COME the end of the season it is to be hoped that the Huddersfield Town camp don’t end up bemoaning two points lost.

While the Pennine derby meeting at Boundary Park was a tough and at times tetchy affair there was no doubt that Huddersfield Town created enough clear cut chances to have put this game to bed – and that was before the home side were reduced to ten men.

If anything the Latics loss of Bradley Diallo to a straight red card for his late challenge on Oscar Gobern with 13 minutes remaining probably only served to harden the home side’s resolve and make it even tougher for the visitors to snatch a winner.

There was no doubt that the Oldham bench plainly felt the Town midfielder had made a drama out of the incident and he was manhandled on his way off the field as he was substituted by striker Alan Lee.

However, while the home side worked hard and had some very encouraging spells, it was Lee Clark’s men who had the edge and they should have taken the three points.

But it took time for that pattern to emerge as Town – who started with Lee Novak as a lone striker and with Lloyd Allinson as reserve keeper due to Nick Colgan suffering a back injury – were woefully slow out of the blocks.

Oldham ripped into action and it was no surprise when they took the lead after six minutes with their newcomers obviously very eager to impress.

Diallo, making his first full appearance for the Latics, instigated the goal with a neat run on the left that saw him escape Jack Hunt and Danny Ward and the cross was perfectly placed for debutant striker Shefki Kuqi to power his header beyond Ian Bennett’s grasp from eight yards.

The journeyman Finnish international, whose last port of call prior to Boundary Park was Premier League Newcastle United, was very busy and his running allowed Reuben Reid to burst through and forced Bennett into a good save soon after.

Town snapped out of their early trance and by the quarter hour the work of Gary Roberts and Danny Ward had started to ask a few questions of the Oldham defence.

On 16 minutes they were back on terms when a Roberts raid led to a corner and the wingman’s delivery from the set piece arrived around the six yard box where stand-in skipper Antony Kay was the first to react and the Town central defender’s left-foot shot found the net via the post.