Huddersfield Town 2-3 Bolton Wanderers B match report

Matty Craddock’s side gained a measure of revenge for their 2-1 September defeat in the cup, surviving a spirited second-half comeback from the young Terriers.

Lynford Sackey opened the scoring after just seven minutes, pouncing on a loose ball in the penalty box after the home defence had failed to clear a cross.

Matt Tweedley narrowly missed a chance to double the lead soon after but by the midway point in the first half Huddersfield had worked their way into the game, Aaron Rowe bringing a save out of captain Luke Hutchinson and Neo Eccleston heading just over the bar.

Wanderers B Team have developed a knack for scoring from set pieces that their first team counterparts could potentially learn from, and Arran Pettifer claimed the second with a whipped corner which dropped over Charles Ondo and made its way past keeper Michael Roxburgh.

Though firmly in the driving seat at the break, Bolton would soon find themselves defending again.

Ondo grabbed a goal back within two minutes of the restart, running on to John Russell’s ball over the top and producing a neat finish.

The same player nearly supplied an equaliser 15 minutes later when he steered a header just wide from Neo Ecclestone’s centre. But the pressure finally told – and Ecclestone supplied the finishing off good work from Connor Shanks.

With just over 20 minutes to go, the Yorkshiremen looked primed to go on and win the game – but, alas, there would be another definitive twist.

Once again Wanderers worked magic at a set piece, Pettifer curling a free kick towards Toure at the far post to finish in style.

Still the drama wasn’t over, and no sooner had Bolton gone ahead the referee spotted a pull on Ecclestone and pointed to the spot. Ben Midgley connected well with the penalty but his effort cannoned back off the underside of the bar.

Hutchinson then performed heroics with a fine late save from Russell’s header, and another from Michael Stone’s shot from the edge of the box.