Town knocked out of the Premier League Cup by Blackburn Rovers
- Huddersfield Town B 1-4 Blackburn Rovers
- Young Terriers knocked out of the Premier League Cup
- Pat Jones scored on his first game back after injury
The B Team’s Premier League Cup campaign came to an end as our Young Terriers were defeated 1-4 at the John Smith Stadium by a strong Blackburn Rovers side.
Pat Jones scored on his return from injury as Huddersfield Town B Team exited the Premier League Cup knockout stages with a 4-1 defeat to Blackburn Rovers at the John Smith’s Stadium on Tuesday night.
First-half goals from Tyler Morton and Sam Gallagher put the away side into a firm lead before Harry Leonard provided a quickfire brace off the bench to put the tie beyond Town, who netted a late consolation through Jones.
After topping their group, Town came up against a strong Rovers outfit, who boasted several first-team players amongst their starting XI.
The first opportunity of the game fell to Town in the eighth minute. The Young Terriers built out of the back well in triangles until Tom Iorpenda sharply turned and played a sumptuous through-ball for Tyreece Simpson, who strode forward at pace, but the forward drilled his shot across the face of goal and just wide of the far corner.
Iorpenda was again a catalyst in creating Town’s next chance, as he read Sam Szmodics' attempted dummy and made a smart challenge to thwart the counterattack. Simpson picked up the loose ball and drove forward before finding Connor Mahoney in the middle, who switched play to the left-hand side. Kian Harratt was the recipient, and his subsequent delivery was looped over the target by Kyle Hudlin.
On 22 minutes, Simpson was again involved in the chances, cutting inside well after a pass from Hudlin before he saw his low effort be held by Joe Hilton.
That save seemed to signify a change in momentum, as Rovers saw brisk efforts from Tyrhys Dolan and Gallagher be saved and held by Jacob Chapman.
However, Chapman was left with little chance of saving their next effort as Blackburn opened the scoring just after the half-hour mark. A free-kick conceded from Myles Bright’s trip on Callum Brittain on the edge presented Morton with a chance which he duly took, whipping his effort over the wall which dipped into the top corner closest to Chapman’s stance.
Rovers then doubled their lead going into half-time when Chapman could only parry Brittain’s drilled cross into the path of Gallagher, who smashed the rebound over the line.
With Town now chasing the game to retain their Premier League Cup status, the second period got off to the worst possible start when Ryan Hedges slipped Leonard through on goal to finish in off the far inside post just 40 seconds after the restart.
Leonard then inflicted more pain on Town on 51 minutes, as he side-footed the ball past Chapman in the middle from Tayo Edun’s squared pass from the left-hand side of the area.
Town made a triple change on the hour mark, with Jones making his welcomed comeback after a period on the sidelines.
Simpson, who was a bright spark for Town on the evening, presented Harratt with a chance when he scooped the ball over the top of the defence for his fellow strike partner, whose subsequent effort was blocked by Hilton.
With nine minutes remaining, Jones marked his return to action with a well-taken finish to pull a goal back for Town. Brodie Spencer drove infield from the right-hand side and threaded a pass into the feet of Jones, who came inside and passed the ball past the ‘keeper and into the far corner.
Simpson again went close in stoppage time, but it wasn’t to be as Town exited the competition at the first knockout stage.
Town’s Team (4-3-3)
Jacob Chapman; Brodie Spencer (C), Rarmani Edmonds-Green, David Adewoju, Luke Daley (Shane Maroodza, 60’); Tom Iorpenda, Myles Bright, Connor Mahoney (Pat Jones, 60’); Kian Harratt (Cian Philpott, 76’), Kyle Hudlin (Charles Ondo, 60’), Tyreece Simpson
Unused Subs
Josh Mazfari
Town Scorer
Pat Jones (81’)
