Five conclusions: Feeble Huddersfield Town get what they deserve at Bradford City

Lee Grant should reconsider his approach after yet another awful first half display costs the Terriers dear on derby day

1. What the hell was that?

One does not simply walk into Mordor.

Derby day against a side that has lost just once at home this year might as well be exactly that. Town had to be clever and combative and on their guard against their local rivals.

Instead, they ambled in witlessly and were duly slaughtered.

After a promising opening 15 minutes, Huddersfield descended into rank amateurism. Their defending on all three first-half goals should be made into a poster and pinned up in the dressing room under the heading “What Not To Do”.

Sean Roughan looked clueless in the face of basic fast-paced wing play on his side, with all three goals coming from his flank. Murray Wallace failed to get up and challenge for a header on the second goal. Lasse Sorensen let Bobby Pointon run completely free to convert tap-ins — not once, but twice.

Conceding from a throw-in, as Town did for the second goal, is the kind of thing that gives managers nightmares, but the third goal will have Lee Grant waking up screaming. It came straight from Town kicking back off, for god’s sake.

That’s pathetic, especially as all they needed to do was keep the ball for another 30 seconds or so and go in for the break. Mounting a two-goal comeback would have been very difficult, but much more achievable than the three-goal Mount Doom they left themselves to climb.

These are by no means inexperienced players we are talking about. Town’s only real bright spark of the first half, Leo Castledine, was the youngest and least battle-hardened player in the starting line-up. Of all the games to do that in, this was not the one.

We had plenty of praise for Town’s defence in the first month of the season — Blackpool aside — but they have now shipped 11 in their past four games. Attackers win you games, defences win you promotions.

Town need to sort themselves out sharpish, or they might find their challenge for a Championship place is over before it has even begun.

2. Town were too rattled by the opening goal