Hudd-P'Boro

TERRIERS MOVE A LICK OF PAINT CLOSER TO WEMBLEY

HUDDERSFIELD 3-2 PETERBOROUGH

It was a tale of two halves as Huddersfield scraped into the last eight of the Northern section of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

In front of barely 3,000 inside the Galpharm stadium, the Terriers survived a second half onslaught from the visitors as they nearly let slip a 3-0 lead after a dominant first half performance.

Graham Carey opened the scoring for Town with a long range effort that opposite keeper Joe Lewis should have dealt with, as oppose to let slip through his hands.

Fellow Town winger Anthony Pilkington then doubled the lead after shimmying into the area and letting rip an unstoppable shot that flew into the top corner. He added another shortly after to effectively wrap up the game.

Many a time in the first period, Town used the channels as their major outlet, with front man Alan Lee winning countless headers and playing in Carey and Pilkington on the wings.

However, complacency set in after the break. A triple substitution by Posh boss Gary Johnson at half-time freshened them up, and it wasn’t long before they found a route back into the game when Aaron McLean, one of the subs, headed home via the post.

Peterborough continued their quest to draw level as the half grew, with McLean and Craig Mackail-Smith looking the most likely to strike.

Some smart goalkeeping was required from home keeper Ian Bennett, when he cleverly palmed away two corners that swept into the penalty spot region.

The removal of Lee with a quarter of the game to go meant that Town’s main outlet had departed, and as a result, Peterborough reduced the deficit furthermore, when Mark Little nodded from close range.

Just when Posh looked like staging a remarkable comeback, Lee’s replacement, Jordan Rhodes, spurned the chance to kill the game off, when he fizzed an effort just over the bar.

That was to prove the last major incident of the game, as Town held on to reach the quarter-finals and move one step closer to Wembley.