Huddersfield Town v Leeds United, 26th Oct 2013

The day of West Yorkshire’s answer to some Spanish derby called  El Classico had arrived. Admittedly T’DoggyDerby didn’t have the same ring to it but there was certainly plenty of local passion, pride and pre match tension in the air as we made our way down the hill from the station to the aptly named John Smiths Stadium. Who needs the Nou Camp? Disappointingly the stadium might carry the name of a famous West Yorkshire Bitter that fans of both sides have an equal affection for but there wasn’t a drop of alcohol on offer once inside the ground due to West Yorkshire Police’s restrictions.  Good job the Happy Chocker had brought plenty of emergency rations for the short train journey then!

All the pre match discussions involved Blackstock, Vaughan and Smith. Surely Smith would keep his place after his efforts against Brum? Brian McD’s sensible pre emptive strike in signing Blackstock to prevent him continuing his fruitful run of scoring against Leeds might also benefit the mighty whites if he can also score a few for us. Off the bench to get the winner today was a possibility? The Puppy Dogs were going to miss their top scorer James Vaughan who kindly got him self sent off last week in preparation for T’DoggyDerby. Town have had enough problems scoring when he was in the team this year never mind when he’s sulking in the stands.  But this was a derby………….anything goes in a derby as the form book flies out of the cliched window. This was a local difficulty with more than just three points at stake………well at least for the Town fans it is!

The atmosphere inside the stadium reached boiling point as kick off time approached despite the ridiculous start time.