Barnsley 2, Huddersfield 2

Jan 2 2006 By The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

It was a sorry mistake which handed Barnsley a half-time lead and while it could easily have proved a dagger through the heart of Town's hopes, they were having none of it.

So lacklustre at times when starting second halves, Town came out fighting and only a brilliant block by substitute Dale Tonge prevented the lively Chris Brandon from equalising.

Keeper Nick Colgan also did well to tip away an Andy Booth effort after Fletch had nodded down Nathan Clarke's high pass and, even at that stage with less than an hour gone, you could sense the pressure building.

There were still times when good crosses went untouched and when players in great positions failed to shoot (Fletch and 3,000 fans know exactly who I mean) but the introduction of Pawel Abbott helped Town maintain their momentum.

The excellent Adnan Ahmed was desperately unlucky to see a goalbound shot strike teammate Booth in the six-yard box with only 20 minutes left, but the big striker made amends barely five minutes later.

Ahmed, playing with real verve to match that of Burns and Shuker, supplied a superbly driven corner and when the heads went up, Booth was above them all to power in a deserved equaliser.

The stage was set, it seemed, for Town to go on and clinch a morale-boosting victory and top place in the table for the start of 2006, but they were stunned when Barnsley re-took the lead completely against the run of play 10 minutes from time.

There seemed little danger as Town pushed up, but Brian Howard's neat pass found a well-timed run from substitute Daniel Nardiello and he did the rest with an angled shot.