In a season of dramatic late goals add another to the collection, writes Pete Oliver.
Two goals behind and down to 10 men, Wanderers were seemingly down and out and continuing to do it the hard way to guarantee a play-off place.
They're still not there yet – mathematically – but another thrilling comeback edged the Whites ever closer and further under-lined the belief and never-say-die attitude pulsing through the squad.
Two injury-time goals at Huddersfield back in October had given the Whites a thrilling first away win of the season. And this time it was a stunning strike beyond the 100th-minute from substitute from Ibrahim Cissoko that didn’t bring a victory but secured a draw that almost felt like one.
Having led 1-0 at half-time, the Whites should have put the game to bed but after missing a number of chances were rocked by a 15-minute burst just after half-time from Huddersfield that saw the Terriers lead 3-1 and enjoy a man advantage when Jordi Osei-Tutu was sent off for conceding the penalty that saw Town go in front.
It looked a lost cause at that point but Wanderers have shown consistently this season they don’t know when they’re beaten and again they dragged themselves off the floor once the irrepressible Johnny Kenny had maintained his burst of goal-scoring form to pull one back with 13 minutes of normal time to go.
With eight added to that, the clock was on the Whites’ side – and not that of Huddersfield who have shipped costly late goals in recent weeks as their play-off hopes have faded.
A head injury to Chris Forino added further to the stoppage time and from the last attack of the game Wanderers again struck gold to send an already raucous crowd home delirious and looking forward to where this could yet lead.
Unsurprisingly given their mid-week beating of Stevenage, Wanderers were unchanged as they faced another side with top-six aspirations. And while they didn’t quite pick up where they had left off in putting five past Boro, the Whites needed less than quarter of an hour to take the lead.
Amario Cozier-Duberry and Josh Sheehan had both gone close from long range and it was Sheehan’s effort that forced a save from Jak Alnwick at the cost of a corner which Wanderers exploited to the full. Played short to Thierry Gale, the wingman clipped in a cross which Eoin Toal met with a header the skipper guided home to claim his third goal of the season.
Only one team in the top half of the table had conceded more goals this season than the Terriers at that point and they looked vulnerable whenever Wanderers attacked at pace.
But the visitors were also a threat themselves on the break as they looked to hit back in search of just a second win in eight games to revive their fading play-off chances. Wanderers needed a second goal to really gain control and with just over half an hour gone they almost got it at the end of a thrilling move.
The battling Kenny started it deep in his own half before switching the play to pick out Cozier-Duberry. He burst clear and crossed low to the near post where Sam Dalby – whose late goal had sparked that dramatic comeback win in the first meeting in West Yorkshire – just failed to get enough of a touch to guide the ball goalwards.
The busy Kenny then tested Alnwick with a low strike from outside the penalty area and in stoppage time Dalby somehow missed the target from close in as Kenny flicked on a Ruben Rodrigues' corner.
Dalby had another chance two minutes after the re-start to give Wanderers a cushion but from George Johnston’s sublime pass he couldn’t beat the on-rushing Alnwick and having been let off the hook Huddersfield hit back with a quick-fire double to stun the home side.
Firstly, David Kasumu bundled the ball home following a free-kick Wanderers couldn’t clear and then after getting caught out on the counter-attack, Osei-Tutu pulled Kasumu back in the penalty area to earn a red card and concede a spot-kick converted by Marcus Harness.
It had been a disastrous few minutes and things got worse as Town made it three following more slip-shod defending as Toal lost the ball to leave the Whites light at the back before Johnston failed to clear the danger and saw a shot from Kasumu deflect off him and past a wrong-footed Jack Bonham.
That might have been it, but Wanderers had won with 10-man at Plymouth a couple of games back and with 13 minutes to go Kenny gave them hope. The on-loan Celtic man never gives up the fight and after Cozier-Duberry had run out of room the young striker blasted the ball home from a tight angle to make it four goals in his last four games.
Kenny then whistled a swerving shot just wide and with fresh legs on from the bench Schumacher’s men geared up for a big finish, knowing how pivotal late goals have been this season for both sides.
Even then, time nearly ran out in a scrappy period of injury-time. But with an extra couple of minute’s grace, Wanderers made one final push and Cissoko delivered his moment of magic, dropping a shoulder, slipping in his trademark step-over and then curling an absolute beauty into the top corner. Some finish.
Wanderers: Bonham; Osei-Tutu, Toal, Forino (Cissoko 88), Johnston (Christie 78); Cozier-Duberry, Sheehan, Rodrigues (McAtee 78), Gale (Conway 60); Kenny, Dalby (Burstow 78). Substitutes: Broome, Apter.
Booked: Johnston, Gale
Huddersfield Town: Alnwick; Balker, Wallace, Roughan; Sorensen, Humphreys, Ledson, Mumba (Low 98); Harness, Kasumu (McGuane 67); Sebine (Charles 67). Substitutes: Tzanev, Miller, Evans, May.
Booked: Ledson, Humphreys, Harness, Balker, Sorensen
Referee: Jacob Miles
Attendance: 21,891 (1,075 away)