Gillingham 2, Huddersfield Town 0

Apr 10 2006 By Mel Booth, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

TOWN simply have to improve away from home.

To stand a chance of winning automatic promotion or the play-offs, Peter Jackson's side are going to have to be more solid.

At the Galpharm, they have an impeccable unbeaten record in 2006 which has enabled them to stay within a point of the top two with five games to play.

On their travels, however, too many defensive errors are proving costly - not exclusively the fault of the back four - and Town have collected just nine points from 36 since November with the help of only one win.

While there is clamour in some quarters for Town to play 3-5-2 away from home, two disciplined banks of four are just as effective - as Gillingham illustrated when they came to the Galpharm in January to grind out a 0-0 draw.

Town need a similar mean streak when they go to Bournemouth on Saturday and round-off their road trips against Walsall and Swindon - otherwise pipping Brentford and holding off the rest is going to be a long-shot at best.

Jackson - whose side are excellent on the counter and rarely fail to score - highlighted the need for solidity before Saturday's trip to the Priestfield Stadium, but Town were behind inside just four minutes.

Wingman Matthew Jarvis - who later settled the issue with a spectacular last-minute strike - was the creator, but he got to much time out wide and his cross should have been booted to safety by the covering Nathan Clarke.

Instead, the normally footsure Clarke mistimed his effort under pressure and the ball fell kindly for Gary Mulligan to pounce from close range.

It meant the first job for keeper Paul Rachubka, who received a late call when Phil Senior injured his back in the warm-up, was to pick the ball out of the net and it immediately gave Town a mountain to climb.

Typically of a side whose battling quality is without question, they hit back to have the bulk of possession and create the better chances - but they couldn't find a finish.

Danny Schofield squandered two corking chances, David Graham was denied by a scrambling save and both David Mirfin and Andy Booth were off target at the back post.