Barnsley U21s 0
Huddersfield Town U21s 1
A very young Reds side suffered a late defeat against Huddersfield after Lewis O’Brien scored a late winner for the visitors.
The Reds dominated for large parts of the match but no goal was forthcoming, mainly due to Huddersfield ‘keeper Dominic Kurasik being in excellent form to deny Mark Burton’s side a deserved goal.
The first half was largely uneventful, but an excellent one-handed save from stopper Nick Townsend to deny Huddersfield’s Jack Senior after just a few minutes was well applauded.
The deadlock should have been broken on the stroke of half-time, but the referee and his linesman ruled that Lewin Nyatanga’s header didn’t cross the line from George Smith’s cross, despite large protests from the Reds.
The second half was mainly the same as the first with no major chances on goal, but the Reds controlled the possession. Central midfielder Jak McCourt dragged a free-kick just wide after Otis Khan was chopped down when racing towards the Huddersfield penalty area, which was the first real effort of the half.
In the 85th minute, the deadlock was broken. Senior found space to put a cross into the Reds' area and O’Brien tapped home to make it 1-0 to the away side.
Straight from kick off, Kurasik pulled off an excellent save again to deny Charlie Harris as the midfielder’s long range effort flew towards the top corner, but the referee blew his whistle shortly after to deny the Reds an equaliser.
Head of Academy Coaching Mark Burton gave his thoughts after defeat for his side.
Burton said, “In the first half Nick Townsend made two or three great saves and we had a dubious goal ruled out at the end of the half so we went in level.
“The second half I thought was pretty even, their 'keeper made a couple of good saves and it just seemed to be heading towards a 0-0, but a lack of concentration cost us and they bobble one into the back of the net.
“The positives were some first team players getting 90 minutes under their belt in case they need to be called upon, which is the most important thing for them. I think defensively Nick Townsend was excellent in goal, but overall we just lacked a bit of quality today.”
Reds: Townsend, Wardle, Cowgill, Nyatanga, Smith, Khan, McCourt, Harris, Trialist, Tuton, Ash.
Subs: Templeton, Maxwell, Alton, Jeffs, Walton.
