Huddersfield Town 2, Carlisle 1

Oct 16 2006 By The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

WONDER goal or defensive gaffe? However you view Simon Hackney's strike for Carlisle, it completely changed the complexion of this contest.

Put firmly in the driving seat by a Luke Beckett brace, the second a penalty, Town were on cruise control - until Hackney pulled one back on 43 minutes.

Carlisle came out for the second half looking like a side who believed they could claim at least a point.

And Town, whose five-man midfield failed to function anything like as efficiently after the turnaround, were more than happy to hear the final whistle.

Just two minutes before it sounded, Paul Thirwell brought a great save from former Carlisle keeper Matt Glennon, who pushed his shot away for a corner.

And three minutes before that (the 89th), Peter Murphy rapped the left-hand angle of post and bar direct from a 20-yard free-kick.

Other chances fell to Hackney, who had a drive deflected for a corner, Paul Arnison, who hooked a shot over, Jermaine Beckford, who put an audacious lob just too high and Thirlwell, whose sizzler was blocked by the joint efforts of Andy Holdsworth and Mark Hudson.

Town's post-break best was a low 52nd-minute shot by Hudson which was comfortably collected by Kieron Westwood.

What a shame Beckett didn't get a decent chance to complete a hat trick, because the two that came his way in the first half were put away with real aplomb.

The first, on 21 minutes, showed the striker at his best.

He might have been played in by Hackney's misplaced back pass, but still had to evade the clutches of Town old boy Kevin Gray and leave keeper Westwood floundering, which he did with confidence before rolling home a left-foot shot.

Hackney thought he had atoned for the mistake within 60 seconds, but his header from Kevin Gall's cross was ruled out for offside.