenza. Herbert Bockhorn cut back to the awaiting winger on the edge of the area who provided a composed first-time finish into the corner of the net.
The Young Terriers’ dominance throughout the first half was reflected in the scoreline as they added a fourth to their tally before the break. Josh Koroma showed his individual quality to firstly dribble past his marker before driving to the by-line and delivering to Crichlow-Noble to covert from close range.
Despite Town’s goalkeeper Giosue Bellagambi producing several outstanding stops, the home side eventually halved the deficit in the second half as Hardie scores his second of the game with a powerful header from a corner.
Hardie completed his hat-trick seven minutes from time to put pressure on Town late on, but the Young Terriers held firm and claimed another victory in the competition.
Huddersfield Town EDT side (4-2-3-1)
Giosue Bellagambi; Herbert Bockhorn (Nassim Kherbouche, 62’), Romoney Crichlow-Noble, Mustapha Olagunju, Ilounga Pata; Josh Austerfield (C) (Remi Thompson, 59’), Reece Brown; Josh Koroma, Matty Daly (Tim Akinola, 59’), Isaac Mbenza; Kian Harratt (Micah Obiero, 59’)
Final score
Blackpool 3-4 Huddersfield Town EDT
Scorers
Kian Harratt (9’) Matty Daly (21’) Isaac Mbenza (23’) Romoney Crichlow-Noble (27’)
