“Swagger and technique” Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s 1-0 win over Exeter

Huddersfield Town beat Exeter 1-0 on Saturday in a game where they had over 20 shots and could easily have won by a far wider margin. Though if we’re going to talk about “what ifs”, Exeter could easily have taken the lead in the early stages after a shaky start by Town. Instead of all these alternative timelines, we saw Town play well enough for enough of the game to feel like this was a decent performance, even though there were still a few quibbles to be had too. 

That introduction alone should hint towards player ratings that are mostly positive but with a few grumbles thrown in along the way. I think that’s pretty much what’s on show below…

Lee Nicholls – 7 out of 10

Kept the gloves despite Owen Goodman’s availability after suspension. Proved why Lee Grant has kept faith with him with some decent saves, one of which saw him dive well to his left to stop a powerful strike from range.

Lasse Sorensen – 7 out of 10

Had a great run that nearly brought a remarkable solo goal, but, like so many others, he couldn’t find the target. He was a regular outlet down the right side and balanced attacking and defending well.

Josh Feeney – 7 out of 10

Had an early wobble where he got sucked towards the ball and left his man unmarked. Thankfully, the chance was poked wide, but he needs to have better awareness and positioning. Otherwise, he was excellent. Looks better and better the more he plays, and despite looking like a child, he’s surprisingly robust in the air and strong when tussling with forwards. 

Joe Low – 6 out of 10

Physically dominated Exeter’s players whenever they came near him, sometimes within the rules and other times not. He doesn’t have Feeney’s touch and range of passing, but he makes up for that with his bulk.   

Ruben Roosken – 6 out of 10

A lot more dangerous at left back than when he plays on the wing. His over and underlapping runs often got him into good positions or created space for someone else. Starting from a deeper position suits him, as he’s able to get up a head of steam before anyone picks him up. I’m not sure how much I’d trust him to defend against one of the league’s better teams, but he was good enough against a limited Exeter team.

David Kasumu – 7 out of 10

Hard working as usual. Erratic with his passing as usual. Nothing much different there, but he did give us a good platform in midfiel,d and his pressing is a large reason why Exeter kept giving us the ball. Notched an assist for a simple sideways pass, thanks to Castledine’s individual efforts.

Ryan Ledson- 7 out of 10

Played some nice forward passes when we were building up attacks, including one that Wiles really should have finished, after Ledson curled in a cross from deep that put it on a plate for him. He was more dominant off the ball too, looking very comfortable after a few shaky games. I liked how he offered a lot more support to Harness and Sorensen down the right when we attacked, which helped us get into attacking positions. 

Marcus Harness – 7 out of 10

Had a glorious opportunity to score his first league goal for Town, but hit his shot over the crossbar. Hard working and won a lot of balls in midfield, really taking advantage of how poor Exeter were at passing out of defence. Made some really nice linking passes to build up attacks and find better-placed players with clever balls.

Ben Wiles – 6 out of 10

Had a hat trick of good chances that he should have scored. It’s good that he was getting into these positions, but disappointing that he couldn’t add that final touch to his very presentable chances. Seemed to benefit from Castledine cutting in from the left and creating overloads in central areas. 

Leo Castledine – 8 out of 10

Had an early curler squirm wide of the far post, which Exeter didn’t learn from, as he did the same thing but better for Town’s only goal. The swagger of his dribbling and the lovely technique for the shot shows why Chelsea have seen something in this young man. With Redmond and Alves both long-term injuries now, a lot of our hopes for a bit of creative magic lie with Castledine, and he seems happy with that pressure. If he hadn’t created the game’s only real moment of quality, then we could have been left moaning about more points dropped to weak opposition.

Alfie May – 6 out of 10

Kept coming back into midfield to get on the ball, which helped out, but meant he wasn’t at the top end of the pitch. Couldn’t find the target after connecting with a lovely Castledine cross at the far post, which would usually be meat and drink to a striker of May’s quality. Unlucky to hit the crossbar when his shot from the edge of the box took a heavy deflection. He’s unquestionably working hard, but looks to be stuck in a bit of a rut. May tends to score goals in gluts with dry spells in between, so hopefully this dry patch will be over soon and he’ll start banging them in. His work rate and positioning look fine; he probably just needs to get a bit of luck to get back among the goals.

Substitutes

Ashia – 6 out of 10 – Brought a lot of positive energy to the pitch and looked dangerous even if he didn’t manage to get the opening he needed to make a real impact. 

Taylor – 5 out of 10 – Should have scored when May slid him through, but he went wide of the far post. It looked like he had too much time to think about where to place his shot and snatched at the chance in the end.

Dan Vost – N/A – Another neat and tidy display in the few minutes he had. With Herbie Kane and Marcus McGuane injured, it’s a relief to have found an emerging talent from the academy who has been able to step up. 

Lynden Gooch – N/A – Good to see him back on the grass after injury, even if it was basically a cameo.