SO WHAT happened to the real Huddersfield Town?

Lee Clark’s side were a pale shadow of their previous selves as they were swept aside in the heat of South London.

Town weren’t so much mauled by the Lions as ripped apart, and the vociferous home fans in an 8,502 crowd certainly enjoyed the feast.

This was something of a makeshift Millwall side, with manager Kenny Jackett missing his entire first-choice defence, plus a string of other players, through injury.

But they made light of the absentees as, aiming to hit back after three defeats in a row on the road, they never allowed Town a sniff of success.

It wasn’t until the 86th minute that Jordan Rhodes went clear at the top of the club goal chart by netting his eighth goal of the season with a neat shot from the edge of the penalty area.

But after what had gone before, it was scant consolation for Clark, who went into the match minus seven-goal striker Theo Robinson (ankle) and midfielder Antony Kay (illness).

The boss opted to hand Robbie Simpson only a second league start alongside Rhodes and pair Michael Collins with Danny Drinkwater in central midfield.

To borrow a rugby league phrase, that should have given Town plenty of go-forward, but Jackett’s switch to a 4-3-3 formation worked wonders for Millwall.

Hungry trio Jimmy Abdou, Ali Fuseini and Chris Hackett bossed things in the middle, with the latter posing constant danger from the right flank.

Indeed the former Oxford player, who was a county junior sprint champion, set the tone for what was a distinctly uncomfortable afternoon for Town’s 543 followers by flashing in a shot after just 22 seconds.

Alex Smithies was equal to that effort, and also made a fine save to deny left-back Andy Frampton in the third minute, but could do little to prevent Millwall’s 12th-minute opener.

Hackett had earlier shot across the face of the Town goal and wide, but this time, made no mistake after playing a neat one-two with striker Neil Harris, whose neat through ball had centre-back Andy Butler scrambling.

The home supporters were still celebrating Hackett’s low shot into Smithies right-hand corner when the Millwall anthem ‘Let ’em Come’ was blaring out again just two minutes later.

This time Harris was the scorer, with the evergreen striker stealing in to meet Dave Martin’s teasing cross from the left with a well-placed header.

Town were struggling to muster any genuine attacks other than Rhodes’ diving header from Anthony Pilkington’s cross which brought a penalty claim turned down by Kent referee Phil Crossley, who ruled Darren Ward’s blockage was a case of ball to hand.

And it was a relief they didn’t go in at half-time further behind after Smithies did well to hold Hackett’s awkward 38th-minute cross before the well-placed Steve Morison sent a stoppage-time header wide.

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Clark’s side had come from two down to draw at Southend on the opening day, but Millwall, last season’s beaten play-off finalists, looked a different proposition, and struck the killer blow in the 50th minute.

Hackett was the supplier with a corner from the Millwall left which Morison, a prolific scorer for Stevenage before joining Millwall this summer, headed home.

The best that can be said for Town was that they kept the home side out for the remainder of the match and threatened with shots by Collins and Rhodes before the latter finally registered.

But all in all, this was a trip best forgotten.