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Town moved up into third on Saturday ahead af Swansea following a comprehensive and, in the end, comfortable victory over troubled Rotherham. After Jonathan Forte had put the visitors ahead, Andy Booth completed an all-headed hat trick with Gary Taylor-Fletcher capping off the performance with a superb looping half volley. With two big games coming up, this could prove to be a very valuable three points, as top of the table Southend dropped points away at MK Dons.

Town started with Andy Holdsworth retaking his right back position and former Millers captain Martin McIntosh keeping his place in the centre of defence. Mark Hudson started in midfield, with Danny Schofield also retaining his place on the wing.

It didn't take long for the action to begin. In only the fourth minute, Jon Worthington was lucky to get away with only a yellow card after flying in late on midfielder Stephen Quinn, raising the number of yellows recieved by the Town captain to fourteen for the season.

Town began to put some early pressure on the Rotherham defence, but were hit by an early counter attack when the pace of Williams beat McIntosh. Williams slotted a ball through for the onrushing Forte who made no mistake one on one with Phil Senior to give the visitors a surprise lead. Town were slow in recovering from this early blow, and did not force another opportunity for a further 15 minutes, when two half chances fell the way of David Graham. The first from an outswinging Danny Schofield corner, to which the striker rose and headed over, and the second a speculative 25 yard effort which sailed wide.

Only minutes later, however, Town would find the back of the net through target man Andy Booth, who capped off a brilliant passing move from the Terriers. A Hudson ball found it's way to the feet of Holdsworth, who's cross was nothing short of perfect for Booth to jump onto and power the ball home. Seconds after the restart, Town had a certain penalty turned down when Danny Schofield's quick feet beat two defenders, only to be hacked dowm when pulling the trigger. The referee, who's assistant could not help due to having his view blocked, adjudged Schofield to have dived, when common sense should have dictated that a player in such a good shooting position would not dive.

With seven minutes of the half remaining, Booth struck again to send the Terriers in with a half time lead. A mix up on the right wing between two Millers' players allowed Jon Worthingon to steal in behind and cross. The cross dipped, causing confusion between the keeper and the defence, allowing Booth to run in unnoticed and plant the header past Montgomery.

David Graham had Town's last effort of the half with a 25 yard free kick, which was parried well down low at the keeper's far post.

Half Time
Huddersfield Town 2 - 1 Rotherham United

Rotherham started postively after the restart, and for twenty minutes Town were under considerable pressure. Paul McClaren tested Senior with an 18 yard drive after 48 minutes, and then midfielder Keane latched on to an outswinger from the left flank, only to head fractionally wide. Town's first attack of the half came on 64 minutes, when Jon Worthington marauded into the box only to see his low blast blocked by a defender. The deflection fell to the feet of Andy Booth, who, from 12 yards out, should have done better, managing only a weak effort which proved to be no problem for the keeper.

Town had regained the upper hand and introduced Gary Taylor Fletcher for David Graham, and in the 82nd minute the game was all but over. Danny Schofield found Andy Holdsworth on the right, and another inch perfect cross allowed Booth to attack and head his 3rd goal of the afternoon into the top right corner of the goal. The win was then capped off in some style when Andy Holdsworth again played an intelligent ball from the right. Gary Taylor-Fletcher chested the ball into his path and with his second touch unleashed an unstoppable volley over the flailing arms of Montgomery, prompting a mass exodus of fans from the newly crowned Pink Link Stand.

Full Time
Huddersfield Town 4 - 1 Rotherham United

Man Of The Match: Undoubtedly Andy Booth. Gave 110% for the team and was rewarded with a hat trick. Special mention to Andy Holdsworth who's pinpoint balls created three of the four goals.


Huddersfield Town
P Senior, A Holdsworth, N Clarke, M McIntosh, D Adams, C Brandon, J Worthington (90 A Ahmed) , M Hudson, D Schofield, A Booth (89 J McAliskey) , D Graham (74 G Taylor-Fletcher)
Subs: P Rachubka, D Mirfin, G Taylor-Fletcher, A Ahmed, J McAliskey

Rotherham United
G Montgomery, C Murdock, S Barker, G Robertson, L Williamson, P Hurst, S Quinn, P McLaren (79 W Hoskins) , M Keane, J Mullin, J Forte (61 P Shaw)
Subs: P Shaw, A Monkhouse, D Worrell, W Hoskins, N Cutler

Ref: C Webster
Att: 15264