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Just three days later another late, late show decided the outcome of what could be a crucial match. It was the Terriers who benefited, when Pawel Abbott scored the only goal of the game on 89 minutes, after City had been reduced to 10 men early on in the second half. In what was a highly entertaining match, the final score could just as easily been 4-3

Town started with the same 4-4-2 formation employed in the second half at Nottingham Forest, with one solitary change to the starting lineup, Danny Schofield taking his deserved place on Town's left flank. Both Mark Hudson and Martin McIntosh made full home debuts, and 3rd debutant Gary Taylor-Fletcher would figure later on. The game was also noteable for the return of former Town hero Marcus Stewart as Bristol City's skipper.

The first action came on the stroke of 2 minutes, when good work by Andy Booth gave Town the first corner of the match, unfortunately, Hudson's set-piece was cleared easily by the City defence. The game quickly became unsettled with neither team taking any real control in the first 10 minutes, but Town were looking to pressurise early on and had a couple of chances to make use of set-pieces, which were ultimately fruitless.

It quickly became obvious that the surface of the pitch was wet, as players began to slip and make mistakes. On 20 minutes Worthington slipped in possession of the ball, gifting the opportunity of a counter attack to Bristol. Thankfully, good defending ensured that Cotterill was restricted to a harmless long range effort. Another counter attack minutes later was expertly halted by last-man Danny Adams.

On 24 minutes last season's top scorer Pawel Abbott surprised the 11138 in attendance by flicking the ball up and striking a sweet dipping volley from 25 yards, which looped over Philips and, to the dismay of the Town faithful, onto the bar. Schofield reacted first and picked the ball up, beat a defender and sent in a cross which Abbott was unlucky not to connect with cleanly after Booth had deftly flicked the ball on. Bristol followed with chances of their own, but didn't trouble Paul Rachubka in goal.

A freekick minutes later led to Booth creating disarray in the Bristol defence, but his header was cleared off the line by Wilkshire. On 40 minutes Hudson was denied by Woodman in the centre of the area, after it had looked certain the midfielder would slot the ball home.

Half Time: 0-0

Within 5 minutes of the restart, Luke Wilkshire picked up his second booking and an early bath, after what seemed an innocuous challenge on Schofield left the Doncaster born midfielder on the floor with a facial injury, which suggests that referee Hall made the correct decision. 10 minutes later "man-mountain" defender David Mirfin was removed from play by stretcher with what is now suspected to be a tear of the right hamstring, which may leave Mirf on the touchlines for the next few months.

As the crowd became frustrated, Abbott powered past two defenderd and struck a low drive which skimmed past the post. This was followed by Gary Taylor-Fletcher coming on for Schofield to make his home debut, and to inject a more attacking edge to the team. Town then wasted three glorious chances, Abbott heading wide from the same position twice in one minute, and then Worthington making a run from midfield shot harmlessly into the grateful hands of keeper Philips. As City became less and less dominant, Town began to gather momentum, which finally paid off after 89 minutes. Brilliant work by substitute Holdsworth on the right wing gave the young-gun time to cross, which was met by Abbott 6 yards. The Pole's header flew past the stranded keeper and the Galpharm Stadium erupted.

Full Time
Huddersfield Town 1 - 0 Bristol City

A gritty performance by Town, who did not shy away from the battle and whose passing looked creative and threatening throughout the game. The player most deserved of man of the match was Martin McIntosh, who marshalled the back line and looked comfortable with the ball at his feet whenever he was in posession.


Huddersfield Town
P Rachubka, N Clarke, D Mirfin (59 A Holdsworth) , M McIntosh, D Adams, C Brandon, J Worthington, M Hudson (80 T Carss) , D Schofield (72 G Taylor-Fletcher) , A Booth, P Abbott
Subs: P Senior, T Carss, G Taylor-Fletcher, M Collins, A Holdsworth

Bristol City
S Phillips, C Woodman, C Fortune, M Heywood, L Carey, G Smith (52 S Brown) , L Wilkshire, C Skuse, D Cotterill (76 J Smith) , M Stewart, S Brooker (77 M Bridges)
Subs: J Smith, S Murray, M Bridges, S Brown, R Keogh


Ref: A Hall
Att: 11138