Carlisle United recorded a club record tenth consecutive home win at the expense of Town this evening and in the process became the first team to score against a Huddersfield side including Rob Page. Andy Ritchie will be disappointed that his side failed to clear two corners when conceding and despite a first for Town from Page late on, his side could not grab a point.
Town started in their customary 4-4-2 formation with James Berrett selected to replace the injured Jon Worthington in central midfield. Manager Andy Ritchie made one unforced change to the eleven - replacing Danny Schofield with Chris Brandon on the left wing.
However, Luke Beckett did not appear for kick-off - Andy Booth starting the game alongside Phil Jevons in attack instead. Joe Skarz took the vacant place on the bench.
In the absence of Worthington, Rob Page took the captain's armband for the first time in only his fifth appearance for the Terriers but he was caught up-field when the hosts broke from a Town set-piece and mustered the first (albeit tame) shot courtesy of Danny Graham after just two minutes.
Captain Page got a talking to from referee Haines inside five minutes after two hard challenges on Carlisle top-scorer Joe Garner, but the nippy striker dusted himself down and it was his deflected shot in the seventh minute that Matt Glennon spilled. However, the big Town 'keeper did well to push the ball away with Cleveland Taylor following up.
The first ten minutes had belonged to the home side, but Ritchie's side had their first real effort on goal in the 11th minute when a Nathan Clarke long-throw was flicked back from the near post by Booth to Chris Brandon, who scuffed his volley well wide of the left-hand post.
The battle between Garner and Page was an intriguing one, with the Carlisle youngster giving as good as he got against his more experienced opponent. The former Coventry defended brilliantly blocked a Garner drive on the quarter hour mark before Nathan Clarke did similarly well to deny Graham of another shooting chance moments later.
Carlisle custodian Westwood easily saved a deflected Jevons effort in the 19th minute before Page blocked another decent looking Carlisle shot from Graham at the other end.
GOAL - Town then conceded their first goal since Rob Page arrived at the club from the resulting corner. The delivery was flicked on by a Garner at the near post and big defender Danny Livesey joyfully slammed the ball home at the far post, leaving Matt Glennon with no chance.
Town tried to fight back immediately and an excellent Holdsworth cross was headed powerfully towards goal by Andy Booth, but Westwood did well to save the ball at his feet.
BOOKING - Nathan Clarke picked up his seventh yellow card of the season after 26 minutes for an alleged obstruction on Simon Hackney, In all honesty, there didn't seem to be much that the Town defender could do to get out of the way of the midfielder after he had flicked the ball past him.
BOOKING - James Berrett then followed his teammate 4 minutes later for kicking the ball away after a foul had been given against Frank Sinclair.
Cleveland Taylor then flashed a shot wide of Matt Glennon's left-hand post after 33 minutes having picked up a loose pass from Sinclair.
Robbie Williams then gave away a free-kick right on the edge of the box by obstructing Garner which Peter Murphy struck towards goal. Matt Glennon saved the initial effort, but in the ensuing scramble James Berrett did brilliantly to block Taylor-s effort from the penalty spot before the ball was cleared to safety.
Town did have a couple of chances towards the end of the half when Jevons laid the ball off to the edge of the box for Michael Collins to try his luck, but the midfielder hit his curling effort straight at Keiren Westwood.
Collins then spurned Town's best chance of the half in added time when he latched onto a ridiculous headed back-pass from left back Horwood before trying to poke the ball through the legs of the advancing 'keeper, but Westwood did brilliantly to block the shot with his legs before clearing to safety.
In truth, Carlisle deserved their half-time lead despite a notable improvement from the Terriers in the final five minutes and had it not been for some excellent last-ditch blocking from the Town defence it could have been more.
Half-Time: Carlisle United 1 Huddersfield Town 0
Town started quite positively in the second half but it was the lively Garner who had the first effort on goal in the 51st minute, heading a Lumsdon ball into the area way over the bar. The travelling Town support was getting audibly annoyed with the Carlisle striker, who seemed to be adept in the art of winning free-kicks.
One whipped-in Robbie Williams cross caused Westwood a few nervous moments as it flashed across his goal ten minutes in before the same player forced Westwood to push the ball around the post from a long-range free-kick after a foul on James Berrett.
From the resulting corner, Frank Sinclair came close to opening his Town account with a far post header but his effort was cleared off the line by Simon Hackney. Another corner followed and this time Booth's header was easily claimed by 'keeper Westwood.
Carlisle then went up the other end and should have scored a second; Graham's effort from inside the box was pushed out by Glennon and Joe Garner fired the ball across the face of the goal with a gap to aim for at the neat post.
Phil Jevons then had a chance to run at defender Livesey in the 69th minute after a great long pass from Michael Collins but the big centre-back stood up brilliantly to block his eventual left-footed shot.
Town started to take the game to the home side in the last twenty minutes but none of the knock-downs in the box seemed to fall to a black shirt. Robbie Williams did brilliantly to catch Danny Graham on one counter-attack and snuff out the threat, but the Terriers were on top.
BOOKED - Evan Horwood became the first Carlisle player to be booked on 74 minutes when he hauled back Michael Collins after the Irishman robbed him of the ball on the touchline.
GOAL - Danny Graham then added a second goal for Carlisle after 75 minutes and Andy Ritchie will be annoyed that it came from another corner. The set-piece was given after Matt Glennon tipped a Garner header around the post even though the ball may have already been going wide and the near post delivery was not properly cleared by Town, dropping for Graham to volley home from close range.
SUB - Joe Garner was then replaced in the 77th minute, with striker Danny Carlton coming on in his place.
SUB - Andy Ritchie also chose that moment to make a change, replacing James Berrett with Malvin Kamara. This change saw Collins move into central midfield with Kamara taking up his favoured right wing position.
BOOKING - A minute later, Chris Lumsdon was booked for a clumsy foul on Booth.
SUB - David Mirfin was introduced for Nathan Clarke in the 83rd minute.
GOAL - Town got a lifeline with four minutes to go when Rob Page scored his first goal for the Terriers. The big defender had been thrown up the pitch by Andy Ritchie and when Carlisle's defence failed to clear a hopeful long ball into the box, the centre-back calmly chested the ball down and volleyed it firmly past Keiren Westwood.
Carlisle actually did a fairly good job of holding onto the ball in the final stages of the game, with Taylor in particular proving to be a valuable outlet in the right corner. Despite a last second corner, Carlisle hung on for the win.
Huddersfield Town
Matt Glennon, Andy Holdsworth, Michael Collins, Nathan Clarke (David Mirfin 83), Chris Brandon, Robbie Williams, Frank Sinclair, Phil Jevons, James Berrett (Malvin Kamara 77), Andy Booth, Robert Page
Unused Substitutes: Alex Smithies, Joe Skarz, Danny Schofield
Bookings: Nathan Clarke 26, James Berrett 30
Attendance: 6,196
