Town beaten at home
- Huddersfield Town 0-1 Burnley
- Town beaten on opening day
- Terriers travel to St. Andrew’s for first away game on Friday 5 August 2022
Huddersfield Town fell to defeat against Burnley on the opening day of the 2022/23 Sky Championship season.
The Terriers welcomed the Clarets to the John Smith’s Stadium on Friday evening, and a poor first half performance saw them unable to get themselves back into the game.
Danny Schofield’s first starting XI as permanent Head Coach saw 10 of the Play-Off Final squad involved, with Rarmani Edmonds-Green the only exception.
The game got off to a bright start, with both sides pressing high and trying to assert dominance.
It was Burnley who had the first half chance of the game, with Josh Cullen sending a tame strike straight into Lee Nicholls’ arms.
The visitors then continued to build, with Ashley Barnes trying a shot from an awkward angle, which Nicholls got down smartly to gather.
Burnley’s pressure paid off in the 18th minute, as they opened the scoring through Chelsea loanee Ian Maatsen. A clever dummy from Barnes just outside the box left Maatsen clear to send the ball into the bottom corner after a deflection fell kindly to him.
The game settled for a period, with the Clarets enjoying plenty of possession and working Town hard.
The 32nd minute saw Rarmani Edmonds-Green make a perfectly timed sliding tackle to deny Burnley on the edge of the box.
The remainder of the first half saw Town continue to struggle to get themselves into the game.
Town started the second half better than they had finished the first. An early chance fell to Josh Koroma, but his touch was just too heavy as he tried to beat his man in the box.
The Terriers continued to build momentum in attack, with a half chance for Danny Ward coming from a great Turton cross. Unfortunately, the forward just wasn’t tall enough to latch onto the end of it, seeing it bounce away.
The 56th minute saw Town made two substitutions, with Jack Rudoni and Tino Anjorin coming on in place of Josh Koroma and Duane Holmes. The two had an immediate impact, giving the entire Stadium a lift as the Terriers began to look that bit more dangerous in the final third.
As the clock showed 62 minutes played there were penalty cries from Town as Tom Lees was wrestled to the ground in the box, but the referee waved them away.
Wardy had a flash at goal 10 minutes later, but it went just over the bar! Some really lovely work from Rudoni and Anjorin in the build up to it.
Danny Ward then turned defender in the 82nd minute with a fantastic last-ditch challenge to deny Barnes!
Two minutes later, second half substitute David Kasumu was controversially booked for a challenge of the edge of his own box.
The last chance of the game fell to Burnley seconds later, as Scott Twine hit the post from a free-kick.
The Terriers were unable to get themselves back into the game, seeing Burnley walk away with all three points.
Town are back in action on Friday 5 August, when they travel to St. Andrew’s to face Birmingham City in their first away fixture of the new season.
Town’s Line-Up (4-2-3-1)
Lee Nicholls; Ollie Turton, Rarmani Edmonds-Green (Yuta Nakayama, 89’), Tom Lees, Josh Ruffels; Jonathan Hogg, Jon Russell (David Kasumu, 72’ (Jordan Rhodes, 89’)); Josh Koroma (Jack Rudoni, 56’), Duane Holmes (Tino Anjorin, 56’), Sorba Thomas; Danny Ward
Unused Subs
Jacob Chapman; Ben Jackson
Town Booking
David Kasumu (84’)
