Andy Munro reports on Blues’ visit to Huddersfield.
I suppose that we can’t really complain, given the late goals that we’ve scored ourselves over the last couple of seasons , but to drop two poin ts in the 93rd minute was, to put it mildly, heartbreaking. Huddersfield are around the same place as us in the table and three points would have been very welcome but, nevertheless, there was a great deal of room for optimism.
Lee Clarke went with a mobile combo of Morrison and Redmond up front with Burke as the only natural wide player. This left a ‘floating’ Wade Elliott and an efficient and rumbustious centre of midfield in the youthful Reilly and the rejuvenated Gomis. At the back, it was good to see the impressive Caddis return and one can only hope that Di Canio sees something in Rooney that most of us cannot. On Burke’s reinstatement, he showed glimpses on what he can do but was this a shop window job for the benefit of Forest’s ‘Ginger One’? Certainly the current offer from McLeish of a reported £300,000 looks derisory. As the captain that deserted the sinking ship he himself had run aground, McLeish will never be forgiven for what he did and whom he joined. Pinching arguably our most talented player certainly won’t enhance what’s left of his reputation, not that the Ginger Judas will care.
In terms of the actual match, Huddersfield had the better of the early changes without threatening too much yet it was Blues who finished the stronger, Callum Reilly capping a fine first half performance with a smartly taken goal. Callum, who was apparently being watched by Eire selectors, then had to be substituted due to illness. Whilst Gomis continued to hoover things up in midfield we still lost a bit of momentum when Reilly left the field of play but it still seemed that we would hold onto three points in the face of mounting pressure. In the closing minutes, Clarke then brought on King to hold the ball up front and Ziggy to help repel the aerial bombardment, a move which was heavily criticised by supporters on the radio yet hindsight’s a wonderful thing. Butland , who had made a couple of fine saves, could do nothing about the equaliser and Blues still remain uncomfortably near the danger zone.
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