Huddersfield throw away two points after another late equaliser

Town were ahead twice in this game and still couldn’t claim victory against League One’s bottom club.

Not that new boss Grayson would remember but this was deja vu for Town fans.

Back in August, with hopes sky high for the new season, Town twice squandered the lead at Rochdale with the same man, Ashley Grimes, grabbing a late equaliser.

This soft under-belly was apparent as early as the second week of the campaign but the problem was masked by the club’s 43-match record-breaking unbeaten run.

It finally cost Lee Clark his job in February and now Grayson has just 11 games to rescue Town’s promotion dream.

This week, with no midweek fixture, the manager and his coaching staff can finally get serious on the training pitch.

Antony Kay hit the top of the bar in the first half and Jordan Rhodes claimed Joe Widdowson stopped his goal-bound shot on the line with his arm but Town were less than convincing.

The impressive Danny Ward had put Town ahead in first-half stoppage time with a stunning strike from the edge of the box to stun Rochdale.

But the lead lasted less than 60 seconds as Rochdale went straight down the other end and levelled through Andrew Tutte’s unstoppable effort into the top corner of the goal.

Rhodes restored the advantage three minutes after the break but Town couldn’t kill off the game and Grimes, on as a substitute, pounced late to send Terriers fans home with another draw that felt like a defeat.

Huddersfield Town: Smithies; Hunt (Naysmith 49), McCombe, Morrison, Woods; Gudjonsson (Johnson 73); Ward, Kay, Arfield, Novak (Lee 85); Rhodes. Unused substitutes: Bennett, Roberts.

Rochdale: Lucas; Darby, Holden (P Edwards 61), Long, Widdowson; Tutte, Barry-Murphy (Grimes 74), Kennedy, Jones, Jordan (Adams 89); Symes. Unused substitutes: M Edwards, Byrne.

Referee: D Webb (Co Durham).

Man of the match: Danny Ward.