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A late show earned Town a battled for three points down at the Galpharm this afternoon in what was an extremely eventful 90 minutes worth of football. The Bees had first gone ahead through Isiah Rankin but in-form Pawel Abbott levelled the scores with a deft lob from only yards out. Brentford regained their advantage earlyin the second half when Dudley Campbell slotted home despite looking yards offside. Both teams were reduced to 10 men, and with time running out, a dramatic finish to the game saw Danny Schofield look to secure a point for Town, until minutes later when Andy Booth looped a header into the top corner to secure all three.

Town lined up with the same starting eleven which had overcome Oldham the previous weekend. There was no place for Booth in the line-up, so he started on the bench with Gary Taylor-Fletcher retaining his position up front.

The first action of the game came 8 minutes after kickoff, when Tom Clarke's name entered the referee's book for kicking the ball away after a freekick had been awarded to Brentford. This was the first of a host of dubious decisions the referee would make throughout the game. 8 minutes later, it appeared that Taylor-Fletcher was clean through on goal, only for play to be brought back due to Abbott being in an offside position. The decision sparked fury from the Town fans as Abbott was clearly an inactive player in the move.

Town continued the early pressure, and showed examples of excellent build-up and possession play. After 16 minutes, Brandon was unlucky not tos end in a good cross after good movement and passing between Abbott and Taylor Fletcher. Town's number 10 was in the action again after 21 minutes when he breezed past Sam Sodje into the penalty area. His stinging shot from a tight angle was expertly saved by Bees' keeper Nelson. Only seconds later, however, Town gave away a corner which eventually fell to Isiah Rankin. Rankin held up the ball, and in an instant had turned a curled an effort past the helpless Paul Rachubka from 18. yards out.

Now it was Brentford piling on the pressure. After 29 minutes a snapshot forced Paul Rachubka into what looked a relatively easy save. Unfortunately, the Town number one spilled the shot and only just managed to retrieve the ball at Rankin's feet.

In an attempt to get Town back into the game, Holdsworth tried an audacious long range effort which dippe just over the bar. With Town now back in the ascendancy, it was left to Abbott to get his eighth goal of the season in some style. Abbott's brilliance guided him past the stranded defence and from only 6 yards out he managed to deftly lob the ball onto the underside of the crossbar and over the line. Town continued the pressure with Taylor-Fletcher striking a half volley toward goal which was tipped over for a corner. Before half time, both Abbott and Adams would come close to scoring.

Half Time:
Huddersfield Town 1 - 1 Brentford
At this time it's worth pointing out that the referee, Ilderton, was having an appalling performance. Not only was he missing decisions, he was giving freekicks away for the challenges that clearly were not fouls.

Martin Allen's teamtalk clearly worked, as within 60 seconds of the restart Brentford found themselves ahead again. Jay Tabb raced clear of the static Town defence and passed the ball forwards across the 6 yard area for Campbell to slot home. Again this sparked anger from the terraces as it seemed that Campbell was clearly in an offside position. As Town tried to force the issue, Brandon appeared to have been tripped in the area, but the referee awarded a corner which came to nothing.

On 55 minutes, a stronh challenge by Nathan Clarke gave Town the opprtunity to attack. Schofield controlled the ball and directed a cross toward Taylor-Fletcher, who's close range shot was well saved down low by Nelson. After 59 minutes Abbott showed great industry in crafting an opportunity for himself. His looping shot was tipped over.

On 63 minutes Booth and Mendes were introduced to the game to add more of an attacting edge to the side.

The game descended into a midfield battle with neither team gaining any real foothold. Unfortunately, Tom Clarke was dismissed after 80 minutes of play for a second booking after a blatant foul. The game was marred by crowd trouble moments later as the injured Jay Tabb was escorted around the pitch in front of the "singing section" of the John Smith's Stand. A missile was thrown by a young Town fan who looked no older than 8 or 9 years old, and struck Tabb on his cheek. Tabb fell to the ground as if shot as stewards raced in to calm the situation and diffuse the angry Town fans.

To mirror this, the game itself became dirtier, and Frampton was sent off after 85 minutes for the Bees. Town looked to capitalise, and after chances for Schofield and Carss, 4 minutes into injury time, Schofield latched onto a deep Adams cross and smashed home from only 4 yards to level the game. The Galpharm erupted as Schofield looked to have rescued a point for the Terriers. The Town faithful were still on their feet when 6 minutes into injury time Town hero Andy Booth looped in a header from 6 yards after a Nathan Clarke throw to seal three points for the Terriers. The Galpharm descended into a mass hysteria as Town snatched a win when only 3 minutes earlier they had looked dead and buried.

Full Time
Huddersfield Town 3 - 2 Brentford

An excellent performance all around, and Town showed determination and bouncebackability to rescue the win at the death. The shortlisted players I'd have for man of the match would be Ton Carss, for his passing and holding ability, Nat Clarke for his consistent solid tackles throughout the game and Pawel Abbott for his workrate and moment of sheer brilliance. Overall, the player who deserves it most would have to be Nat Clarke.



Huddersfield Town
P Rachubka, A Holdsworth, T Clarke, N Clarke, D Adams, C Brandon (65 J Mendes) , D Schofield, J Worthington, T Carss, P Abbott, G Taylor-Fletcher (65 A Booth)
Subs: P Senior, M Collins, J Mendes, J McCombe, A Booth

Brentford
S Nelson, S Tillen, M Turner, A Frampton, S Fitzgerald (45 D Campbell) , M Gayle, J Lewis, D Pratley, J Tabb (82 L Owusu) , S Sodje, I Rankin
Subs: L Owusu, D Campbell, P Brooker, R Peters, A Bankole


Ref: E Ilderton
Att: 11622