Blackburn Rovers 3, Huddersfield Town 1

Sep 22 2005 By Mel Booth, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Turkish midfielder Tugay bossed the show, playing just in front of the back four and drawing his mobile colleagues into the game passing this way and that.

Battling Robbie Savage was hugely impressive, ensuring Mark Hughes' side had the edge in slickness and sharpness, and every time Town made a mistake it seemed the £5m Bellamy was ready to make them pay.

While he was too quick for Town's defence in the first half - the neatly-taken opening goal was a perfect lift for Blackburn after a six and a half hour drought in the top flight - Bellamy was also too nippy for the assistant who kept flagging him offside.

John McCombe, making his first start of the season for suspended Tom Clarke, stuck manfully to his guns with Bellamy and Paul Dickov making the sort of runs you rarely see at League I level, and there was time for Town to threaten an equaliser before the break.

Abbott, looking far from out of place on the lofty Ewood stage, went as close as anyone, curling a 30-yard free-kick just inches wide and then finding space for a 12-yard header which should have rewarded Andy Holdsworth's pinpoint cross.

A shot searing over the bar and a volley on the turn from Booth's flick offered further proof of Abbott's confidence and quality and the fans warmed to Town's efforts even more when, just seconds after the re-start, skipper Jon Worthington sent a raking drive skimming over the bar.