Huddersfield find themselves currently occupying third place in the Division Three table after a late surge that has seen the Terriers collect 33 points from a possible 45 since the turn of the New Year. Indeed, it was their form over the festive period that led to their position at the moment being possible, with six straight victories from Boxing Day until the start of February.
Undoubtedly a lot of the influence at that time came from Jonathan Stead, who contributed three of his 18 league and cup goals to the cause over this time frame. However, his departure has not led to a drying up of the goals, or wins for that matter, and central defender Efetobe Sodje and February singing from Bury, Pawel Abbott, have netted four apiece since the front man moved to Premiership Blackburn Rovers for a cool £1.25 million.
All this did not look possible when the Yorkshiremen visited Roots Hall way back at the start of October, although the first signs were emerging after consecutive triumphs over Leyton Orient and Kidderminster Harriers in the lead up to the seaside clash. Before those two wins – and indeed when the Division Three team upset Sunderland 4-2 at the Stadium of Light – Town lay 17th in the Division Three table, and even after a one-all draw with then-table-toppers Oxford United on December 20th, they were twelve points off of the position they are now.
Cup form has been sketchy – the Carling Cup wins over First Division opposition Derby County (at the McAlpine Stadium) and Sunderland have been augmented by the third round departure to Reading, whilst in the F.A. Cup they were shocked live on BBC Television by non-League Accrington Stanley and in the LDV they suffered a second round departure (they had received a bye in round one) to Carlisle United. But it is the League that Peter Jackson’s men have been concerned with, and the dividends have been rewarding.
Nationwide League Division Three |
09/08/03: Cambridge United (h) D2-2 (Stead 2) 16/08/03: Boston United (a) D2-2 (Stead, Hughes) 23/08/03: York City (h) L0-1 25/08/03: Doncaster Rovers (a) D1-1 (Booth) 30/08/03: Bristol Rovers (h) W2-1 (Edwards, Stead) 06/09/03: Bury (a) L1-2 (Scott) 13/09/03: Northampton Town (h) W3-0 (Stead 2, Carss [p]) 16/09/03: Rochdale (a) D1-1 (Worthington) 20/09/03: Swansea City (a) L0-2 27/09/03: Leyton Orient (h) W3-0 (Yates, Scott, Booth) 30/09/03: Kidderminster Harriers (h) W1-0 (Stead) 04/10/03: Southend United (a) W2-1 (Booth, Schofield) 11/10/03: Torquay United (h) W1-0 (Carss) 18/10/03: Lincoln City (a) L1-3 (Booth) 21/10/03: Yeovil Town (a) L1-2 (Stead) 25/10/03: Carlisle United (h) W2-1 (Booth, Stead) 01/11/03: Scunthorpe United (a) L2-6 (Booth 2) 15/11/03: Hull City (h) W3-1 (Stead, Booth, Schofield) 22/11/03: Mansfield Town (a) D3-3 (Schofield, Stead 2) 29/11/03: Cheltenham Town (h) D0-0 13/12/03: Macclesfield Town (a) L0-4 20/12/03: Oxford United (h) D1-1 (Stead) 26/12/03: Darlington (a) W1-0 (Booth) 28/12/03: Bury (h) W1-0 (Swailes [o.g.]) 03/01/04: Doncaster Rovers (h) W3-1 (Stead 2, Worthington) 10/01/04: Cambridge United (a) W2-1 (Stead [p], Worthington) 17/01/04: Boston United (h) W2-0 (Sodje, Lloyd) 25/01/04: York City (a) W2-0 (Schofield, Mirfin) 07/02/04: Darlington (h) L0-2 14/02/04: Torquay United (a) W1-0 (Clarke) 17/02/04: Bristol Rovers (a) D1-1 (Abbott) 21/02/04: Lincoln City (h) W2-1 (Sodje, Abbott) 02/03/04: Yeovil Town (h) W3-1 (Abbott, Schofield 2) 06/03/04: Oxford United (a) W1-0 (Sodje) 09/03/04: Carlisle United (a) L0-1 13/03/04: Macclesfield Town (h) W4-0 (Booth, Sodje, Abbott, McAliskey) 16/03/04: Rochdale (h) D1-1 (Lloyd) 27/03/04: Swansea City (h) W3-0 (Schofield 2, Lloyd) 03/04/04: Leyton Orient (a) D1-1 (Booth)
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F.A. Cup |
09/11/04: R1 – Accrington Stanley (a) L0-1
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Carling Cup |
12/08/03: R1 – Derby County (h) W2-1 (Stead, Thorrington) 23/09/03: R2 – Sunderland (a) W4-2 (Carss, Stead, Holdsworth, Booth) 28/10/03: R3 – Reading (a) L0-1
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LDV Vans Trophy |
14/10/03: R1 – bye 04/11/03: R2 – Carlisle United (a) L0-2
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2002/3 Records |
Matches Played: 44 (21 home, 23 away) Matches Won: 22 (15 home, 7 away) Matches Drawn: 10 (4 home, 6 away) Matches Lost: 12 (2 home, 10 away) Goals Scored: 66 (39 home, 27 away) Goals Conceded: 51 (14 home, 37 away)
Danny Schofield 39+2 Efetobe Sodje 36+3 Jonathan Worthington 34+3 Andy Booth 35+1 Andy Holdsworth 29+5
Jonathan Stead 18 Andy Booth 12 Danny Schofield 8 Pawel Abbott 4 Efetobe Sodje 4 |
Robert Craven
www.thelittlegazette.com