Five conclusions: Undue conservatism at Rotherham

Huddersfield Town played out a goalless draw that does them few favours in their survival fight

1. Let’s not make an excuse of the red card or officiating

Regular readers will know we rarely say this, but that performance from the officials was one of the most bizarre we’ve seen for a while. Everything possible went against Town while Rotherham’s own offences largely went unpunished.

The result was not just the denial of a penalty for a foul on David Kasumu, but a yellow card for the midfielder for an alleged dive.

Then, later on, Sorba Thomas was given a booking of his own for seemingly very little – though it was pointed out to me after the game that it may well have been for dissent, rather than his initial soft foul on Sean Morrison.

The consensus in the press room was that Thomas didn’t need to make the subsequent challenge on Ollie Rathbone to earn a second yellow. I’m not sure I particularly agree with that, but either way, Thomas had the chance to win the ball but got it wrong knowing how costly it could be to him and the side if he did.

There were other decisions that went against Town too – most notably a couple of corner and throw-in calls that were transparently given the wrong way.

Having pointed out all that, we really have to stress how little of an excuse it is. We’re talking about moments in a 90-plus minute game. Town did nothing in the rest of those minutes to suggest they deserved more than the point they ended up with.

This is a game that Town should have been able to win regardless of anything else. They shouldn’t have needed a penalty shout to go their way, and by the time Thomas was dismissed, a better side would have had a commanding lead already.

But Town are not a better side. That’s why they’re in the relegation zone.

Other results went firmly Town’s way on the day, for once, so in some regards they can be seen as a point better off. But given the opposition and the stakes involved, we’re seeing this as two points dropped – ten men or not.

If they can’t create issues for a team who started the day with half as many points as the next-worst side in the league, then the relative kindness of Town’s remaining fixture list is meaningless.