TOWN were the happier of the two teams after battling their way to a 0-0 derby draw at Fourth Division promotion rivals Bradford City.
Leeds Road boss Mick Buxton's preparations had been hampered by a flu bug which kept winger Dave Cowling out of the game and meant midfielder Peter Hart had to play despite being under the weather.
Bernard Purdie, who had been signed from basement division rivals Crewe Alexandra a month earlier, made his first start for Town, who remained top of the table thanks to their point.
Bradford, bossed by George Mulhall, were third, two points behind Town and on the same mark as Portsmouth, who drew 1-1 at fourth-placed Walsall with a goal by former Leeds Road striker Colin Garwood.
Roy McDonough scored for the Saddlers at Fellows Park, where 7,468 watched.
At Valley Parade, the turn-out was 10,509, with City fans hoping to see their side follow-up on a 2-0 home win over Halifax in midweek.
Town had trounced Northampton 5-0 with goals from Ian Robins (2), Cowling, Dave Sutton and Mick Laverick.
But opportunities were far fewer in the derby contest, with Hart coming closest for the visitors a minute into the second half.
After a surging run down the right, his rising shot was a shade too high.
Bradford's biggest dangerman was Eugene Martinez.
The 22-year-old left winger might have sounded Spanish, but he was actually born in Chelmsford and joined Bradford from nearby non-League club Harrogate Town.
It took some top-quality goalkeeping by Alan Starling to stop him breaking the derby deadlock in the 20th minute, when a fizzing shot was beaten away and the rebound, fired goalwards by David Staniforth, smartly blocked.
Then, on the half hour, Starling dived full length to turn away another Martinez shot.
Late on, centre-back Chris Topping twice got in the way of Martinez efforts while at the other end, Laverick had a shot blocked by Staniforth.
In general, however, defences were well on top, with ex-Town man Steve Baines and former Leeds player Terry Cooper successfully marshalling Town pair Robins and Peter Fletcher.
Ex-York player Topping, standing in for the injured Keith Hanvey, was again solid alongside Sutton as Town became only the second side that season to shut out City.
"It was a fair result, but it was better for Huddersfield than for us," said Mulhall.
"I was satisfied, because our build-up was difficult," said Buxton. "Even on the morning of the game we had to make changes because Dave Cowling was feeling so poorly."
