Huddersfield Town 2 Swindon 2: Terriers share the points

Less resilient teams than fifth-placed Swindon would have collapsed under the pressure exerted by Lee Clark's side after the interval on Saturday but by then they had been gifted a two-goal padding to cushion the incessant blows.

The result left Town four points adrift of sixth place but Clark was in no mood to let his players feel sorry for themselves ahead of three successive away games and visiting manager Danny Wilson believes they could easily meet again in the play-offs.

The former Barnsley and Sheffield Wednesday manager said: "We knew this would be our biggest test to date. They have a fantastic squad here and I fully expect them to be challenging in the top six places at the end of the season, without a doubt. To come here and get a result in what they described as a six-pointer is great.

"It was important not to lose but we did not set ourselves up to draw. We have to be happy with a point because we were under intense pressure in the second half."

Town chief Clark was disappointed after a third successive home draw but said: "We got back to where we want to be as an attacking team. A lot of the individuals at the top end of the field found their form again and, in all honesty, we should have won.

"But we conceded two very, very poor goals, their keeper made some outstanding saves and they had things kicked off the line so I have told the lads not to be too hard on themselves."

His side forced 18 corners and engineered 18 attempts on goal yet the Swindon trio of Billy Paynter, Charlie Austin and Danny Ward offered the greater potency in the first half as Town's new-look defence took time to bed in.

Even a freak early strike from central defender Peter Clarke did not settle them. The Town captain retrieved a corner from the right, held off a defender and lashed the ball back across, gleefully watching it swerve past David Lucas for an eighth-minute opener.

Town immediately switched off, Lee Peltier gave Ward too much space to deliver a great cross which Neal Trotman failed to cut out, allowing Austin to race in and head home from close range.

Paynter then got the better of Trotman, chesting the ball down and laying it off for Ward to cut inside and beat Alex Smithies inside his near post, rather than going for the wider angle, to make it 2-1 with 28 minutes gone.

Town responded and Lucas beat away headers from Trotman and Lee Novak, who, along with strike partner Jordan Rhodes, had been recalled.

However, by the break, Town's unbeaten home league record was under serious threat.

Swindon, however, hardly knew what hit them after the interval as Town launched incessant waves of pressure, Anthony Kay boosting attacking options rather than playing his normal midfield holding role.

His reward came in the 50th minute, Gary Roberts swinging in a corner which skimmed off the head of Trotman for Kay to head into the roof of the net.

He almost struck again after a flying save by Lucas from Anthony Pilkington's volley forced another corner which was cleared to Kay, who let fly only to see Jon-Paul McGovern clear off the line.

Novak's muscly front-running display deserved a goal but Lucas was inspired and he highlighted his performance by tipping over a dipping volley from the striker out on the right.

Peter Clarke ensured Town were not caught on the counter, bottling up his former Port Vale and Southend team-mate Paynter before venturing forward late on only to see his header headed off the line by Craig Easton as Swindon refused to buckle.

It left Town to turn their attention to a swift return against Carlisle, who held them to a 1-1 draw the previous Saturday, tomorrow night.

The Cumbrians walloped another of the challengers, MK Dons, 5-0, having reached the JP Trophy final at Leeds' expense in midweek and Clark warned: "Three away trips are going to be a big test for sure but we have had two consecutive positive results on the road and we have to continue that run. We know Tuesday will be difficult, they are full of confidence, have a trip to Wembley ahead and have just beaten one of the top sides by five but all we need is just a little change of luck."

Huddersfield Town: Smithies, Peltier, P Clarke, Trotman, Heffernan; Pilkington, Kay, Collins, Roberts; Rhodes (Robinson 79), Novak. Unused substitutes: Eastwood, T Clarke, Pearce, Drinkwater, Eccleston, Simpson.

Swindon Town: Smith, Amankwaah, Cuthbert, Greer, Jean-Francois; McGovern, Douglas, Ferry (Easton 75), Ward; Paynter, Austin (Pericard 62). Unused substitutes: Timlin, Ritchie, Smith, Morrison, Marshall.

Referee: S Rushton (Staffordshire).

MATCH FOCUS

Hero: Lee Novak

Having been dropped in midweek, Novak rediscovered his spark and gave Town a physical presence up front, which fully tested the Swindon backline. Only the brilliance of David Lucas denied the Town striker a goal.

Villain: David Lucas

The former Leeds United goalkeeper was in outstanding form, pulling off a catalogue of quality saves after the early embarrassment of conceding a fluke opener to Town's Peter Clarke.

Key moment

89th minute: Substitute Craig Easton clears off the line to deny Town captain Peter Clarke the winning goal.

Ref watch

Steven Rushton: The Staffordshire official has spent most of the season operating in League Two...

Verdict

Lee Clark's Town side are finally back up to the 'Championship pace' which highlighted their early-season free-scoring form.

Next game

Carlisle United v Huddersfield Town, League One, tomorrow, 7.45.

Quote of the day

I'm not sure – if it was from a forward player I would have said it was intended but it was from a centre half so I'm not too sure.

– Lee Clark muses on Peter Clarke's opening goal.

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