Huddersfield Town run out v Birmingham City a useful start despite defeat

Huddersfield Town got their pre-season fixture schedule underway with a 3-1 defeat to Birmingham City at the Estadio da Nora. Demarai Gray’s 19th-minute strike gave the Championship outfit the lead before Kyogo Furuhashi scored a late brace for the Blues, while George Sebine netted a consolation for Town in the game’s final action. The fixture was played towards the end of Town’s pre-season training camp in Portugal, which concluded this weekend. Martin Drury’s side will take on AFC Fylde next up in pre-season next weekend, while they will also face Sheffield United, Fleetwood Town and Blackburn Rovers in friendlies prior to their League One campaign getting underway. The Terriers had the first attempt of the contest ten minutes in, with Marcus McGuane having a shot saved by Ryan Allsop after being teed up by Bali Mumba from a free-kick. Marcus Harness was next to threaten for Town a few minutes later, but the midfielder was unable to get his shot away after being played into the area by Lasse Sorensen. Joe Taylor was also played into the box soon after, but Allsop closed down the forward. The Blues took the lead in the 19th minute as August Priske was felled in the box by Mumba for a penalty, and although Gray’s initial spot-kick was saved by Matty Young, the forward slotted home the rebound. Town went close to equalising a few minutes later as a Birmingham clearance struck Mumba, but Kai Wagner was in the right place to clear off the line. Ledson then had a strike from range that was inadvertently blocked by Harness, while Harness also had an effort blocked shortly after the half-hour mark. Taylor spurned a good chance to level nine minutes before the break after being picked out unmarked in the box from a cross, but the forward fired straight at Allsop from close range, as the Terriers trailed at the interval. Both sides changed their 11 for the start of the second half, before the Blues had the ball in the back of the net two minutes after the restart as Furuhashi slotted home, but the goal was ruled out for offside. Town had a couple of chances shortly before the hour mark, with Ethan Brierley having a strike blocked, before Joe Low had a header kept out by Brad Mayo. Sebine had Town’s next attempt at the midway point of the half after being played in behind by Lynden Gooch, but the young forward fired over the bar. Jhon Solis fired wide for the Blues from the edge of the box with ten minutes remaining, before there were three goals in the final minutes of the contest. Furuhashi struck twice for the Blues in quick succession, with the forward heading in from point-blank range in the 87th minute, and then firing home from close range less than a minute later. Sebine scored a consolation for Town in the final play of the encounter, with the forward netting from close range after the ball dropped to him in the box. Town (first half): Young, Sorensen, Roughan, Ledson (C), Wallace, Balker, Mumba, McGuane, Taylor, Harness, Iorpenda. Town (second half): Alnwick, Whatmough, Sebine, Sway, Murray, Brierley, Low, Evans, Gooch (Kasumu 73), Vost, Fletcher. Birmingham (first half): Allsop, Osayi-Samuel, Klarer (C), Burrell, Wagner, Gardner-Hickman, Cochrane, Vicente, Bateman, Gray, Priske. Birmingham (second half): Mayo, Thompson-Jones, Neumann, Robinson, Buchanan, Tomoki (C), Jhon Solis, Roberts, Fujimoto, Wright, Furuhashi. Unused: O’Sullivan, Quirk.