Bristol City 1 Huddersfield Town 3: Vaughan treble is timely lift for gutsy Terriers

Robins made clear his admiration for the Norwich City player, who sank hapless Bristol with a first-half double and a 64th- minute clincher, but refused to be drawn on his future at the club next season.

Robins said: “James showed how much he cares about our club with the way he celebrated his goals. That isn’t always the case with loan signings.

“He has been good for us and I think we have been good for him. What the future holds I can’t say, but he was terrific today.

“It’s amazing to be on 57 points in the Championship and not be mathematically safe.

“The support from our fans was magnificent and we now have the opportunity to finish our season with a good home display against Barnsley next Saturday.”

The Terriers still need a point from what will be a tense Yorkshire derby next Saturday after Peterborough United beat Sheffield Wednesday in the tea-time kick-off.

Had the Owls claimed a point, Huddersfield would have been safe.

But if they are beaten by the Reds, and Wednesday, Millwall and Peterborough all win, Huddersfield will be relegated because they have a vastly inferior goal difference to Posh, who they will finish on the same number of points as.

It is a bizarre sequence of events, and at least Town have their destiny in their own hands.

For that they have Vaughan to thank.

The loanee has come into form at just the right time, with a goal in the 3-0 win over Millwall last Saturday and a treble at Ashton Gate.

The goals took the 24-year-old’s tally to 13 for the season.

The 1,500 travelling Terriers fans were in the mood for celebration from the moment Vaughan converted a second-minute tap-in from Lee Novak’s unselfish pass.

Eleven minutes later, Oliver Norwood’s free-kick saw Vaughan direct a glancing header beyond Tom Heaton from 12 yards.

His hat-trick came midway through the second half when he headed in a Novak cross from an unmarked position on the edge of the six-yard box.

Vaughan should have completed the hat-trick inside 20 minutes when he was clean through on goal, but Heaton made a fine save to deflect the shot for a corner.

Lewin Nyatanga’s headed injury-time consolation from a Greg Cunningham cross did little to cheer Bristol City head coach Sean O’Driscoll.

He said: “That performance was the worst since I came here and totally unacceptable.

“We played without pride and I can assure supporters that won’t happen again.

“We owe them an apology. In our last game at Hull we looked as though we shouldn’t be relegated, but today we showed why we are going down.

“Basically we are not good enough. The home performances since I took over have been consistently encouraging, even when we have been beaten.”

The pre-match talk surrounded the absence of in-form striker Jermaine Beckford, but Vaughan stepped up to the plate in the perfect fashion, slamming home Novak’s cross for his 11th of the campaign.

Huddersfield had not won successive matches since October but they looked set to break that unwanted run in the 13th minute when Vaughan grabbed his second of the afternoon and his third in two games.

The striker rose unmarked to nod home Norwood’s free-kick from the left flank five yards out to delight the travelling fans and give Robins’ men some breathing space.

City, without a win since March 9, were lucky not to be three down when the visitors’ strike pair were involved again, Vaughan crossing for Novak who missed a fantastic chance from six yards out.

But O’Driscoll’s men were beginning to create chances and, after Matthew Bates nodded wide, Liam Kelly was unsuccessful with an optimistic effort from long range after a spell of promising possession from the Robins.

And in the 41st minute Terriers goalkeeper Alex Smithies had to be sharp to get to former Leeds man Neil Kilkenny’s through-ball before Sam Baldock.

After a scrappy start to the second half, O’Driscoll introduced former Huddersfield striker Jon Stead, back to full fitness after a spell on the sidelines, for Marvin Elliott as his side looked to score their first goal since April 16.

Albert Adomah, City’s man of the match in the 0-0 draw with Hull last weekend, almost gifted Novak the ball on the hour mark when his back pass to Heaton went wrong.

But Huddersfield only had to wait three minutes for another goal, Novak crossing from the right wing for Vaughan to complete his hat-trick with a simple header from close range to wrap up the points.

City then had two chances in quick succession. First Steven Davies curled a 25-yard free-kick past the post before Baldock’s flick from Adomah’s ball went wide.

At the other end Novak and Vaughan linked up once more, but Heaton denied the latter with a smart stop.

Adomah has been linked with a move away from Ashton Gate in the summer and he had the game’s next chance but he headed wide from six yards out in the centre of the penalty area.

And the home side did grab a consolation in the 90th minute, Wales defender Nyatanga heading in at the far post.

Robins added: “The players delivered today. The three points were the most important thing, but we didn’t do it boringly and we played some good football.

“We passed the ball well and I thought Lee Novak was magnificent alongside James Vaughan.”

Robins also hopes to have Beckford back for next week’s decider.

“He has a groin strain and we hope that he will resume training next week,” he said.

“We need all hands on deck right now.”

Bristol City: Heaton, Foster, Bates (Louis Carey 80), Nyatanga, Cunningham, Kilkenny, Kelly, Elliott (Stead 55), Adomah, Davies (Howard 80), Baldock. Unused substitutes: Gerken, Fontaine, Taylor, Anderson.

Huddersfield Town: Smithies, Hunt, Gerrard, Peter Clarke, Woods, Clayton, Norwood (Southern 65), Gobern, Scannell (Dixon 86), Novak, Vaughan (Lee 89). Unused substitutes: Bennett, Wallace, Arfield, Robinson.

Referee: P Tierney (Lancashire).