Huddersfield Town 2 Barnsley 1: Liam Manning's Terriers get serious - and why watchable Reds cannot be treated seriously

Last season, he hit 10 goals from February 1 onwards in the green of Plymouth Argyle and he is on his way in the blue and white of Huddersfield Town.

A month into the Liam Manning era and what is clear is that the Terriers head coach is not averse to taking a risk or two.

On Saturday, he called for Hardie with just under 35 minutes of regulation time to go.

Given that he’d had pretty limited time in full training sessions with his team-mates following a knee injury, it was a gamble. The Scot had been eased in with a 79th-minute appearance at Doncaster Rovers in midweek.

It paid off handsomely with Hardie showing just why Town moved so quickly to bag him when things opened up on deadline day on an occasion when Manning’s substitutions worked a treat.

It’s a nice skill to have and Hardie is a business player at this time of year. A matchwinner and a handy one at that for a Town side chasing and craving promotion.

Barnsley played a part on the day, but that’s all. For all their attacking niceties, they are ultimately a side who give you a chance.

In that regard, they are not to be treated seriously in League One circles as we come to the business end. They are mid-table for a reason.

They can score goals which are as good as anything at this level - David McGoldrick, take a bow, again. They also concede with frustrating regularity and are en route to shipping around 70 goals for the second successive campaign.

There was plenty of what we already knew about Barnsley on show in Conor Hourihane’s 50th game in charge.

They possess some individual talent, can be a nice watch at times and the Reds’ chief has shown an ability to develop young players.

Hardie’s winner was also the 100th goal they have conceded in Hourihane’s tenure in charge so far, basically two a game then.

Hourihane had spoken about his side not rolling over and having their tummies tickled in the first half - as they did in their recent games at high-fliers Bolton and Cardiff.

Here, they were better and more competitive and orderly, but games last for two halves. And old defensive habits die hard. Piecing together two halves of football remains an ongoing challenge.

Huddersfield, with Alfie May back on deck, had their moments in the opening half, but lacked that nugget of quality in the final third. It spectacularly came from McGoldrick.

Shortly before his marvellous 43th-minute opener, the Barnsley bench were aghast when no penalty was given after Patrick Kelly fell after his heels were clipped by home captain Ryan Ledson.

It looked a strong shout. Fortunately, they were on their feet soon after, hailing McGoldrick’s brilliance.

It was classic McGoldrick. Manufacture half a yard on the left and effortlessly whip the ball into the far corner with a bit of bend with his wand of a right foot. Magnificent.

There were some boos at the interval for Town, with a meagre one attempt on target in two-and-a-half games of a difficult week to their credit.

Manning didn’t panic. Barnsley always give you a chance, after all. Hardie was summoned and moments later, the hosts had their leveller.

Ledson, strong in the second half with Murray Wallace and Radinio Balker also worthy of mentions in dispatches, was fatally left untracked as he arrived late and headed in Bali Mumba’s centre.

Not as spectacular as the strike which won him the EFL Goal of the Month accolade for January, but important all the same.

Town had their tails up and the next moment left Barnsley spooked for the rest of the game.

Jeered on his return to Town, Reds keeper Owen Goodman had lengthy treatment after landing awkwardly.

The stretchers which were called for weren’t needed, thankfully. Gamely, perhaps unwisely, Goodman carried on, but looked suspect.

He got in the way of Balker’s effort, with Kelly completing the clean-up operation by clearing off the line. It wasn’t convincing.

Neither was his near-post attempt to stop Hardie’s instinctive strike from a low cross from Cam Ashia, moments after coming on. And the game was lost.

Huddersfield Town: Nicholls; Balker, Wallace, Roughan; Sorensen, Ledson, Humphreys (Kasumu 81) , Mumba; Harness, Alves (Hardie 56); May (Ashia 73). Substitutes unused: Alnwick, Charles, Feeney, Evans.

Barnsley: Goodman; O’Keeffe (Yoganathan 98), O’Connell, Shepherd, Gent (Watson 67); Connell, Phillips; Banks (Bland 80), Kelly, Cleary; McGoldrick (Bradshaw 66). Substitutes unused: Flavell, Roberts, de Gevigney.

Referee: P Wright (Merseyside).