Soccer

Darren Moore determined to strike right balance as Huddersfield hunt for points

Huddersfield manager Darren Moore made his case for the defence (Danny Lawson/PA)
Huddersfield manager Darren Moore made his case for the defence (Danny Lawson/PA)

Darren Moore defended Huddersfield’s cautious approach after Hull left it late to win 1-0 at the MKM Stadium.

Town rarely threatened inside the final third and were seemingly content to leave East Yorkshire with a point.

But their gameplan backfired in stoppage time when Liam Delap scored the winning goal two minutes in.

Moore, whose side are one place above the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone, said: “There’s always an emotional element to a result and I can understand that.

“You have to strike the balance right and we are working towards that.

“But as a group we were working extremely hard to correct those wrongs to make them right.

“We created two or three half-opportunities on counter-attacks.

“When the chances came our way, could we have used the ball more effectively and get bodies up the pitch?

“I thought we did that really well; it was just that the opportunities that we created just didn’t come our way.”

Huddersfield at least defensively improved upon their last two away games, in which they conceded a total of eight goals.

They also had Hull at arm’s length for most of the game – even though the hosts dominated possession.

The Tigers might have lacked attacking nous, but the mood inside the stadium changed once Delap struck the crossbar after 81 minutes.

Hull then scored the goal their efforts deserved when Delap’s low strike hit the inside of the right post and squirmed into the net.

Moore, whose side have won just once in 10 games, said: “It’s a tough one to swallow in terms of going that long into the game (without conceding).

“In terms of the performance, it was another team performance in the right direction.

“As a group we are looking at the positives – you have to look at the overall performance.

“We have to accept what’s happened and move forward.

“The gameplan was to nullify them in spaces we know they can hit you on the break – I thought we did that on the balance of the game.

“I thought apart from a couple of incidents, we limited to them to long-range efforts.”

Counterpart Liam Rosenior was adamant Hull were good value for the victory – even if it was achieved so late in the game.

He said: “I’m really proud because sometimes teams can lose faith in what they are doing.

“This method of (possession-based) play ties the opposition up – I think we had about 80 per cent of the ball – and, normally, chances to come towards the end of the game.

‘I think from minute one to minute 100 we showed our quality and were dominant all game.

“My team, with his group of players, have not lost two games in a row. They are learning as they go which is exciting for me.

“There wasn’t anyone in the stadium who would argue we didn’t deserve three points.”

Hull struggled at home earlier in the season, but they have now won back-to-back games at the MKM Stadium and are only outside the top six on goal difference.

Rosenior added: “Liam got his just rewards – he probably could have scored three or four.

“I’m very proud of the group, but I just want to see more goals. The intent is there – I think everyone can see that.

“But when you have that much control you can be a little bit more risky and make positive changes.

“Fair play to Darren. His side were so resilient and difficult to break down and, in time, he will get the results the club needs.

“For us to break them down in the manner that we did gives us a lot of confidence.”