Five conclusions as Huddersfield Town impress at Exeter but must be more clinical

It could and probably should have been three, four or five goals for the Terriers as they created chance after chance at St James Park, but we're inclined to focus on the positives

1. Whee whoo whee whoo

There’s a scene in the superb Expedition 33 video game when the character Esquie describes his life as alternating between exciting “wheeeee!” moments and sad “whooooo” moments. This is neatly summarised by another figure as sounding like “a whee whoo whee whoo type situation.”

That’s what Town have experienced so far this season, and it’s what they got in this game.

The dominant feeling is ‘wheeeee!’, given Town got the three points and put in their most complete performance since beating Leyton Orient on the opening day. Anything beyond that borders on nitpicking — but hey, that’s what we’re here for.

Whoooo: you could argue Town enjoyed a bit of luck with Exeter having a goal disallowed for an offside (which was questionable from the one replay we had access to, but there was a push on Josh Feeney that should have ruled it out anyway) and later hitting the bar.

Wheeeee! If we’re playing that game, then it probably should have finished 5-2 with the number of chances and openings Town created.

Whooooo: Just off the top of our heads, we can recall three chances for Ben Wiles, two for Lasse Sorensen, a couple for Alfie May, including one that was deflected onto the crossbar, and one for Joe Taylor late on. A combination of poor finishing, questionable decision making, and some last-ditch defending from Exeter meant none of them found the net.

Wheeeee! Leo Castledine bagged another excellent goal to ensure the only cost of those misses was in the goal difference column and not the points column. (Castledine had also missed a decent chance earlier in the match).

Whooooo: Lee Grant revealed that Zepiqueno Redmond hadn’t been involved because he suffered a knee injury that is going to keep him out for ‘months’ alongside Herbie Kane and Will Alves.

Wheeeee! Town’s total of 22 attempts on goal was the most they’ve had since their 5-1 win over Crawley in March, and the most they’ve had away from home since going to Hull City under Carlos Corberan in April 2022 (23 shots) — a game that also finished 1-0, as it happens. Town last had a higher expected goals (1.74) in their 4-0 win at Cambridge in December.

After embarking on the second-longest away trip of the season, we’re pleased to report that as far as one-nils go, this was entertaining fare, and that gives us plenty to discuss.