Two second half goals in score draw at Millers Oils High Performance Complex
- Huddersfield Town B 1-1 Wrexham AFC
- Luke Daley opened scoring with diving header
- Scott High makes return from injury
Facing off against a number of Wrexham’s first team with Phil Parkinson watching on, Town’s B Team were defiant at home, scoring first in what ended in a score draw.
Opening the game with a strike from distance that flew over the bar, Wrexham had a tough time getting the ball from Town for the majority of the half to come, with the Young Terriers taking care of it and playing it nicely throughout despite the driving wind and rain.
Almost taking the lead through Tom Iorpenda early on, the chance was created by an elegant dart forward by Brahima Diarra who was dispossessed as he entered the box, with Iorpenda firing the loose ball over as it fell to him.
Diarra was in the thick of things again soon after as he was released down the right wing by High - who was playing his first half an hour since injuring his hamstring - with his cutback reaching Michael Stone on the edge of the box. Curling toward the top right corner, he got just too much of the ball, sending it narrowly over the crossbar.
Following a foul on Iorpenda in the attacking half, Town played the ball quickly forward catching Wrexham before they were set, playing Neo Eccleston in behind down the right channel. Shooting across goal, his angles weren’t quite right, and he watched he effort flash across the face of goal. In a similar move shortly after, Kyle Hudlin drove at goal with the side of his boot, forcing the goalkeeper to tip over for a corner.
Having one last effort before the whistle, it was captain Loick Ayina who came striding out from the back. Fancying himself from a long way out, he struck clean through the ball with his laces and his dipping effort had the goalkeeper backpedaling, but it just dropped the wrong side of the crossbar for the young French defender.
Less than 10 minutes into the second half, Town’s best move of the game got the result it deserved, with both wing-backs combining in the box. Getting free down the right, Neo Eccleston’s ball across was inch perfect for Luke Daley on the other side of the area, and his diving header was executed to perfection, giving the goalkeeper little chance as it hit the opposite side netting.
Despite conceding the equaliser less than 10 minutes later, the B Team didn’t let their heads drop, and they continued to open out going forward in the face of rapidly decreasing weather conditions. On top until the final exchanges, the young side stood up well to Wrexham’s second wind, and saw the result through to full-time level.
Facing off against regular senior players within a side looking for promotion from Sky Bet League Two, it was the reaction the coaching staff desired having seen the side defeated last time out in the Premier League Cup.
Town’s Team (3-5-2)
Alex Walpole; Tom Edwards (Shane Maroodza 79’), Loick Ayina (Alex Joof 79’), David Adewoju; Neo Eccleston, Tom Iorpenda, Scott High (Vost 30’), Michael Stone (Myles Bright 83’), Luke Daley; Brahima Diarra, Kyle Hudlin (Philpott 72’)
Unused Subs
Hazeem Bakre
Town Goal
Luke Daley 52'
