Bournemouth 1 Huddersfield Town 1: Homework pays off as Bennett save gives Town crucial edge ahead of home return

AS the man whose penalty save means Huddersfield Town will start Wednesday’s play-off semi-final second leg as favourites to reach Old Trafford, Ian Bennett could be forgiven for grasping the chance to bask in some long overdue adulation.

The near 1,300 Terriers fans who had made the long trip south to Bournemouth certainly thought he deserved the highest praise, the veteran goalkeeper’s name being sung longest and loudest at the final whistle.

Typically, however, 39-year-old Bennett instead chose to display the selfless streak that has made him a manager’s dream at a host of clubs down the years by insisting the acclaim should go to Town goalkeeping coach John Vaughan.

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“The credit belongs to John,” said the modest former Leeds and Sheffield United goalkeeper when asked by the Yorkshire Post about the stunning save that kept out Danny Ings’s firmly struck 36th-minute penalty.

“John goes through all the data (before a game) and tells me which way the opposition penalty taker usually goes. I just have to go the right way and, nine times out of ten, that gives me a chance.

“John said to go that way (to the right) so fair play to him.

“There was also a bit of a delay before the penalty was taken and I don’t think it helped him (Ings) much at all. It probably worked in my favour.”

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Bennett’s block to deny Ings was the third time in recent weeks that he has saved a penalty, the previous two having come against Milton Keynes Dons and Brighton & Hove Albion.

On Vaughan, who was in goal as Cambridge United came within a whisker of reaching the Premier League under John Beck in the early Nineties, Bennett added: “As a club, we do our homework.

“John looks at everything and we work on a lot of things on the training pitch.

“After this, I owe him a pint. To be fair, I probably owe him three as he has told me which way to go each time recently.

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“I didn’t have any complaints with the penalty being given. I was trying to get to the ball when their lad dinked it over me.

“I did make a genuine attempt to get to the ball and he just got there before me.

“The referee was fine with it and I certainly didn’t think there was going to be any other issue to come out of it. There were two (Town) defenders behind me, for a start.”

Bennett’s save came with Huddersfield already a goal ahead thanks to Kevin Kilbane having soared to reach Gary Roberts’ flighted corner and flick the ball beyond both Cherries goalkeeper Shwan Jalal and a host of home defenders.

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It was a beautifully executed goal, though one that came slightly against the run of play with it being the hosts who had started brighter.

With Lee Clark again opting for the 4-5-1 formation that has proved so effective on the road since the turn of the year, Town initially had trouble in quelling the lively Bournemouth midfield.

Just six minutes had elapsed when a neat passing move saw two Town defenders having to cope with three rampaging attackers.

Thankfully for Lee Clark’s men, one of the outnumbered duo was Peter Clarke and the ever-reliable captain executed a perfectly-timed tackle to dispossess Liam Feeney before he could release either Ings or Steve Lovell.

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Ten minutes later, it was the turn of Antony Kay to keep the home side at bay with a brave block after Donal McDermott had weaved his way through several would-be tacklers before unleashing a shot.

After Bennett had then kept out Ings’s penalty, Town did finish the opening 45 minutes strongly with Roberts bringing a save from Jalal and Kay heading wide from a corner. It was a similar story in the early stages of the second half with neat work by Roberts and Lee Peltier creating a shooting opportunity for Gary Naysmith, who blazed over.

Peltier was then again involved in a promising attack on 52 minutes when his right-wing cross found Benik Afobe unmarked only for the Arsenal loanee to shoot straight at Jalal.

It was a big let-off for the Cherries, who duly made the Terriers pay for their profligacy on the hour when McDermott drilled an unstoppable shot past Bennett after the ball had broken to the midfielder on the edge of the area. Buoyed by having pegged back a team who had gone into the play-offs on the back of a 25-game unbeaten run, Bournemouth poured forward in search of a winner.

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Town, however, are made of stern stuff these days and never really looked like conceding, even in the closing stages when both Feeney and Rhoys Wiggins had efforts saved comfortably by Bennett to ensure it is honours even going into Wednesday’s second leg.

The Huddersfield goalkeeper added: “The season is going well for me. I feel for Alex (Smithies) because I came here to provide back-up to him and he has been unfortunate with injury.

“But I am enjoying it. The game was an eventful one, probably more eventful than we thought it would be.

“They really came at us, especially in the second half. But, barring one or two things, I thought we coped very well.

“A draw is a result we would probably have taken before kick-off as it means we are definitely in the second leg.”