TADCASTER Albion fell to a comprehensive 5-1 defeat to an impressive Huddersfield Town B side in their first pre-season friendly of the summer, writes Olly Wood.

Having not played since October amid the coronavirus pandemic, Tadcaster were given a strong test on their return to the Global Stadium.

Huddersfield’s fitness and sharpness was clear throughout but for large parts of the first half Tadcaster held their own and defended well as a unit.

When the defence was breached, the trialist in the home goal pulled off a number of brilliant saves to keep the game level.

Tadcaster’s battling start earned them a rare foray forward just before the half-hour mark. Junayd Cassius-Gill and a trialist linked up brilliantly on the edge of the box to set up Jimmy Gore, with the Emerging Talent squad graduate calmly slotting the ball into the corner with his left foot.

The visitors, who dominated the ball, remained unflustered in spite of falling behind but a goal still eluded them through a combination of last-ditch Albion defending and some more strong saves from their trialist.

Huddersfield did eventually make the breakthrough 10 minutes before the break when midfielder Matt Daly found space in the box and fired brilliantly into the top right corner.

The half-time break brought about wholesale changes for the Brewers as 10 substitutions were made, whilst the Terriers also took the opportunity to make several changes.

The second half began much like the first half with the visitors enjoying large amounts of time on the ball.

Tadcaster continued their resolute defence for the first 15 minutes or so but the pressure ultimately told when, a little after the hour mark, Brahima Diarra netted after a solo run at the defence.

Diarra was at the double a couple of minutes later to put the game to bed capitalising on Ben Jackson’s spilt effort.

Remarkably for a friendly game, Huddersfield were reduced to 10 men when midfielder Etienne Camara was shown a straight red card for a stamp.

Despite the numerical disadvantage, Town pressed on and managed to score twice more before the finish.

The game was sewn up as Town added their fourth through substitute Josh Austerfield, his shot thundering against the bottom of the cross bar.

The fifth and final goal for Huddersfield was scored by Myles Bright in the last five minutes of the game following a poor clearance.

In the end, the inexperience of their second-half team showed against the class of their SkyBet Championship opposition, but Taddy could hold their heads high for a battling first-half display in which they matched the visitors.

Paul Quinn's side return to action on Saturday when they host Newcastle Blue Star (2pm) and are again at home to North East opposition against Darlington on Tuesday evening (7.30pm).

Elsewhere, Tadcaster's Northern Premier League east rivals Pickering Town began pre-season with a 6-0 thrashing of Ryedale.

Jason Barnes, Thomas Alngohuro and Will Taylor got themselves on the scoresheet, with trialists contributing the other three goals.

The Pikes continue their preparations for the new season by making the trip to Kirkbymoorside on Tuesday evening (7.30pm).