Cherries KO towards the empty South End, Anderton having led the lads onto the pitch. Straight away, Pitman fell after a clash of heads, but both parties resumed soon. Anderton, Telfer & O'Connor showed early quality & anticipation. Terriers were thin up front after transfers & injuries; the one "name", Beckett (wearing 18), seemed to be on the left of a three. Pitman won a free; Anderton to Cummings, good chip, & Pitman's twist header went to the keeper. A Christophe cross led to our 1st corner; O'Connor hit the resultant shot well but just wide. Our 2 banks of 4 seemed solid early on. Telfer went up the wing, but Anderton's cross was caught. Fine rain was being blown towards the North End. Begovic (Jimmy Glass in disguise?) made a dodgy kick from a back-pass, & O'Connor had another pot shot. He was our best player, tidying up & looking to put things in motion. Kuffour couldn't bring in Telfer at all, passes under-hit or misplaced. Football's all about possession, position & pizzazz; both sides lacked the 3rd of these, but Cherries were picking up 3 out of every 4 second balls. A through ball saw Gowling second-best. He fell, but put off the striker enough to allow Begovic to clear with his feet. The opposition then shot wide. Kuffour & Pitman were not combining, although working hard. The former - think Shaun Wright-Phillips with a little less pace & a worse first touch. Cummings's cross let Anderton shoot; Kuffour couldn't quite reach it as it went wide.
A Terrier cross saw a header back across, off Begovic's left post & out; he gathered in a sprawl. Fortunate - a warning about marking beyond the back stick. The wind caused even more misjudgement; the game was little better than Stowmarket's 2-2 draw at Halstead (Ridgeons Div.1; level 11) I saw the previous Saturday when away with family. A Terrier free sent over to the left saw the 18 lose his marker (Gowling? Telfer?) & head in easily. 0-1, 43 mins. Cherries responded with a corner; head tennis saw the keeper catch. HT - 0-1.
Vokes replaced Pitman for the resumption. Anderton threaded one in from the right; no-one quite managed to put their foot to it. Terriers covered well, leaving little room to move in our top half, the back 4 on their 18 yard line. And Begovic had to save low down with his left hand from a free. Kuffour kept battling & scrapping, but often from too deep. Gradel replaced O'Connor on 57; clearly our remaining Cardiff goal-scorer was still unfit. The defence had to make solid but sometimes desperate clearances; Gradel proved a mercurial out-ball. However, Vokes looked a better target man than Pitman or Kuffour, & seemed to be in better positions most of the time. He turned on the spot & clipped over, but the shape was beginning to go.
Cummings took a free 22 yards out, inside-right - pushed for a corner. Vokes & Kuffour linked; the turn & shot was cleared for a corner, which led straight to a Terriers free 25 yards out from the home goal! Gradel was yellowed for this. Terriers had more space in the home half now. Cooper replaced Christophe on 70, going into midfield. I'd've put him at right back, with Telfer to midfield, unless Bond didn't want 2 oldies alongside each other. Vokes headed over Telfer's cross, then pinball in the away area but it never sat down to allow a proper shot. Telfer moved to midfield, for a 3-5-2, but Cherries were falling apart slowly. Gradel dwelt too long on Kuffour's pass, but a corner was awarded. Telfer's passing fell away in the last 20 mins. Gradel found himself alone beyond the keeper's left-hand post, but managed to shoot beyond the far post! Telfer's crack from 25 yards was tipped over - our last chance, as the corner led to a shot wide. The old campaigner Andy Booth failed to lob Begovic. 0-1 at FT.
The bottom line is club financial survival, so the playing side is bound to suffer. Absolutely right to build from the back - have a strong defence, & a protective midfield. But we then need something up front as some wins will be required to take us out of the drop-zone. Service to the front men was mediocre, as was their chance-taking ability. Garry & Pearce were solid, giving confidence. O'Connor must play 90 minutes for us to have any chance. Playing left midfield, Cummings never had the chance to bomb forward, so a tactical rethink's needed there. Central midfield given his combative qualities? I'd have Telfer right midfield, O'Connor on the left, Cummings left-back & Pearce right-back, of today's team, so that Telfer & Wazza could be more influential.
Christophe covered well, still feeling his way in. Can we afford Gradel's learning curve, as he has a little speed & ability? Once they'd scored, Huddersfield had to be merely combative, organized & competent. For me, the worst feeling at full-time was that I wasn't surprised. I'd love it for Bond to prove me wrong; I'd still love it if he did, but he's as far way from doing that as when he first took over.
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AFCB: Begovic, Cummings, Garry, Gowling, Telfer, Anderton, O'Connor, Christophe, Pearce, Kuffour, Pitman
Subs: Moss, Young, Vokes (for Pitman, HT), Gradel (for O'Connor, 57), Cooper (for Christophe, 70)
Peter Wicks, Bulford