Huddersfield 3 , Walsall 1

Oct 17 2005 By The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

While Abbott's finishing was of the highest calibre, he deserves much of the credit for Booth's opener in the 15th minute.

There seemed little danger to Walsall's rearguard as Clarke pumped the ball forward, but goalkeeper John Ruddy retreated instead of clearing and that left Chris Westwood in trouble.

Abbott quickly bundled him off the ball and flicked it to Booth, who chested down before curling a smashing shot wide of Ruddy's dive.

It immediately sparked the John Smith's Stand into a chorus of "Who needs Wayne Rooney when we've got Boothy" and the goal inspired some of the best attacks of the match.

With Worthington at the hub and Schofield taking on defenders for fun, Town had Walsall on the rack.

Danny Adams and Tony Carss joined in the neat passing moves down the left and, with Abbott and Booth always showing for link-up possession, Walsall saw precious little of the ball.

Town should have had the chance to go further ahead on 23 minutes, but dreadful referee Trevor Kettle and his assistants failed to see Booth being floored in the box as Carss and Abbott broke down the left.

Town had a warning from a smart Jorge Leitao break, but manager Paul Merson could hardly believe it when Smith equalised from a free-kick which should never have been awarded against Andy Holdsworth on the nippy Ishmel Demontagnac.

After Abbott restored Town's lead, Schofield went close either side of half time, while Booth was desperately unlucky not to score from a Carss corner on 69 with a header against the inside of a post and cleared off the line by the clever Kinsella.

While David Mirfin was sloppy in letting substitute David McDermott have a chance to equalise with a header after 75 minutes, Town finished strongly after Abbott netted the third and they even had the chance to give Matthew Young a League debut as a substitute, although he didn't get chance to touch the ball.

Great stuff Town, keep it up!