As the snow and ice that has punished the country, and indeed forced residents of Slaithwaite to take to their knees, began to subside, the nation’s football calendar returned to normal, and so did Town’s home form. Lee Clark’s men recorded yet another home victory: this one though, a hard-fought win over a tricky Southend side rather than a Wycombe-esque walkover.

Town took to the field in their standard 442 formation, but not in the standard blue and white. The club’s ‘Can you design a kit more vile than Bradford’s?’ competition had received a bumper response from the fans and rightly Town took the field sporting the winning entry. Brought to you by McDonalds. In all fairness it was for a great cause, and it’s always good to see the club trying something different. Good luck to anyone wearing it at Elland Road.

Town’s continual rotation at left back continued, with Robbie Williams emerging from the shadows and demoting Joe Skarz to the bench. A similar fate befell Michael Collins, who was usurped by a fit-again Tom Clarke to partner Antony Kay in the middle of the park. Town started the game brightly (through no fault of the kit) working the ball around well and seeming content to make the Shrimpers chase for possession. It was Town too with the first real chance of the game, a rebounding Roberts corner followed up by Pilkington, from which Kay could only pick out the bar with a header.

For all the pretty passing football, Lee Clark’s men were lacking penetration with their passes and were restricted to long-range efforts and half chances; Roberts and Novak both trying their luck from distance but failing to challenge Milldenhall in the Southend goal. As the half progressed the Shrimpers seemed to grow in confidence, and as they rose Town fell, dropping onto the back foot as frustration set in. A dangerous looking Barnard, operating alone up top started to find space amongst the Town backline, but luckily couldn’t find the target.

Jordan Rhodes on the other hand, could. Latching onto a lovely pass from Novak, he held the ball up well before playing the return pass, then drifted into the box and applied the finish to Pilkington’s cross, shaking off the dreaded curse of the DATM T-Shirts in the process. Boothy hasn’t scored since his came out either. As it was, Town went in at half time one goal to the good.

Half time saw the parading on the pitch of four rather strange looking individuals who are apparently to do with some forum or other. Seriously though a big thanks to everyone who bought a DATM T-shirt and helped contribute to the £500 donation for Yorkshire Air Ambulance. And buy MancTerrier a new car.

The second half kicked off with little sign of any improvement from the Terriers. Lee Clark’s men were struggling to string two passes together and reverting back hit and hope football. Old habits die hard. Antony Kay, barring his early header had been struggling to make an impact, and suddenly found himself struggling to make a pass. He was caught dawdling in possession on the halfway line, and Southend leapt on the error, breaking down the left and forcing Clarke into a last-ditch tackle.

Out of nowhere though, Town found themselves 2 goals up. A quick break down the left and a blocked cross led to a corner, from which Pilkington found Jordan Rhodes who headed the ball powerfully past Milldenhall for his 13th league goal of the season. That goal seemingly knocked the wind from the sails of the Shrimpers as Town began to push for a third, with Williams and Pilkington combining well down the left to create more chances. The introduction of Drinkwater in place of Kay also appeared to help matters, as the Manchester United loanee got his foot on the ball and Town started to play football on the deck again.

For the first time in far too long Lee Clark had his full attacking complement at his disposal, and as usual he wasn’t afraid to deploy them, with both Robinson and Simpson entering the fray with 10 minutes left. With the former being the subject of transfer rumours, and the latter returning from a long injury layoff it was pleasing to see both play well for the short time they were on the pitch. Robinson did brilliantly to skin a fullback down the left then pick out Rhodes with a cross, whilst Simpson demonstrated some nice touches and hold up play.

The below-par nature of Town’s performance was reflected in Southend’s late consolation goal. Both Peter and Nathan Clarke were guilty of ball watching, as a long pass out of the away half found an unmarked Scott Spencer, who held off the attentions of Peter Clarke to dink the ball coolly past Smithies with the outside of his boot. In fairness he used to do that for me on Football Manager quite a bit too. The late goal made for a nervy final few minutes, but Town stayed strong to claim a hard-fought the three points.

Smithies – 7 – Looked very solid on corners and crosses, claiming everything in the air.

Peltier – 6 – A couple of poor balls on the overlap today which is unlike him, but still had a good game.

P. Clarke – 6 – Some very good tackles first half but arguably culpable for Southend’s goal. Smithies certainly thought so.

N. Clarke – 6 – A few very good tackles but again lacking in his distribution at times.

Williams – 6 – Difficult to score him. Attacking-wise he was brilliant and I can’t remember him misplacing a pass, but defensively he was caught out on numerous occasions. He simply can’t defend.

Pilks – 7 – Provided both deliveries for Rhodes and looked lively. One or two poor passes but overall a good performance.

Roberts – 6 – Won Man of the Match but personally I thought he was quieter than usual. Still effective when he had the ball, just didn’t see enough of it.

T. Clarke – 6- Nothing fancy, played it simple and got involved. Kay didn’t do him any favours.

Kay – 4 – Had a nightmare by all accounts. Won his headers in the middle of the park but his passing was poor and he looked slow in possession. Hopefully a minor blip.

Novak – 6 – Worked hard as usual and linked well with Rhodes for the first goal. Should probably have got one himself.

Rhodes – 8 – 2 goals and should probably have had his hat trick. Brilliant movement and link up play. My MotM.

Subs

Drinkwater – 7 – Looked to get the ball down and play it. Poor shooting though when chances were created.

Robinson – 7 – After resembling Bambi on ice in some games this season, put in a good cameo performance.

Simpson – 7 – Just good to see him back on the pitch. Some nice link-up play with the midfield and with Robinson. Much more to come from him.

Overall – A frankly awful game, played in a frankly awful kit that resulted in a frankly lovely 3 points.

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