Football League World
·19 October 2024
Football League World
·19 October 2024
Report, ratings, reaction and more from the John Smith's Stadium as Huddersfield Town host Bristol Rovers.
Huddersfield Town piled the pressure on Matt Taylor at Bristol Rovers with a 3-1 win at the John Smith's Stadium.
Matty Pearson and Callum Marshall struck quickfire first-half goals to leave Michael Duff's side in control, with Bojan Radulovic adding a third just after half-time.
Isaac Hutchinson struck for Bristol Rovers, but sections of the travelling Gas support made their feelings towards Taylor clear throughout the second-half, calling for the manager's head.
It was a busy opening 10 minutes, as Huddersfield lost Lasse Sorensen to an injury early on and saw penalty appeals for a trip on Callum Marshall turned down by Dean Whitestone.
Beyond Scott Sinclair pulling a shot wide after a swift Bristol Rovers break, though, the Terriers were largely untested, and Michael Duff watched his side seize control of the game as the first-half went on.
Mickel Miller had a shot deflected onto the roof of the net, Josh Griffiths denied Marshall before Bojan Radulovic made a mess of the rebound and Sinclair did well to hook a Tom Lees header off the line.
Huddersfield would be rewarded for their pressure, though, and struck twice in the space of four minutes.
Matty Pearson reacted quickest to a corner Rovers failed to clear, burying a loose ball beyond Griffiths.
Marshall then got the rewards his first-half performance deserved, finishing beyond Griffiths after fine play from Nigel Lonwijk carrying the ball into the final third.
Any hope of a Bristol Rovers improvement after the break were quickly put to bed and the travelling Gas fans soon turned on Matt Taylor as Radulovic converted Miller's cross on 52 minutes. "We want Taylor out" was the chant from the away section.
Griffiths denied Marshall and David Kasumu heading towards the hour, and did well to keep out a stinging Millar shot.
Taylor's substitutions had a good impact on the game and gave those travelling something to cheer. Shaq Forde's cross from the right was converted by Isaac Hutchinson, before Lino Sousa squandered a big opportunity to make the game 3-2 minutes later.
Had that chance been buried, it might have made things slightly more edgy for Huddersfield, but Duff's side managed to see out the the final quarter for the result their opening hour was more than deserving of.
Michael Duff was understandably delighted to get the win, and was pleased both his forwards - Callum Marshall and Bojan Radulovic - got on the scoresheet.
However, there was some frustration that there was no clean sheet.
"That's always a positive," Duff said.
You play two up-front and the perfect scoreline really is 2-0 - you keep a clean sheet, your two forwards get a goal each. It wasn't quite a perfect afternoon, but we will take it.
"They were good, the two of them today."
It was a tough afternoon for Taylor, but one thing he got right was his substitutions and changing the direction of the game somewhat.
"They certainly did (enough) today, but people will say at 3-0 down, it's a free hit to go on the pitch and perform as they did," Taylor said of his substitutes.