On-message Huddersfield Town start to regain fans' trust with Barnsley in danger of losing connections with theirs - final word on derby day

Make no mistake. If he was in possession of such an implement, a sun-kissed location on the Indian Ocean would have been no substitute for his vista on a touchline in West Yorkshire at the final whistle on this particular derby day.

Against a former employer whose followers had given him grief at several junctures, the autumn sun will have felt warm in the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.

For former Barnsley midfielder Herbie Kane as well after he also received the treatment.

Three points may have been sweetened by the opponents in question, but for Duff at least, his overriding sense of satisfaction on the day was not down to it being against his old club.

Finally witnessing something akin to a 90-minute performance on home soil definitely was, more especially after the two wretched defeats which preceded it at the John Smith’s Stadium.

Wretched was a fair word to describe Barnsley, in truth.

A side who give you a chance at the back and are one-paced and predictable in midfield - currently without the goals of Adam Phillips to help them along - and ponderous in attack, Barnsley have problems.

On the evidence of Saturday, it was they who looked like a team who had lost seven of their previous eight matches and were struggling with confidence and form issues and not Huddersfield.

The Reds’ previous few games weren’t much better either.

Darrell Clarke muttered the same things about his side afterwards; loose, sloppy, no attacking flow. He is nowhere nearer to knowing his best 11 and is still searching for answers.

After this latest instalment, he will be scrambling around all over the place. He is also equally conscious of starting to repeat himself.

Town don’t exactly have all the answers, but this was a start at last.

Duff’s midfield possessed a new-look with Ben Wiles freed up and operating further forward with Joe Hodge and David Kasumu both behind. The balance worked and ensured the hosts bossed the middle ground. Up front, they had Callum Marshall, who was indefatigable.

It was a day when all of his team-mates in blue and white also kept going and kept their heads.

Dominant either side of the half-hour mark when they produced a concerted spell of pressure, Town knocked on the door in their quest for an opener, with a combination of Gaga Slonina and last-ditch defending denying them.

On the restart, they continued to be patient and didn’t lose heart or feel sorry for themselves. For a side down on their luck of late, it was admirable.

There was also plenty to like about their opener, not that Barnsley punters were amused.

After giving Kane the bird when he entered the fray as a substitute in the final quarter, the Bristolian announced himself.

Following some tidy interplay with Freddie Ladapo, he spotted the unmarked Wiles in space in a central position in the corner of his eye and found him with a smart, intuitive pass.

It was the sort of vision Barnsley lacked on the day and stamp of quality Duff knew he was getting when Kane joined.

Wiles did the rest and showed his penchant for a well-timed derby goal in the process.

It was he who scored the winner in Rotherham United’s last Championship away success, against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane, where his grandfather, the late Eddie Colquhoun, used to hold court.

Wiles took aim and buried a blistering drive out west.

On his strike, he said: “My first touch was so bad….The pitch is starting to dry up and the ball got caught under my feet, but I thought: ‘I’m hitting it’ and I struck it well and it just found the top corner."

His moment also gave Kasumu a taste for it.

Deep into stoppage-time, the birthday boy crowned his milestone with a powerful low shot which evaded Slonina before nestling in the net.

The songs were Huddersfield ones. At the start, they belonged to Barnsley, whose followers were bedecked in pink to support a noble charity cause.

Those in pink on the pitch weren’t pretty. And developments ensured the fun that their sell-out support had in baiting Duff and Kane faded.

There were some justified jeers at the end while Huddersfield basked. A bit of trust between fans and players was re-established in the process. Everything together.

Huddersfield Town: Chapman; Spencer, Pearson, Lonwijk; Kasumu; Sorensen, Wiles, Hodge (Kane 70), Miller; Marshall (Lees 90+2), Radulovic (Ladapo 70). Substitutes unused: Maxwell, Hogg, Headley, Evans.

Barnsley: Slonina; De Gevigney, Roberts, Earl; Cotter (O’Keeffe 59), Craig (Russell 87), Connell, Gent (Benson 59); Keillor-Dunn (Lofthouse 76); Cosgrove, Humphrys (Jalo 60). Substitutes unused: Killip, Pines.

Referee: D Rock (Herts).