Middlesbrough 1 Huddersfield 1: Boro’s poor run continues but Gibson’s leveller denies Town

Luckless Boro looked on course for defeat when James Vaughan got the final touch on Oscar Gobern’s strike just before the hour for a fortuitous goal that was very much against the run of play.

The home side, who last won on August 10, had overcome a sluggish start to dominate for large spells and they were finally rewarded when Gibson powered a header home from a corner to ensure a draw.

It was the visitors who probed away in the opening stages although they failed to take advantage of lapses in defence from Boro, who were missing the injured Jonathan Woodgate.

The home side’s run of form seemed to be affecting them at both ends of the pitch although Mustapha Carayol roused the supporters by bursting forward from midfield, exchanging passes with Kei Kamara, before shooting straight at Huddersfield goalkeeper Alex Smithies.

Boro were given a huge let-off when Adam Hammill worked his way into the left side of the penalty area only for his chipped cross-cum-shot to rebound off the bar.

The Teessiders were hit with a suckerpunch in the 59th minute. While it was no surprise in-form Vaughan was the goalscorer, the manner of the goal summed up the home side’s season.

Boro defenders hesitated after Daniel Ward had hit a post and Gobern’s strike from the edge of the area took a telling deflection off Vaughan into the net.

Home endeavours were finally rewarded when Gibson atoned for an earlier miss. The centre-back was given far too much room in and headed into the top corner from Grant Leadbitter’s corner.

Middlesbrough: Steele, Richardson (Hoyte 77), Rhys Williams, Gibson, Friend, Whitehead, Adomah, Butterfield (Andrew Halliday 72), Leadbitter, Carayol (Jutkiewicz 65), Kamara. Unused substitutes: Varga, Parnaby, Leutwiler, Smallwood.

Huddersfield Town: Smithies, Clarke, Gerrard, Lynch, Richards, Gobern, Clayton, Hogg, Hammill (Woods 81), Vaughan (Stead 90), Scannell (Ward 53). Unused substitutes: Norwood, Bennett, Paterson, Holmes.

Referee: J Simpson (Lancashire).