Fine margins can shift the narrative significantly

The contest as a whole here felt like a microcosm of Huddersfield Town's season as they combined craft and graft with the sort of defensive frailties which have undermined their progress this term.

It had elements of the Boxing Day draw against Rotherham United as they failed to hold out a lead in the dying stages but yet just moments previously this was a performance set to be filed alongside the wins over Brentford and Watford.

There was simply no room for error here against opponents who remain in the hunt for promotion to the Premier League after pilfering the latest of late points and the rapid changes in the outcome of this encounter were personified in James Vaughan's moment of brilliance and then madness.

It was difficult to play the blame game with the striker when he had effectively handed Town the platform to go on and secure the points and it is unlikely his presence on the field would have been particularly relevant from a defensive perspective when it came to clearing the free-kick just prior to Jamar Loza's leveller.

Town stood on the verge of only a second home win in six with victory here and it would also have helped lay the doom-mongers to rest after a testing week, but with Vaughan's late dismissal and Loza's subsequent strike came a different perception of events and places more importance on this weekend's clash with Fulham.

Miller looks like a man with a point to prove

When Ishmael Miller signed on with Town until the end of the season back in January, Chris Powell said the following: “The ball is in Ishmael’s court; it’s down to him to do well for the club and see if he can earn a longer-term deal.”

He essentially laid down the gauntlet to the rangy forward to offer his side the extra firepower they so desperately required, but his arrival was always likely to raise eyebrows after an inauspicious goalscoring record in the first half of the campaign at Blackpool.

His time at Town has been largely stop-start, but this felt like it could be take-off for the 28-year-old as he relished the physical tussle against a surprisingly meek central defensive pairing of Russell Martin and Sebastien Bassong.

One shoulder charge and resulting burst past the latter centre-back had Town fans up off their seats and his work-rate, allied with an impressive understanding with Vaughan, suggested his commitment to the cause cannot be questioned.

The way he brushed aside challenges and slotted past John Ruddy confidently at the start of the second half showed a confidence that he can be the man to lead Town out of trouble and, with Vaughan now suspended and Nahki Wells' shoulder injury still being monitored, he may yet have a sole striker duty against Fulham.

Coady seizes responsibility in midfield

The performances of Jonathan Hogg and Jacob Butterfield should not go amiss here, because both were influential in very different ways for helping Town to a point in a competitive contest.

Hogg provided the energy Town lack without his services, while Butterfield was quieter than normal and yet was still able to enjoy the luxury of posting two assists, with great vision shown on each occasion.

But it would be a disservice to Conor Coady not to mention his much-improved display at the heart of the midfield, with the Liverpudlian seemingly hellbent from a very early stage on righting his recent woes.

The most impressive aspect of his cameo here was that he put in such a shift for the team by putting in a series of headed challenges, tackles and interventions to stop Norwich's flow in attack and get his side on the front foot from an early stage.

A dip in form is inevitable for a player who, lest we forget, is just 22 and arguably in his maiden season as a full-time professional but his response will have delighted Powell because he was a key component behind securing a result against a slick Norwich outfit.

Town were their own worst enemies, in more ways than one

The final throes of this match descended into chaos and Town were the team to suffer most from it, but they had contributed to their own downfall long before James Vaughan had re-established the lead.

Once Miller had struck, Town needed to grab hold of the initiative and test this Norwich side's credentials as a top-six side, because their 15-minute lapse at the start of the second half should have been ruthlessly exploited.

Critics of Powell would suggest that his pragmatical approach got the better of him once more here and there is an element of truth to that, because the Terriers certainly retreated once they had the advantage, rather than go for the kill.

Neil's side regained the composure in their passing as a result and Town sat deeper and deeper, which invited the Canaries to steal in with a well-crafted Wes Hoolahan goal for 1-1.

The mounting injury problems left Powell with precious few options on the bench and while Neil was able to call on two goalscorers from his back-up players, Town failed to yield any sort of impact from either David Edgar or Oscar Gobern as the game slipped away, then dropped in the palm of their hands before being cruelly snatched away once more right at the end.

Carroll fluffs his lines

The inclusion of bona fide reserve left-back Jake Carroll against Nathan Redmond had left Town fans approaching this match in fear rather than anticipation of another notable scalp this season.

They will have reminisced, albeit in the nightmarish sense, of how Redmond had been brought on in the 5-0 loss at Carrow Road earlier this season to great avail as he single-handedly tore into former Terrier Paul Dixon and established loanee Jack Robinson to inspire a second-half rout.

Neil was obviously acutely aware of his role that day as he drafted the quicksilver winger in, presumably also under the knowledge that Robinson would not make the game after jarring his knee at Birmingham City.

And he was rewarded for his decision eventually, with the Canaries wideman getting the better of his marker, whose opportunity to show he is more than a capable deputy for Robinson largely passed him by.

He started well enough and quelled a lot of Redmond's darts down the right and inside, but he grew increasingly weary in the second half and was caught out badly for Hoolahan's strike before being hauled off for his own good as he struggled to contain wave after wave of Norwich attacks.