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Old 04-27-2014, 11:49 PM   #358
NoSkillz
College Benchwarmer
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
Sun. April 16, 2023

FA Cup - Semi Final
Huddersfield (16th in Premier League) vs. Dover (4th in Premier League)
Wembley Stadium, London, England

Betting Odds: Huddersfield: 7-4 Draw: N/A Dover: 5-4 (Favourites)
Past Meetings: 8W 1D 2L

We have a win and a draw against Huddersfield in league play this year and they are finding their form just in time to save themselves in the relegation battle, with consecutive wins against Aston Villa and Chelsea. Their leading scorer, 16 goal man Nelson Oliveira, is out with an injury today so Paul Lumsden and his 13 goals will be the danger man.

We've got some backups in today as we will concentrate more on the league right now. Manuel Perez, Daniel Traore, Kostas Zagos, Helder Cruz and Graham Allan are in the starting lineup today. Getting a rest will be Ingo Wilke, Salim Loucif, Claudio Contreras, Arsene Bamba and Gianluca Bolis.

Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - M. Perez
D - R. Gaucho, D. Traore, R. Hamon, K. Zagos
M - H. Cruz, N. Cairney, A. Rocca, G. Allan
S - P. Moses, Chiquinho
Bench - M. Yilmaz, S. Loucif, Mancini, G. Fanfoni, A. Bamba, G. Bolis, Z. Bardi

Huddersfield are also in a flat 4-4-2 with David Caldwell and Paul Lumsden up front. Alex Smithies is in goal. I tell the team to do it for the fans today and tell Chiquinho I have faith in him.

8' - Perez makes a brilliant diving save off a shot from distance.

13' - We're suffering from Champions League letdown here, as Huddersfield control the play. They have a free kick just outside our area and Perez is called on again to make a great stop.

24' - We are playing horribly and Huddersfield strike on a counter, as the ball moves from the left flank to the inside and to David Caldwell and his weak effort is perfectly placed just beyond the reach of Perez and it's in. Come on men! HUDDERSFIELD GOAL 0-1

25' - Oh my GOD. Andrea Rocca with a brutal giveaway on the ensuing kick and Huddersfield march right back down the field again. It's Caldwell again and he's able to get a shot underneath Perez and he's got two goals in two minutes. "Dover is sinking without a trace!", says the announcer. HUDDERSFIELD GOAL 0-2

26' - Paul Moses tries to take matters into his own hands, just bursting through the defence with his considerable speed on the next kick off but his hard shot is saved nicely by Smithies.

30' - Now it's Chiquinho finally doing something but his piledriver is saved in spectacular fashion by Smithies.

40' - Smithies, like Garrido for Real Madrid, is in fine form right now and he makes a great save on Allan after he takes a lovely touch pass from Chiquinho.

HALFTIME - This is an embarrassment! They hold 54% of possession and we outshoot them 8-7 (3-4 on target). Just a complete turd, this is. I read the riot act in the dressing room and say I expect a result, no excuses!

46' - Off the kick off, Moses essentially streaks through the defence and is in on goal but shoots JUST wide. That took 15 seconds for him to race through everyone and judging by that finish, it's not going to be our day. I hope I'm wrong...

48' - Chiquinho sends in Cruz but his shot is right at Smithies. Easy save.

60' - Off a failed corner, the ball spits out to Cairney outside the area and his rocket is off a defender then off the post. Not our day.

62' - This is hilarious. Huddersfield have a corner and go to the near post. There is a weak shot and it's off Renato Gaucho, protecting the post, and it just goes over the goal line. Own goal and we're toast here too. HUDDERSFIELD GOAL 0-3

Neil Cairney comes out and in comes Gian Marco Fanfoni.

74' - Lumsden with a header from in tight and Perez makes a great save.

75' - Rocca and Hamon are out and in come Mancini and Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz.

82' - Fanfoni with a nice pass to Mancini and his shot from just inside the area is…off the goal post. Sigh.

A shocking result.

Huddersfield 3 - 0 Dover
Goals -
Assists -
Man of the Match - David Caldwell (Huddersfield ST - 8.8)
Other Dover Notables - Manuel Perez (8.4), Rayane Hamon (7.0), Daniel Traore (5.4), Chiquinho (5.5)
Attendance - 53,402

One of the most ridiculous losses I can remember - how we don't get up for this I don't quite understand. Huddersfield edge us on possession with 51% and we outshoot them 18-14 (7-6 on target). I can't understand why Perez got such a high rating - he did make a few great stops but he let in three goals and gets an 8.4? Chiquinho has hit a new low - a 5.5 rating and he's now gone ten games straight without a goal and the media say it's affecting his confidence.

-- There's a media report saying that our fans are "devastated" by the result of this game. No shit!

-- Oh yeah, morale is IN THE GUTTER right now. Literally the worst I've ever seen as manager of this club. Several "poor" ratings and Chiquinho is "Very Poor". Fantastic. I note that we've lost four of our last six games in all competitions - thankfully, only one has been in league play.



Injury Update

-- Shanon Andrea returns to full training. Excellent news and perfect timing, especially with the Chiquinho struggles lately.


Premier League Update

-- In other games this weekend, Man United can only muster a draw against Sunderland and Chelsea get back on the winning track, with a 1-0 win over lowly Burnley.



Dover Reserves Team Update

-- Adding to the misery is a 2-1 loss to Reading's reserves - we played the returning Shanon Andrea up front with Chiquinho, making his first ever reserves appearance tonight in hopes of getting him a confidence boost. He did nothing and it was Shaun Spall scoring our only goal.



Next Up

-- We try to get back on the winning track, as we're huge favourites at home versus relegation candidates Derby in Premier League action.
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