Huddersfield Town 0, Gillingham 0

Jan 3 2006 By The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

They were opportunities which, at the start of the season, Abbott would have accepted confidently and clinically and it's worthwhile noting that Town had 15 efforts on goal in the match with just four of them on target.

That ratio has to improve if this miserable holiday run is to be improved against Scunthorpe a week today and Blackpool in the next match back at the Galpharm.

As for Chelsea, well they've kept eight clean sheets in the last 10 matches against some of the best strikers in the country.

Enough said.

While Town struggled to make best use of their possession against a Gillingham side for whom Danny Spiller impressed in midfield, at least they were solid at the back.

Andy Holdsworth and Danny Adams again gave valuable support going forward out wide while Martin McIntosh and the excellent Nathan Clarke kept it pretty solid in the centre.

Gillingham, at times, looked very dangerous on the break but Clarke, in particular, always seemed to be in the right place at the right time.

Just two minutes before half time he rescued a slip by Adams with two tremendous blocks in the box and he repeated the feat, 18 minutes into the second half, when substitute Gavin Grant had a great chance to score.

All this top-class defending meant that Phil Senior - replacing Paul Rachubka for a first start of the season - was never really stretched, although he was happy to see strikers Neil Harris and Paul Shields waste great shooting chances on the break.