Huddersfield Town 3 Carlisle United 0: Agony for Town after Wembley is kept out of reach

IN the final anlaysis, the damage done in Cumbria three weeks earlier was just too great. But Huddersfield Town give it an almighty go in trying to overcome the odds.

Trailing by four goals from the first leg, the Terriers last night went within a whisker of pulling off an amazing comeback.

Anthony Pilkington had started the ball rolling during the first half with a sublime finish before two goals from Alan Lee set up a frantic finale.

However, despite laying siege to Carlisle United’s goal and throwing every man bar goalkeeper Nick Colgan forward during five minutes of stoppage time, Town just could not find the elusive fourth goal that would have sent the tie to penalties.

It means that for the second season running the Cumbrians will contest the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final at Wembley after beating West Yorkshire opposition in the Northern Area final.

A year ago, it was Leeds United who were beaten by Greg Abbott’s men after a penalty shoot-out at Brunton Park.

This time, it is Huddersfield who will look back ruefully on how it all went wrong at Brunton Park.

That regret should, however, be mixed with a sense of pride at how Lee Clark’s men refused to accept overall defeat on a pulsating night that kept the 6,528 crowd gripped to the very end.

Just a week earlier, 286 Carlisle fans had made the trip to West Yorkshire for a League One contest that Town won 2-0.

The lure of clinching a possible trip to Wembley was clearly much more appealing as almost eight times that number descended on the Galpharm Stadium.

It was clear the 1,631 Cumbrians had come to party, the first rendition of ‘que sera sera’ being struck up long before kick-off.

Partying did not, however, seem to be on the minds of the visiting players, who instead displayed a ‘protect what we have’ attitude from the very first minute of the tie.

In the first leg, Carlisle had ripped into Huddersfield with Francois Zoko, in particular, giving Clark’s men a hard time.

It was a tactic that paid off handsomely, but clearly one that manager Abbott did not want to see repeated in the second leg.

Such a negative approach was perhaps understandable considering the prize at stake, though it did betray a sense of unease among the visitors despite holding such a hefty advantage from the first leg.

That was added to on the half-hour when Huddersfield opened the scoring courtesy of wonderful work from Pilkington.

Clever link-up play involving Alan Lee and Joey Gudjonsson had created the chance but Pilkington still deserves tremendous credit for the manner in which he drilled the ball beyond Adam Collin from the edge of the area.

Until that stage, Town had rarely threatened despite dominating possession.

Once in front on the night, though, there was little doubt that the home side believed the comeback was on and they were unfortunate not to have doubled their advantage by the break.

First, Gary Roberts was played in behind the United defence and his cross was cut out by Collin just ahead of the waiting Lee.

Roberts was again the creator five minutes before the break when his free-kick found Peter Clarke, who showed great presence of mind to flick the ball goalwards only for Collin to save.

It meant that Town went in at the interval still needing three goals to take this Northern Area final to penalties.

One of those goals came 20 minutes from time when Lee powered Roberts’s flag-kick into the corner of the net.

Reducing Carlisle’s advantage to two goals was deserved reward for Town, who had twice gone close in the early stages of the second half courtesy of shots from Gudjonsson and Jamie McCombe that flew inches over the crossbar.

Lee’s second goal in a Town shirt then set up a frantic finale that saw the veteran striker again go close with a diving header after being picked out by Gudjonsson.

Moments later, Roberts was denied by a reflex save from Collin as Huddersfield continued to lay siege to the visitors’ goal.

That incessant pressure eventually paid off nine minutes from time when Lee netted his second of the night by meeting Pilkington’s corner with another powerful header.

Now, it seemed the fightback really was on as Collin beat away Clarke’s shot and Lee headed agonisingly wide after being picked out by Roberts.

The equaliser, however, just would not come the home side’s way, allowing determined Carlisle to book a sixth trip to the final of the competition that is the sole preserve of teams in Leagues One and Two.

Huddersfield Town: Colgan; Peltier, McCombe, Clarke, Kilbane; Pilkington, Kay (Cadamarteri 57), Gudjonsson, Arfield; Roberts, Lee. Unused substitutes: Bennett, Novak, Atkinson, Chippendale.

Carlisle United: Collin; Simek, Michalik, Borrowdale, Murphy; Marshall, Loy (Robson 66), Noble, Berrett; Zoko (Taiwo 85), Curran. Unused substitutes: Livesey, Madden, Caig.

Referee: S Tanner (Somerset).