Town and Lee left devastated as justice is done at the death

Coming on when his team are 3-0 ahead, for instance, is not what makes the veteran striker tick.

Instead, Lee wants to be the one who turns the game and against Carlisle United he very nearly was that man.

Entering the fray just before the hour and with Huddersfield extremely fortunate to only be trailing by one goal, he preceded to lead what came within a whisker of being the ultimate smash and grab raid by Town.

After creating Lee Novak’s equaliser against the run of play 10 minutes from time, Lee then drilled a low shot in stoppage time that seemed destined to clinch an unlikely three points for Huddersfield only for the ball to crash against the foot of the post and bounce to safety.

Sixty seconds later, the fine margin between success and failure in a promotion race was underlined as Carlisle went up the other end and grabbed a dramatic ‘95th-minute’ winner through Lee Miller.

On the balance of play, Miller’s late goal meant justice was done at the end of a contest the Cumbrians had dominated but that did nothing to lessen the sense of devastation felt among the Town ranks.

Lee told the Yorkshire Post: “I did think we had won it at the end. I don’t think I will strike a ball as cleanly as that and it not go in.

“Unfortunately, the ball hit the inside of the post and then it didn’t bounce to Jordan as I hoped it would. It was disappointing, as was most of the afternoon.

“We realise as players that (performance) wasn’t good enough. We had been in great form so that made us all bitterly disappointed at how we played.

“The gaffer had a few words to say afterwards but they were said in the dressing room so are sacrosanct.

“We know we didn’t play well. That wasn’t the real us and that is massively disappointing.

“The lads were down afterwards but we can’t be too down as it is not often we get beaten.

“All we can do is make sure we come back strongly on Tuesday (at Leyton Orient). I think it will be a big response.”

On his own impact on the game, Lee added: “I don’t want to come on when we are 3-0 up. I want to come on and make a difference. And I nearly managed it.

“I crossed the ball for Lee Novak to score and it would have been the icing on the cake if I could then have got the winner.

“But it didn’t go in and we have to move on. With regards the promotion race, we still have to play Sheffield Wednesday but we need results to go for us and that means it is out of our hands.

“Anything can happen in the final games but we have made it hard for ourselves. That is the truth of it.”

Lee’s assessment of the race for second place in League One will no doubt have Town fans nodding in agreement after the manner of their team’s defeat at Brunton Park and the fact both Sheffield clubs won on Saturday.

The upshot is Simon Grayson’s side travel to Orient tomorrow knowing they must win what is the club’s game in hand on both Wednesday and United.

Even victory, however, may not be enough for the Terriers, who following the Blades’ win at Hartlepool United trail Danny Wilson’s men by eight points.

If Huddersfield are to return from east London with all three points then they will have to improve hugely on their efforts against in-form Carlisle.

Buoyed by beating fifth-placed Milton Keynes Dons on Tuesday night, the Cumbrians tore into their Yorkshire visitors from the very start.

Francois Zoko was the home side’s outstanding performer as he gave Town right-back Jack Hunt a torrid afternoon but it was in central midfield where Carlisle’s control originated.

The industrious trio of Tom Taiwo, Liam Noble and James Berrett made their numerical superiority pay to ensure most of the opening hour or so was played in Huddersfield’s half.

How Grayson’s side made it to the interval still on level terms is a question few home fans in the 7,530 crowd could answer other than with a shrug of the shoulders.

Carlisle were twice denied by the woodwork in the opening 45 minutes. First, an acrobatic overhead kick from Zoko crashed against Alex Smithies’ right-hand post following good work from Frank Simek.

Then, just before the break, Miller skipped past Hunt and Diego Arismendi before squaring to Liam Noble, whose shot beat Smithies’ outstretched hand but not the upright.

The goal Carlisle’s play had deserved finally arrived three minutes after the interval when a flowing move culminated in former Town Academy graduate Berrett sweeping Simek’s cross into the net.

Even after falling behind, Huddersfield still struggled with their efforts before the introduction of Lee from the bench being perhaps best summed up by the passage of play just before the break that saw an initially promising attacking situation degenerate into a defensive panic as Sean Morrison and Diego Arismendi got in a tangle as Carlisle hustled and harried the ball.

Thankfully for the 1,000 or so Terriers fans who had travelled up the M6, Lee’s arrival at least heralded an improvement and, eventually, an equaliser, as Novak tapped in a drilled cross from the veteran.

Lee then went close to sealing an unlikely victory only for the ball to strike a post and pave the way for Carlisle’s dramatic winner when Miller capitalised on fatal hesitation by Smithies to beat the Town goalkeeper with a cheeky back-header.

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