A late Harry Toffolo equaliser ensured Huddersfield Town a 1-1 draw with Derby County at Pride Park.
The left-back’s 81st minute strike cancelled out Tom Lawrence’s opener midway through the second half to ensure the sides shared the points from a well-contested Sky Bet Championship encounter.
Town Manager Danny Cowley made two changes to his starting XI in an attempt to bounce back from the midweek defeat to Cardiff City at the John Smith’s Stadium.
Andy King, who made four appearances on loan with the Rams last season, and Fraizer Campbell came into the side in place of Emile Smith Rowe and Steve Mounié at Pride Park.
On a miserable afternoon in the East Midlands, it was Town who started the brighter of the two sides.
The Terriers’ first opportunity came after King and Campbell combined early on. The midfielder found Town’s no.22 on the edge of the box, before his strike on the volley after a nice turn was denied by a diving Kelle Roos in the Derby goal.
Soon after, the Rams created a first chance of their own. Martyn Waghorn cut in from the right and fired a strike that was goal-bound, but well blocked by Christopher Schindler.
The home side continued to settle into the game as the minutes ticked over the half-hour mark. A 30-yard free-kick from Derby Captain Wayne Rooney forced a low diving stop from Jonas Lössl before the Danish goalkeeper jumped up to gather the headed rebound.
At the other end, it was Campbell who continued to be Town’s main attacking threat. The forward connected rose superbly to connect with Juninho Bacuna’s corner from the right, but his glanced effort fell inches wide of the far post.
Lössl was being kept busy in the Town goal as the game approached half-time. The ‘keeper got down to his left to tip substitute Graeme Shinnie’s driven effort around the post.
The end-to-end nature of the game continued into stoppage time at the end of the first 45, with Town pushing to go in ahead at the interval.
Campbell slipped Elias Kachunga in, who’s cut back ball from the right nearly saw Curtis Davies turn his clearance into his own goal, moments before Danny Simpson drilled wide, with Craig Pawson bringing an end to the half after the right-back’s effort.
Like in the first half, it was Danny Cowley’s side who came out the better and were nearly rewarded for another fast start. Campbell came the closest he had yet, rifling a strike from the edge of the area that cannoned back off the far post.
Town may have gone closest to the first goal, but it was the hosts that made the breakthrough on 61 minutes. A short corner worked its way to Tom Lawrence who’s swerving shot from the edge of the area found the top corner to give Derby the lead.
Just under 10 minutes later, it took a great save from Lössl to keep the deficit down to one goal. Town’s ‘keeper stood firm to deny Waghorn’s powerful diving header from point blank range.
Danny Cowley’s side had caused the Rams problems at the back throughout the afternoon and finally had the breakthrough and a leveller on 81 minutes.
Harry Toffolo burst forward from his left-back position into the box before firing past Roos at his near post to get the Terriers back on level terms.
The away end was in jubilant mood and nearly had even more to shout about soon after, as Town very nearly had a quickfire double, and the lead, only for a good save from Roos. Steve Mounié found the run of substitute Chris Willock, who got through one-on-one, but his goal-bound effort was denied by the Rams’ ‘keeper.
Not long after, four minutes of added time were signalled, but neither side could get the all-important goal in the additional minutes, meaning the points were shared at Pride Park.
Next up for Town is the second of two consecutive away games, with a trip to the Liberty Stadium to face Swansea City in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday 22 February 2020; 3pm kick-off.
DERBY COUNTY (4-4-2)
Kelle Roos; Craig Forsyth, Matthew Clarke, Curtis Davies, Andre Wisdom (Jayden Bogle, 79’); Tom Lawrence, Wayne Rooney (c), Max Bird, Duane Holmes (Graeme Shinnie, 29’); Chris Martin (Jack Marriott, 62’), Martyn Waghorn
Unused subs
Henrich Ravas, Florian Jozefzoon, Max Lowe, Jason Knight
HUDDERSFIELD TOWN (4-2-3-1)
Jonas Lössl; Harry Toffolo, Christopher Schindler (c), Richard Stearman, Danny Simpson (Chris Willock, 80’); Andy King (Emile Smith Rowe, 75’), Jonathan Hogg; Juninho Bacuna, Lewis O’Brien, Elias Kachunga; Fraizer Campbell (Steve Mounié, 75’)
Unused subs
Joel Coleman, Trevoh Chalobah, Rekeil Pyke, Jon Gorenc Stanković
REFEREE
Craig Pawson
ATTENDANCE
27,502
