Huddersfield Town player ratings as Terriers suffer late defeat at Stevenage
Liam Manning suffered his first loss as Huddersfield Town head coach to a late set piece goal after the visitors did absolutely nothing to threaten the Stevenage defence
Lee Nicholls - 5
Made a good low stop with his leg early on after closing down Matt Phillips’ shot, and great goalkeeping to get off his line quickly and cut out a flick-on across the box before Jamie Reid could get there. On the downside, was beaten in the air by Dan Sweeney after coming of his line to try and get to a cross, but it went over the bar. Conceded an unnecessary corner for holding onto the ball too long. Kicking poor even by his standards, and put Town in trouble with an awful pass as they conceded the free kick from which Stevenage took their late lead.
Radinio Balker - 7
Played a hybrid right-back on the ball/centre-back off the ball role. Defended well, in common with the rest of the back line. Had a couple erratic moments here and there but generally decent.
Josh Feeney - 7
Strong centre-back showing against some difficult attackers to handle.
Murray Wallace - 6
Had his hands full with Reid but stood up to him superbly. Was beaten into the box by Matt Phillips but had forced him wide enough that Nicholls had a chance to make the save, and otherwise won absolutely everything that went in his direction for most of the game — only to be crucially and soundly beaten in the air by Carl Piergianni as he headed home Stevenage’s winner.
Bali Mumba - 4
Shot wide after cutting inside early on 17 minutes with what would prove to be Town’s best chance of the game. Much too quiet thereafter on the ball, albeit he did his defensive duties well enough. Wasted a last-minute free kick by ploughing it into the back of an opponent.
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Ryan Ledson - 6
Booked for a late tackle on 22 minutes. Won some good challenges in his own half and usually looked to lay it off simply. Unobjectionable, unexceptional.
Marcus McGuane - n/a
Received a kick six minutes into the game that left him down in pain. Briefly returned to the fray but then went down again and had to be subbed off.
Lasse Sorensen - 5
One of two changes from the side that started the last league game, alongside David Kasumu. Essentially played as a winger a 4-2-3-1 on the ball that became a 5-4-1 out of possession. As with Mumba, defensively fine, but too quiet in attack.
David Kasumu - 7
Started in a pressing number 10 role after playing in a deeper berth in midweek, but then dropped back in alongside Ledson after McGuane’s early injury. Worked incredibly hard and won numerous challenges in midfield, including some important recovery tackles.
Marcus Harness - 4
Played off the left flank. Received a yellow card for a high boot midway through the first half, and rode his luck on a couple of occasions before the break with a cynical shirt pull and delaying a Stevenage throw-in. Has had better games recently and found it hard to get much going on this occasion.
Dion Charles - 4
You know the tale by now: can’t fault his commitment but just didn’t have the quality to make a difference against a massive Stevenage back line.
Substitutes
Cameron Humphreys (for McGuane 10) - A forced introduction early on. Went on at number 10 with license to drop deeper to try and build the play…or at least, so it looked. Played a couple of promising forward balls but no more than that, and Manning would have wanted more. Was taken back off late on. 4
Mickel Miller (for Harness 66) - Took over on the left wing. Had a couple of promising moments that ultimately came to nothing. Conceded the free kick from which Stevenage scored by committing a clumsy challenge in response to Nicholls’ poor ball. 5
Cameron Ashia (for Humphreys 79) - Lucky that Louis Thompson put a shot out for a throw after losing him to let him go free in the Town box. Nipped in to rob Charlie Goode on the edge of the Stevenage box in the 90th minute but unable to get a shot away as the defender did well to win a challenge but lobbed his own keeper, only for it to bounce narrowly wide. Had Town’s only shot of the second half. 5
Bobby Wales (for Charles 79) - No impact on the game. Had just one touch in his 20 minutes on the pitch and couldn’t compete in the air. Some service might have been nice, mind. 3
Unused substitutes: Jak Alnwick, Sean Roughan, Lynden Gooch.
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