Chesterfield 2, Huddersfield Town 4

Aug 25 2005 By Mel Booth, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Mistakes crept into Town's game, they started to panic on clearances and, when Colin Larkin forced his way past Tom Clarke after 41 minutes, the defence were all at sea as Niven headed home.

Abbott sent a fine curling effort dipping inches over the bar to remind Roy McFarland's side they wouldn't be brushed aside, but it was important for Town to try and re-establish control in the second half.

Pushing out from the back, they got the midfield and frontmen tighter and looked much the better side as a result.

Taylor-Fletcher wanted a piece of the action every minute, freeing himself to take possession and making some excellent runs which constantly put Chesterfield on the back foot.

He was unlucky to aim a foot wide on 61 minutes - barely 60 seconds after Hurst had put the home side level with a crunching low right-foot shot.

Then he was dumped on the deck as Steve Blatherwick decided he'd better not let Fletch shoot following a tremendous turn on the edge of the box.

By that time, Junior Mendes had replaced the injured Holdsworth, with Michael Collins switching to right-back and Chris Brandon slotting into central midfield, where skipper Jon Worthington (calf) and partner Mark Hudson (groin) were left out of the starting line-up.

Mendes, in fact, brought a save from Carl Muggleton after a Collins-inspired break, while Chesterfield sent on a couple of substitutes in an effort to snatch something from the tie.

They failed to make an impact, however, thanks to the efforts of the Clarke boys and the superior passing of the whole Town team.

It wasn't always easy, but this win was richly deserved.