Huddersfield Town player ratings as ten-man Blackpool inflict first defeat of season
A chaotic first half that featured five goals and a red card gave way to a frustrating second period for Lee Grant's Terriers at Bloomfield Road
Owen Goodman - 6
Couldn’t really do anything about the early equaliser despite getting a touch as Joe Low deflected it at close range. Unable to reach Lee Evans’ strike as Blackpool went ahead and couldn’t keep out Niall Ennis’ poke past him after coming off his line.
Lynden Gooch - 7
Had absolute acres of space right from the off, which Town should have made much more use of. Smashed home his first goal for the club after sprinting onto a loose ball inside the box to claw a goal back for Town from 3-1 down.
Jack Whatmough - 4
Misread the bounce on a high ball to let Niall Ennis in on goal from just inside the Town half, leading directly to the equaliser for 1-1. Put Town in trouble second half with a poor pass to Low, but then blocked Albie Morgan’s shot to help make up for it, only to concede a very cheap corner a few minutes later.
Joe Low - 5
Needed to challenge Ennis rather than waiting for the shot, only succeeding in helping his shot past Goodman. Booked midway through the first half for a cynical tug. Usually the last man back in the second half despite yellow card, and did that job well.
Sean Roughan - 6
Looked off the pace in that disastrous first-half spell as Blackpool went from 1-0 down to 3-1 up, though very far from alone in that. Better after the break, getting back impressively to stop a couple of Blackpool counter-attacks that would have totally killed off the game.
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Ryan Ledson - 5
Sprayed some nice balls out to the wings, but on the whole not at the level we’ve seen in his previous appearances for the club.
Herbie Kane - 4
Did some good work on the ball but switched off defensively on the second Blackpool goal and looked unconvincing on a couple of other occasions. Set piece deliveries did not find their mark.
Marcus Harness - 4
Back in the side after a brief injury lay-off. Dynamic as ever, but unable to really hurt the opposition.
Ben Wiles - 4
Found the net with a deflected left-footed shot less than four minutes into the game. That was all that really came off for him all game, sadly.
Ruben Roosken - 6
Again had the right ideas for the kinds of positions he should be getting into in and around the box, including setting up Wiles’ opener. Continued in that vein but couldn’t get the ball through a congested penalty area in the second half.
Alfie May - 5
Silly shooting decision inside the centre-circle when Town had a 3 v 2 on the counter-attack. Good positioning as Town pulled it back to 3-2, with his blocked shot running for Gooch to power home. A difficult game after Blackpool went down to ten men and started putting all of them behind the ball.
Substitutes
Leo Castledine (for Ledson 60) - Went on alongside Wiles at first. Showed off some nice little flicks and tried to stay on the move in a bid to draw Blackpool out of their tight shape, but to little avail. Shot narrowly wide from 25 yards deep into injury time. 6
Joe Taylor (for Wiles 72) - Faced the same difficult May had with space at an absolute premium around the Blackpool box. 5
Marcus McGuane (for Kane 72) - On for his Town debut. Looked a little rusty at times, as you might expect after playing no part for the club in the pre-season friendlies. 5
Cameron Ashia (for Roosken 79) - Probed from the left but was prevented from doing much more than that by an obstinate Blackpool defence. n/a
Lasse Sorensen (for Gooch 79) - n/a
Unused substitutes: Lee Nicholls, Murray Wallace.
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