Leeds United's woe is a big gain for Huddersfield Town

May 15 2009 by Chris Roberts, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

TOWN can look forward to a big West Yorkshire derby once again next season after Leeds United’s bid for play-off glory ended in failure.

The Elland Road side were last night held 1-1 at home to Millwall, meaning the Londoners went through to the Wembley Stadium final 2-1 on aggregate.

Leeds had the better of a lively first half, with Jermaine Beckford and Fabian Delph denied by a double save by David Forde.

Beckford had another chance from the spot when Sam Sodje was pulled back in the box but Forde saved his effort.

Luciano Becchio put Leeds ahead before Djimi Abdou silenced Elland Road when he poked home Lewis Grabban's cross to level the game and win the tie.

With so much at stake, it was inevitable the match would be a full-blooded affair, and Millwall’s Adam Bolder wasted little time in picking up the first booking of the match in the first minute for a crunching tackle on Robert Snodgrass.

But any fears that the tension of the night would get to the players proved ill-founded, as both teams played their part in a rugged but entertaining first half.

With Millwall 1-0 from the first leg, Leeds knew it was vital that they scored first, but the visitors defended stoutly.

Clear shots on goal were rare and, when he was finally called into action, Millwall keeper Forde was on top form.

Snodgrass laid the ball off to Beckford, whose shot was pushed away by Forde into the path of Delph, but fortunately for the Lions he was off-balance when he tried a weak follow-up shot.