Huddersfield Town player ratings as the two Ryans secure comeback victory over Barnsley
Liam Manning's side shook off a woeful first half performance to run out 2-1 winners thanks to goals from Ledson and Hardie
Lee Nicholls - 7
Started the game by confidently claiming a low cross and continued in that vein throughout the first half. Soundly beaten by an excellent finish as Barnsley went 1-0 up - the issue was that Town gave David McGoldrick far too much space to take it from the corner of the box. Denied McGoldrick with his leg on the stroke of half time after taking up a good position to block the shot. Lucky McGoldrick didn’t take full advantage as he slid back to keep Radinio Balker’s header in play and stopped the ball dead, only to keep sliding beyond the byline and out of reach of the ball.
Radinio Balker - 7
Was in no-man’s land when McGoldrick blazed into the box in first-half stoppage time and forced a save from Nicholls. Put Nicholls in trouble again early in the second half with a dreadful backwards header, but superb sliding tackle to stop Tom Bradshaw getting clean through into the box and generally excellent throughout the second half.
Murray Wallace - 8
Played in the middle of an adventurous back three and showed off his passing range early on with multiple useful sprays out to Lasse Sorensen up the right as Town looked to get everyone into the opposition half. Defensively impressive again and threw his head onto everything that went into his territory. Great tackle on Bradshaw late on to make up for giving the ball away moments before, and made a crucial intervention in injury time in a penalty box scramble.
Sean Roughan - 7
Poor clearance on the way to Barnsley’s early disallowed goal, giving possession straight back to the visitors. Solid enough in general with a lot of Barnsley’s threat coming from the other side, and helped ensure they offered no real threat on Nicholls’ goal after Town went ahead.
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Lasse Sorensen - 5
Great interception on 28 minutes to spark a Town attack out of nothing but his ball in to Alfie May was poor. Got into good attacking positions up the right, but negligent with his defending too often in the first half, prompting Liam Manning to abandon his initial 3-4-3 for a 4-3-3 within half an hour. Gave Barnsley far too much space down that left side, losing track of Reyes Cleary several times and ludicrously standing off McGoldrick as he curled a brilliant shot past Nicholls to give Barnsley the lead. Successful in closing the back door after the break while still finding opportunities to get forward.
Ryan Ledson - 7
Could have done more to help Sorensen deal with McGoldrick as Barnsley went ahead, and was beaten too easily by McGoldrick as he threatened a second just before the break. Enjoyed a really positive second half, despite being harshly booked for what looked to be a good clean recovery tackle immediately after the restart. Had more encouragement to get forward on this occasion in a true box-to-box role. Got to the byline a couple of times early on, but unable to find teammates with his final ball. Used that license to get free in the box to score his headed equaliser. Sent Hardie away for a chance he should have done better with.
Cameron Humphreys - 5
Was on set piece duty for much of the game and put in some promising deliveries that Barnsley did well to deal with. Broadly fine without being eye-catching.
Bali Mumba - 5
Looked like he should have had a penalty given against him for a second game in a row after seeming to catch Corey O’Keeffe during a scramble on an early corner, but got away with it. Effectively operated as Town’s third central midfielder at times even before the switch to 4-3-3 enshrined that role. Unable to get his head to Ledson’s cross midway through the first half with what would have been a great chance. Had a really poor first half — frustratingly wasteful with the ball again and lost too many physical battles — but much better after the break and put in a peach of a cross for Ledson to equalise.
Will Alves - 4
Played on the right of the front three. A lot more of what we’ve seen from him recently in the first half: got into decent positions, showed some nice touches, unable to actually make much happen with the ball with his passes and crosses failing to find their mark. Very unconvincing off the ball. Made way for Ryan Hardie ten minutes into the second half.
Alfie May - 4
Had a quiet start to the game playing in the middle of the front three. Needed a better delivery from Sorensen after getting free in the box at the end of a counter-press just after the half-hour. That was about his only notable involvement before he went off for the much more influential Cameron Ashia.
Marcus Harness - 5
Played on the left of the front three throughout. Received big ironic cheers from the home fans as his tame header at Owen Goodman finally registered as a shot on target for the Terriers after two games without one. Pressed everything but not as involved in the game as he would have liked, and wasted a chance to put Hardie through on goal in injury time.
Substitutes
Ryan Hardie (for Alves 56) - Unstoppably powerful finish to the bottom corner to claim his first goal for the club and put the Terriers ahead. Should have done better after being played in behind the Barnsley defence by Ledson, only to balloon his shot well off target. 7
Cameron Ashia (for May 73) - Came on to play on the right wing and registered an assist immediately by putting it on a plate for Hardie to finish. Characteristically selfish with the ball at times but cannot ignore his impact on the game. 7
David Kasumu (for Humphreys 81) - Saw out the game in central midfield. 6
Unused substitutes: Jak Alnwick, Josh Feeney, Antony Evans, Dion Charles.
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