Huddersfield Town 2 - 1 Rochdale

Huddersfield Town 2 - 1 Rochdale

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Rochdale suffered a second successive defeat going down 2-1 at Huddersfield Town but Keith Hill’s men came away with their heads held high after dominating the majority of the game and creating the better chances.

Benik Afobe slotted home a loose ball before a moment of class from Gary Roberts doubled Huddersfield's lead when he sent a deft lob from 18 yards over Fon Williams.

Dale skipper Gary Jones netted deep into stoppage time with home Huddersfield goal keeper Alex Smithies pulling off a wonder save at the end to deny Akpa-Akpro what would have been a deserved equaliser.

However, the game was marred by a horrific leg injury to Huddersfield's Anthony Pilkington which saw an eight minute stop in play.

The Dale boss made three changes to the side that lost to the MK Dons at the weekend with Brian Barry-Murphy, Will Atkinson and Liam Dickinson earning starting places. Jean Louis Akpa-Akpro, Matt Done and Nicky Adams dropped to the bench.

After seeing an end to their eleven match unbeaten run, Hill would have wanted his side to start brightly against one of the league’s favourites for promotion and they did just that.

Within the opening 15 seconds Wiseman found space down the right but couldn’t find a team mate in the area.

The first real attempt at goal came from Dale. Liam Dickinson, up against one of his former sides, stole the ball in midfield and laid the ball into the path of Kennedy but his shot was always rising.

The home fans were up in arms moments later when referee Nigel Miller made some mystifying decisions. A Town corner hit the back of Craig Dawson and flew over the bar but the County Durham official pointed for a goal kick whilst at the other end, an over hit Barry-Murphy centre was adjudged to have taken a touch off a defender when it quite clearly hadn’t. From the corner O’Grady saw a bullet header pushed away by Smithies in the Town goal.

All the pressure was coming from the visitors and when Holness sent a downward header towards goal, the travelling fans thought it was heading in but a last gasp clearance was needed to keep the scores at 0-0.

That score didn’t last for long but it was the home side who edged in front through striker Benik Afobe.

A long ball forward found former Dale loanee Jordan Rhodes in acres of space in front of goal but a perfectly timed challenge by Widdowson stopped the Terriers leading scorer from adding to his tally but the ball fell kindly to Afobe who slotted home from 8 yards.

The goal came against the run of play and it was to get worse eight minutes later for Keith Hill’s men when Gary Roberts picked up the ball on the edge of the Dale area and with seemingly no danger, the former Accrington man, sublimely chipped Fon Williams with a perfectly weighted lob.

The second goal didn’t deter Dale as they pushed on for a route back into the game.

Some great one touch football almost yielded a goal but Dickinson’s strike went wide of the mark whilst Gary Jones hit the post after sneaking between defenders to get on the end of a direct ball with the defence recovering as the Dale skipper was about to strike the loose ball.

The second period began much the same as the first had ended with Rochdale on top. Holness went close with a looping header whilst Atkinson’s volley screwed wide

The major talking point of the game came just before the hour mark when Joe Widdowson crossed from the left but as Huddersfield’s Anthony Pilkington went to block, he must have got his studs caught in the turf and went over on his leg/ankle.

The players closest to him, mainly Liam Dickinson and Gary Jones, frantically waved the medics to attend to Pilkington, who was quite clearly in a bad way with both sets of players visibly upset at what they had seen.

Dale skipper Gary Jones knelt next to the stricken Town player throughout his treatment before he was taken to hospital by ambulance.

After almost eight minutes the game resumed.

The injury didn’t affect Dale’s concentration as they went in search of a goal.

Dawson had a header saved whilst Jones saw his shot fly wide.

Marcus Holness made a rare mistake at the back with 84 minutes on the clock which allowed Afobe the chance to shoot, Town's first chance of the second period, but Fon Williams blocked.

With the clock approaching 90 and the knowledge there would be a considerable amount still to play due to the Pilkington injury, O’Grady saw a thunderous volley blocked with Kennedy’s follow up effort wide.

With six minutes of the eight added on left, Dale got back into the game through skipper Jones. A Peter Clarke block from an Akpa-Akpro shot fell to Jones outside the box and his shot took a nick off a defender to wrong foot Smithies.

With the deficit halved, Dale pushed and with virtually the last kick of the ball Smithies pulled of a world class save to deny Akpa-Akpro, whose diving header would have given Rochdale a fully deserved share of the spoils.

Keith Hill spoke after the game: “That was the best 2-1 defeat I have ever been involved in.

"I thought the performance tonight was deserved of more in terms of points. We were superb and I’m not too down or despondent with the game as it gives me belief in what we are doing.

"To come here and play the type of football we did and to upset them as we did its rewarding and satisfying, but as they say points make prizes and we leave with no points.

"You cannot argue with the finish for their second goal and the first goal was clinical. Joe Widdowson gets a great foot in but it dropped kindly for them and nothing dropped kindly for us.

"The save at the end was unbelievable. It was a great cross and good header but that’s the way it goes sometimes.

"It’s a real shame for Pilkington, it was a nothing challenge, no one is to blame. It’s awful when things like that happen on a football pitch. He is tremendous player and it’s a shame he is going to be out of the game for a long time. I hope he makes a full recovery."

Attendance: 12531 (991 away)

Rochdale: Fon Williams, Widdowson, Wiseman, Dawson, Holness, Jones (c), Kennedy, Barry-Murphy, Atkinson, O'Grady, Dickinson (Akpa-Akpro 77)

Subs (not used): Edwards, Thompson, Done, Adams, Gray, Williams

Huddersfield Town: Smithies, Hunt, Kay (McCombe 43), P Clarke (c), Jordan, Kilbane, Roberts, Arfield, Pilkington (Lee 63), Rhodes (Cadamarteri 57), Afobe

Subs (not used): Colgan, Atkinson, Novak, T Clarke

Referee: Nigel Miller
Assistant Referees: P Bankes and R West 
Fourth Official: J Devine