Five conclusions on Town's restored pride from battling derby draw
The Terriers faced an uphill battle to retain their lead against Leeds United after being reduced to ten men, but dug in superbly to hold their local rivals to a stalemate
1. Pride: restored
Well, there’s no question about which side were the happier with that point.
A draw felt like a more than acceptable outcome going into the game, and was only made doubly so by how hard ten-man Huddersfield Town had to work to get it in the end.
Town fans were shown in October how wary they had to be of this fixture, despite the new positivity generated by recent performances, recent results, and the overwhelmingly welcoming response that hailed Andre Breitenreiter’s appointment as head coach. It was hard to shake the feeling that Town could play well and still end up on the losing side, as has been the case multiple times already this season.
Regardless of your position in the league table, all any set of fans wants is to see a side they feel represents them on the pitch. Completely contrary to the nightmare at Elland Road, Town delivered that here.
If anything, those in blue and white will have left the John Smith’s Stadium, the pub, and living rooms all over the country thinking: what if? Had it not been for Jonathan Hogg’s red card, might they have been able to hold on, even kill the game off with a second goal?
We’ll never know, and the cost of those two potential extra points will only become clear over the fullness of time. But on the whole, there was a lot here for Town fans to be proud of.
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