Huddersfield 3-3 AFC Wimbledon: Terriers Unable To Grasp The Lead
Credit: Thomas McAtee / shutterstock.com
Wimbledon had their hosts at match point on three occasions but were unable to convert their lead into a victory, settling for a draw in a pulsating game in Yorkshire.
Both of these sides are chasing a play-off place, Huddersfield after spending big in summer and Wimbledon performing above expectations after promotion through the League Two play-offs last time out. A draw keeps them both in the hunt as the table shows no sign of shaking out at this early stage - the Terriers and the Dons are both three points from 5th placed Stockport and four from Burton Albion in 19th as they occupy 8th and 9th respectively. A good few weeks can have you dreaming of the automatic spaces, and a bad result or two has you staring down the barrel of relegation. League One is as competitive as it’s ever been.
Wimbledon’s success this season has largely stemmed from a continuation of what made them so good in League Two last year. They made themselves incredibly difficult to beat, having the best defensive record in the division by a long way, and achieved promotion despite scoring nineteen fewer goals across the season than Walsall, who they beat in the play-off final. Wombles are organised, work as a team. This had been the case until recently, but results have suddenly become hard to come by for the Dons as they had lost four of their last five in all competitions prior to this game, including a 5-0 hammering by relegation-threatened Peterborough and a 2-0 home defeat to non-league Gateshead in the FA Cup. Their principles seemed to go out the window in this game, conceding chance after chance and wave after wave of attack to a Huddersfield side that, on another day (or under another manager), might have stuck five or six past them. Still, they emerged from a tricky away trip in the middle of a difficult period of form with a point and three goals. Having taken the lead of the game on three occasions, they may feel hard done by to only come away with a solitary point despite the dominance from the home side. The Wimbledon of last season probably would’ve seen the game out at 1-0 or 2-1.
The opening goal came from an excellent bit of centre-forward play from Danilo Orsi. A long ball came looping over the top looking for him and he stopped it dead with a beautiful touch, all the while holding off the defender and allowing his teammates to make runs into the box as he shielded the ball. One of these teammates was overlapping full-back Steve Seddon, who was found in acres of space with a perfectly weighed ball through the defence. Seddon unselfishly squared the ball to Marcus Browne who stroked home the opener for Wimbledon, all credit to Orsi in the build up.
Huddersfield Town were a feature of the Premier League as recently as 2018/19, and now find themselves battling for promotion out of the third tier. Despite being a financial juggernaut in comparison to the Burton Albions and Mansfield Towns of this world, they struggled to make an impression last year after relegation from the Championship, finishing in just 10th place and a healthy fourteen points from troubling a play-off place. Something clearly had to change. They have a huge ground for the division and are relatively well followed and well backed financially, and with their recent foray onto the Match of the Day running order still fresh in the minds of supporters it is important they don’t get stuck languishing down in the third tier constantly falling just short of promotion. Nobody wants to be a Barnsley. Plenty of players were let go and a substantial outlay of funds was allocated to replace them, building a whole new team to tackle promotion head on. The biggest change, however, was in the dugout. Michael Duff’s tenure was deemed a failure by the board at Huddersfield and he was relieved of his duties partway through last season and replaced by Lee Grant for his first managerial role this summer. It hasn’t quite gone to plan, Grant is averaging the same lacklustre win percentage and PPG as Duff after a summer of big spending and there are now question marks around the former goalkeeper’s future at the Terriers.
Their equaliser came straight after the break, a ball into the box wasn’t dealt with and Leo Castledine was the fastest to react as he buried his shot beyond the ‘keeper into the bottom corner. The perfect start to the half, undone in two minutes as Wimbledon retook the lead. A free-kick was hit poorly but Goodman in the Huddersfield goal made a meal of it, spilling the ball into the path of Danilo Orsi for a tap-in on the goal line. They don’t make it easy for themselves.
Wimbledon’s defensive work was equally suspect, the second equaliser for the hosts coming from a Lyndon Gooch cross onto the head of Ben Wiles. The midfielder had days to pick his spot as he had somehow not been picked up in the area and he dispatched his header with confidence to tie the game back up just beyond the hour mark.
Fans of the Premier League have been complaining as of late at the rise in prevalence of set-pieces and long ball tactics making the league “worse”. If they think it’s bad up there, don’t let them watch League One. Wimbledon regained the advantage for the final time with twenty minutes to go, Jake Reeves’ free-kick was perfectly spun into the area and Ryan Johnson rose highest to dispatch a wonderful header beyond Goodman right in front of the travelling supporters. If you’re keeping track, that’s 3-2 to Wimbledon with all the goals coming from long balls it crosses in the box. Time for one more?
Summer signing Alfie May netted the games sixth and final goal with five minutes left on the clock. The big Serbian Bojan Radulovic was the target of the cross, he rose well but was unable to direct his header anywhere but straight at the ‘keeper. As seems to be the theme, he couldn’t keep hold of the ball and May ended up latching onto it and tapping home a true poacher’s finish. Full-time, 3-3. A whirlwind of emotions in the Yorkshire rain for both sets of fans, with everyone left ultimately disappointed.
A draw did neither side much good as nobody in top 6 lost this weekend and, especially if they win their games in hand, the leading pack are seriously starting to pull away from the rest of the division and create a clear divide between the play-offs and mid-table.
For Huddersfield, it’s make or break. Stick with the unproven Grant and risk wasting a summer of big spending to fall short and remain in League One or twist to a new gaffer and hope he can guide them to where they feel they deserve to be? If they’re going to pull the trigger, they might go early if they’ve learnt from their mistake of giving Michael Duff too long last season and being unable to salvage the scraps of the campaign in time after his departure.
Wimbledon would love to go up, obviously, but anything above the drop zone is a success for them following last season’s promotion. They’ve struggled for results as of late, which is to be expected, but their overall league position is astounding and they will hope to build on their strong start in January and potentially push for a fantastic back-to-back promotion.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Christmas fixtures will start to pile up and once all the crackers have been pulled, turkeys carved and new years fireworks lit we should know more about where there clubs stand in this division and whether or not their promotion hopes are tangible or just a Christmas wish.