Report - Huddersfield Town 0-2 Fulham
Huddersfield Town story posted by Sean Makin on 22/03/2015
Fulham grabbed a crucial win in their fight for survival despite being reduced to 10 men and Huddersfield Town striker Nahki Wells missing two penalties.
The Cottagers had their goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli to thank as the England U21 goalkeeper produced a fine display to keep Town at bay, although he rode his luck at times.
It gave the feeling it was going to be one of those days for the Terriers when Fulham scored after just two minutes.
Wells then missed two second-half penalties in which one saw Fulham captain Shaun Hutchinson sent off for handball after an initial confusion from referee Richard Clark, who initially sent off Cauley Woodrow only to change his mind after a word with the fourth official.
Town piled on the pressure to no avail and Fulham substitute Seko Fofana then went on to seal the win in the sixth minute of added on time.
The defeat now means Town have gone six games without a win and are still looking over their shoulder at the relegation zone.
Manager Chris Powell made two changes from the side that drew with Norwich City in midweek. Wells returned from a shoulder injury and started in place of the suspended James Vaughan.
David Edgar came in for Jake Carroll which meant Tommy Smith moved over to left-back.
Fulham were without experienced trio Scott Parker, Bryan Ruiz and Ross McCormack through injury.
The visitors couldn't have got off to a better start when winger Alex Kacaniklic scored directly from a corner after just two minutes.
Bettinelli dropped a low strike from Jacob Butterfield at the other end but Town could not pounce on the loose ball.
Tommy Smith tested the Fulham stopper with a long-range effort which the goalkeeper managed to tip onto the post with his head.
Bettinelli then clawed away an effort from Conor Coady and made saves in quick succession from Wells and Ishmael Miller as Town upped the pressure into the second half.
Fulham striker Matt Smith received a yellow card for a late challenge on Joel Lynch as the Terriers pushed forward for an equaliser.
After a succession of Town corners, Miller directed a shot towards goal only to see Hutchinson divert the ball off the line with his hand.
The referee gave the penalty and initially send off Woodrow only to change his mind after a brief discussion which instead saw the guilty culprit dismissed.
Wells stepped up to take the spot kick but Bettinelli guessed the right way to keep Fulham in the lead.
Woodrow then broke away at the other end as Fulham hit Town on the counter but his shot hit the post after rounding Alex Smithies.
Huddersfield had another shout for another penalty minutes later as Jack Grimmer appeared to touch the ball with his arm in his own penalty area but the referee waved away the claims.
Sure enough Town did get another penalty on 72 minutes when former Town loanee Jazz Richards bundled over Sean Scannell in the box.
Wells stepped up again despite Miller wanting to take the kick but it was not to be for the striker as his second penalty struck the post.
Jonathan Hogg and Tommy Smith were replaced by Joe Lolley and Radoslaw Majewksi but the substitution of Hogg didn't go down well with the Town supporters.
Fulham hit on the counter again but substitute Fofana put too much on the ball for Matt Smith to have a chance at goal.
Lolley had an effort which Bettinelli saved with his legs before Butterfield's long range effort was pushed on to the post by the Fulham goalkeeper.
He then pulled off another save from Scannell and tipped another Butterfield effort on to the bar before Fulham doubled their lead when they hit Town on the counter.
Fofana broke away, his initial shot hit the post but the ball kindly rebounded straight to him and he made no mistake with his second effort to wrap up all three points for Kit Symons' side.
Teams:
Huddersfield Town: Smithies, Edgar (Charles 87), Hudson, Lynch, Smith (Majewski 75), Hogg (Lolley 74), Coady, Butterfield, Miller, Wells.
Subs not used: Murphy, Wallace, Carroll, Gobern.
Fulham: Bettinelli, Grimmer, Hutchinson, Turner, Richards, Tunnicliffe, Hoogland, Kavanagh (Bodurov 61), Kacaniklic (Fofana 67), Smith, Woodrow (Rodallega 88).
