Hudderfield 1-2 Arsenal

[Reverend Gooner]

In this centenary match for Huddersfield the gunners were invited to play in the Herbert Chapman cup. Epic manager Herbert Chapman led both teams to unbelievable success in the golden pre war years. I would elaborate more but Chapman's achievements are written into arsenal folklore so i will say no more.

Arsene Wenger decided this was a task for the reserve team so he placed the captains armband on Swiss defender Johann Djourou, threw Walcott up front and sent his team out onto the Galpharm turf to see if they could claim this special trophy.

Team lineups: Fabianki, J Hoyte, Djourou, G Hoyte, Gibbs, Wilshere, Randall, Ramsey, Lansbury, Walcott, Vela.

Glennon, Goodwin, Collins, A Holdsworth, D Holdsworth, Lucketti, Roberts, Skaz, Butler, Cadamateri, Beckett





First chance fell to Vela after a slick little passing move by the young gunners. A passing move was latched onto by Ramsey who jinked and jived through the Huddersfield midfield and laid the through ball down the left hand side of the area to Vela who ran into the space. The keeper was out to block his angled finish but it was a good move which the senior squad would have been proud of.

Huddersfield then had a chance when a fine strike by Beckett was palmed sidewards by Fabianski into the path of a Hudderfield player but the angled finish went into the side netting.



A sloppy piece of defending and good pressing Huddersfield intercept a sloppy pass by Gavin Hoyte and Roberts then fired a strike towards the inside post in a bid to catch the out of position Fabianki offguard. Fabianski managed toget a palm to it though and knocked it out for a corner which came to nothing.

A comical moment then led to a great chance when the referee inadvertently backheeled a loose ball to Randall who then surged upfield and play the through ball to Walcott who was making the run up front. Walcott didn't even think to beat his man, instead he shifted the ball into a bit of space and unleashed a shot on goal. It curled agonisingly wide of the far post but it was a very good effort and showed some good instincts from Walcott.

Walcott then had another great chance, a long through ball over the top by Ramsey put Walcott through down the left hand side of the goal. The keeper came out far to intercept but Walcott pushed it past him with the intent to slot it into the empty goal from the angle. The keeper however threw himself back to block the finish and the ball went otu wide and the keeper raced back to get into position.

Walcott quickly reclaimed the ball and started coming towards goal from the left with the keeper jostling back with defenders running back to help him. Walcott attempted to curl it over Glennon and into the top corner but the keeper again saved it and the ball flew towards the back post and into the path of a surging Lansbury but he hit it first time high and wide.





The first half came to a close with both teams all square. It was a fairly decent half, some good chances but not the kind of football worthy of the great Herbert Chapman. Some goals wouldn't go amiss to try and rectify that.

Wenger rung the changes in at half time, Mannone came on for Fabianki, Frimpong for Hoyte, Thomas for Ramsey, Watt for Wilshere, Barazite for Walcott and Simpson for Vela. That may seem a bit extreme for Wenger but on the other hand Huddersfield changed the whole team, even Sven Goran Erikson would have been impressed by the Terriers approach to friendly games.





Huddersfield attacked from the off leading to a shot from outside the area but it was just wide.

The lively Jay Simpson then had a moment after some good Arsenal play saw him with the ball outside the area. I clever shuffle of the feet beat the defender and made the space but the shot skimmed wide past the post.

A little later the marauding Gibbs flew down the wing, beat the right back all ends up and burst across the box next to the touchline. It was a great moment and he passed the ball sideways for Watt to finish amongst a crowd of players but the finish was sadly over the bar.



A goal finally went in on 75 minutes. A long thrown into the Arsenal box by Huddersfield was cleared to just outside the box where the arriving Luke Beckett was waiting to take a shot on goal. The ball was wickedly deflected into the bottom corner and Mannone had no chance whatsoever of saving it.

The home fans went wild and maybe Huddersfield would be able to beat the gunner's talented young team and win the Herbert Chapman cup.

It didn't seem as likely 3 minutes later when Sanchez Watt fired Arsenal back in the game. Jay Simpson beat a couple of men down the right and managed to run the ball to the touchline and cut the ball back to Watt who despite getting his first finish blocked, slotted the second past the keeper and into the back of the net.

Arsenal looked the most likely from then and on 87 minutes Barazite made sure that Arsenal would be holding the Herbert Chapman trophy when he managed to turn his man and unleashed a rising shot from outside the area. The Huddersfield keeper got a stretched hand to it but it was not firm enough and the ball bounced up and landed ominously into the back of the net. Severe disappointment for Huddersfield fans who were leading just 12 minutes ago and especially for the keeper who should have done better.

Barazite and his teammates were thrilled however and they celebrated wildly on the touchline.

Huddersfield had one last chance to equalise from an indirect free kick right at the death but the ball was cleared and the referee blew the whistle.





All in all whilst not a great game the arsenal reserves showed some good skill and desire, especially in the second half and the gunners picked up their first trophy of the season. This may just be a pre season trophy but as it is in honour of the great Herbert Chapman it means more than most so the gunners can be proud to have worked hard to bring it home.



Off to Amsterdam next for the Amsterdam tournament

[Yorkyblue]

This will be the funniest thing you will ever read. Click reports on the left, then Arsenal. Lots of pics and animation in it.

http://www.htfc-world.com/

Bit of an example of it here....

[StLGooner]

That was pretty good.

[Cheese]

This will be the funniest thing you will ever read. Click reports on the left, then Arsenal. Lots of pics and animation in it.

http://www.htfc-world.com/

Bit of an example of it here....

Thats brilliant YB.

Nice work Rev.. i thought i'd commented when i first read it

[Git]

Nice work mate...kinda missed this. ;o