Huddersfield Town 1 Millwall 0: Huddersfield pull away as Clarke goal beats Millwall

Peter Clarke's first-half goal lifted the hoodoo that had seen the Terriers fail to claim a victory in 10 previous meetings with their rivals in the top seven.

More importantly, however, it also widened the gap between Huddersfield and nearest challengers Colchester United to six points.

With Aidy Boothroyd's side still to visit the Galpharm Stadium, it means the final play-off place is surely now Town's to lose – a belief clearly shared by the home fans as they filed out into the night with broad smiles after the final whistle.

It was a similar story across the West Riding in Leeds, where Clarke's winner could not have been celebrated with more gusto had the scorer been Robert Snodgrass or Luciano Becchio.

Millwall making the long trip back down the M1 empty-handed means Leeds can today open up a four-point gap on the chasing pack with victory at Gillingham.

And if they do that, then just like Town, the prize of automatic promotion that United have been chasing all season really is theirs to lose.

Not that this is of any concern to the good people of Huddersfield this morning as they look forward with confidence to the final three games.

The decisive goal last night came six minutes before the break and owed a huge debt to a poor decision from Millwall goalkeeper David Forde.

As Anthony Pilkington floated a corner from the left flank, Forde decided very early to come and try to collect.

It proved a fatal mistake with the ball floating yards over the goalkeeper's head to present Clarke with a chance the Town captain was never going to waste.

The goal capped Huddersfield's best spell of the game, during which the home side had moved the ball around at pace and started to ask serious questions of the Lions' defence.

First, a swift attacking move had ended in a corner that Gary Roberts centred for Neal Trotman to power a header into the side-netting.

The fans watching at the Kilner Bank thought the ball had gone in and they were on their feet again in the 38th minute following excellent work from Roberts.

His trickery accounted for two defenders before the ball was rolled to Jordan Rhodes, who drilled a low shot just a yard wide of the post.

Millwall, for their part, stroked the ball around nicely in the opening 45 minutes but lacked a cutting edge, something that the early enforced substitution of Shaun Batt may well have played a part in.

Batt's replacement, Jonathan Obika, did drill a low shot wide from the edge of the area but it was perhaps an incident on 16 minutes that best summed up the Lions' first-half efforts.

Steve Morrison, on collecting the ball from a team-mate, turned smartly and pushed the ball past Peter Clarke only to then run straight into the Huddersfield captain.

There was no way Clarke could get out of the way but that did not stop Morrison appealing in vain for a spot-kick that would not have even been awarded had the game been taking place amid the pressure cooker atmosphere of The Den.

After the break, Millwall improved hugely with the introduction of record goalscorer Neil Harris bringing some much needed polish to the visitors' attack.

It was a cross from the veteran striker that should have led to the Lions equalising only for Marc Laird to somehow guide his header wide from inside the six-yard box.

Another excellent delivery from Harris on the right flank then caused Town untold problems with Tom Clarke relieved to see the ball run to safety after failing to cut it out.

The home side's relief was again evident 17 minutes from time when Obika headed against the crossbar from Jack Smith's cross.

In contrast to the visitors, Huddersfield looked much edgier in the second half with the midfield conceding far too much territory.

They did, however, still manage to carve out a couple of chances with the most clear-cut coming nine minutes after the restart.

Not for the first time, Pilkington was the creator with a long ball forward that allowed Robinson to lob the ball over the stranded Forde but beyond the far post.

With Millwall looking more and more dangerous as the game wore on, Robinson's miss threatened to be costly.

However, thanks to the profligacy of the visitors' attack and some determined defending by the home side, Town held on to claim a victory that may well prove decisive for both of West Yorkshire's League One teams.

Huddersfield Town: Smithies; T Clarke, Trotman, P Clarke, Peltier (Williams 84); Pilkington, Kay, Drinkwater, Roberts; Rhodes (Novak 64), Robinson (Berrett 90). Unused substitutes: Eastwood, N Clarke, Pearce, Eccleston.

Millwall: Forde; Smith, Robinson, Ward, Craig; Hackett (Harris 55), Laird, Abdou, Schofield; Batt (Obika 5), Morrison (Alexander 84). Unused substitutes: Sullivan, Barron, Grimes, Fuseini.

Referee: J Linington (Isle of Wight).