Subs not used: Kiraly, Roberts, Burn, Donnelly.
Referee: Richard Clark
Attendance: 11,635.
The Cottagers had their goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli to thank as the England U21 goalkeeper produced a fine display to keep Town at bay, although he rode his luck at times.
It gave the feeling it was going to be one of those days for the Terriers when Fulham scored after just two minutes.
Wells then missed two second-half penalties in which one saw Fulham captain Shaun Hutchinson sent off for handball after an initial confusion from referee Richard Clark, who initially sent off Cauley Woodrow only to change his mind after a word with the fourth official.
Town piled on the pressure to no avail and Fulham substitute Seko Fofana then went on to seal the win in the sixth minute of added on time.
The defeat now means Town have gone six games without a win and are still looking over their shoulder at the relegation zone.
Manager Chris Powell made two changes from the side that drew with Norwich City in midweek. Wells returned from a shoulder injury and started in place of the suspended James Vaughan.
David Edgar came in for Jake Carroll which meant Tommy Smith moved over to left-back.
Fulham were without experienced trio Scott Parker, Bryan Ruiz and Ross McCormack through injury.
The visitors couldn't have got off to a better start when winger Alex Kacaniklic scored directly from a corner after just two minutes.
Bettinelli dropped a low strike from Jacob Butterfield at the other end but Town could not pounce on the loose ball.
Tommy Smith tested the Fulham stopper with a long-range effort which the goalkeeper managed to tip onto the post with his head.
Bettinelli then clawed away an effort from Conor Coady and made saves in quick succession from Wells and Ishmael Miller as Town upped the pressure into the second half.
Fulham striker Matt Smith received a yellow card for a late challenge on Joel Lynch as the Terriers pushed forward for an equaliser.
After a succession of Town corners, Miller directed a shot towards goal only to see Hutchinson divert the ball off the line with his hand.
The referee gave the penalty and initially send off Woodrow only to change his mind after a brief discussion which instead saw the guilty culprit dismissed.
Wells stepped up to take the spot kick but Bettinelli guessed the right way to keep Fulham in the lead.
Woodrow then broke away at the other end as Fulham hit Town on the counter but his shot hit the post after rounding Alex Smithies.
Huddersfield had another shout for another penalty minutes later as Jack Grimmer appeared to touch the ball with his arm in his own penalty area but the referee waved away the claims.
Sure enough Town did get another penalty on 72 minutes when former Town loanee Jazz Richards bundled over Sean Scannell in the box.
Wells stepped up again despite Miller wanting to take the kick but it was not to be for the striker as his second penalty struck the post.
Jonathan Hogg and Tommy Smith were replaced by Joe Lolley and Radoslaw Majewksi but the substitution of Hogg didn't go down well with the Town supporters.
Fulham hit on the counter again but substitute Fofana put too much on the ball for Matt Smith to have a chance at goal.
Lolley had an effort which Bettinelli saved with his legs before Butterfield's long range effort was pushed on to the post by the Fulham goalkeeper.
He then pulled off another save from Scannell and tipped another Butterfield effort on to the bar before Fulham doubled their lead when they hit Town on the counter.
Fofana broke away, his initial shot hit the post but the ball kindly rebounded straight to him and he made no mistake with his second effort to wrap up all three points for Kit Symons' side.
Teams:
Huddersfield Town: Smithies, Edgar (Charles 87), Hudson, Lynch, Smith (Majewski 75), Hogg (Lolley 74), Coady, Butterfield, Miller, Wells.
Subs not used: Murphy, Wallace, Carroll, Gobern.
Fulham: Bettinelli, Grimmer, Hutchinson, Turner, Richards, Tunnicliffe, Hoogland, Kavanagh (Bodurov 61), Kacaniklic (Fofana 67), Smith, Woodrow (Rodallega 88).
Subs not used: Kiraly, Roberts, Burn, Donnelly.
Referee: Richard Clark
Attendance: 11,635.
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