JORDAN RHODES – who else? – rode to Huddersfield Town’s rescue with his 21st goal of the campaign.

But having cancelled out Liam Noble’s early opener for stubborn Carlisle, it became a Friday night of frustration for the home side.

Chances came, and unfortunately went, as Lee Clark’s men bossed the second period without finding a way past keeper Adam Collin.

And the victory which would have taken Town back into the automatic promotion places in League I proved agonisingly elusive as the Cumbrians held out for a point.

Town, who went into their last match of 2011 having won 26 and lost just two of their previous 47 league games over the calendar year, sprung a surprise with the inclusion of frontman Danny Cadamarteri.

It was his only his second appearance of the season – he came off the bench during the FA Cup first-round defeat at Swindon – and his first start since Town won at Bristol Rovers in March.

Donal McDermott and Danny Ward were the men to miss out, while Peter Clarke returned from suspension and with loanee Alex Bruce having been recalled by Leeds, partnered Antony Kay in central defence.

Carlisle, playing Town for the fifth time in 2011 after two meetings in the league and a stirring two-legged Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Northern final confrontation and aiming to avoid a third defeat by Lee Clark’s side in that sequence, included former Galpharm midfielder James Berrett.

After a cagey opening phase, Carlisle claimed an eighth-minute lead with the game’s first effort on target.

A miscued clearance by Town keeper Ian Bennett yielded possession to Berrett, who picked out Francois Zoko.

The African frontman’s cross was met first time by on-loan Sunderland midfielder Noble, who made no mistake with a crisp low shot.

Town had a great chance to level just two minutes later, but after good approach work by Cadamarteri and Lee Novak, Gary Roberts drilled his shot over.

Two home corners in quick succession were comfortably dealt with by Carlisle, who came close to another goal in the 23rd minute.

A mix-up between Novak and Cadamarteri 25 yards out let in centre-back Lubomir Michalik, and Bennett did well to beat away the big Slovakian’s stinging shot.

Three minutes later, it was Carlisle keeper Adam Collin who was in the thick of the action, pushing Novak’s shot away for a corner from which Rhodes had a header blocked from Roberts’ delivery before Cadamarteri sent the rebound wide.

Town were still putting themselves under needless pressure, however, with Clarke grateful to Bennett for a 33rd-minute save when Noble pounced on his miscued backpass.