VETERAN keeper Ian Bennett showed yet again why he is vital to Huddersfield Town’s promotion push with a stunning save on his 500th career appearance.
Bennett, 39, got down quickly at his near post on 48 minutes when Oldham’s Aiden White had a crack from Filipe Morais’s cross to help the Terriers earn a hard-fought point.
But modest Bennett, popular with fans and players since taking over from injury-hit Alex Smithies, did not want a fuss making of the stop or personal milestone.
On a career which has taken in successful spells at Peterborough and Birmingham Bennett said: “I’m not one for stats. It was other people who pointed it out to me.
“It’s actually nice to get it out of the way and with a clean sheet as well. To play any game at this stage of my career is a bonus. I’m just taking the games one-by-one.”
Bennett added that, while being pleased with his form, it was more important for the team to remain on course for boss Lee Clark’s automatic promotion target.
The stopper said: “Things are going well for the team and I’m loving it at the moment. Automatic promotion has been the target since the season started.
“But there’s still a long way to go and plenty of points to play for. The first thing is to guarantee a play-off place, but we really want to finish in the top two.”
Bennett also revealed the dressing room consensus is that this stalemate was a point gained towards the promotion quest given the nature of Saturday’s feisty contest.
Oldham’s Reuben Hazell and Reuben Reid were both lucky not to be sent off while Town’s players were more than equal to the visitors’ rough-house tactics.
Home striker Alan Lee took a battering in a performance which showed how far the side has come since they were bullied out of last season’s play-offs by Millwall.
But Bennett would not be drawn on the prospect of facing Millwall-esque Oldham in the play-offs or referee Andy Woolmer’s eccentric performance.
He said: “It was a typical derby game between too committed sides. All I say on the referee is that we were disappointed that he didn’t let the game flow as much as we’d have wanted.
“Oldham are good side. They’re not in the top six for nothing. We probably cancelled each other out. The main thing is we didn’t lose. It’s a point gained.”
