A second-half Daryl Dike effort condemned Huddersfield Town to a 1-0 defeat against Barnsley in the Sky Bet Championship.
The 65th minute strike was enough to take all three points and leave Town empty-handed from the Yorkshire derby at the John Smith’s Stadium.
For the meeting with the Tykes, Head Coach Carlos Corberán made three changes to the winning side at Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Having made his return to the match day squad in that game, Josh Koroma came in from the start to make his comeback from a hamstring injury that had kept him on the sideline since December.
Yaya Sanogo missed the weekend’s win at the City Ground with a foot injury but was fit enough to be back in from the off alongside Rarmani Edmonds-Green who was the third and final switch.
Under the setting sun at the John Smith’s Stadium, it was the visitors who had the best of the early openings. Despite looking offside, Cauley Woodrow got in behind the Town defence and flashed a shot wide of Ryan Schofield’s goal having come inside onto his left foot.
At the other end, the returning Koroma beat the Tykes’ offside trap to produce Town’s first opening. The returning forward drove into the penalty area before having his attempt well-blocked at close range.
A good spell followed for the visitors, with Dominik Frieser and Woodrow firing attempts straight at Schofield before Alex Mowatt’s free-kick from the left side of the box brushed the side-netting on its way wide.
With that the final chance of the first 45, Barnsley picked up where they had left off before half-time when play resumed, with Schofield called into action once more to tip a Carlton Morris header around the post.
After a intense period of end-to-end action, the space opened up for the visitors to foray forward and with that attack, they took the lead.
A dinked cross from Morris on the left of the byline was met acrobatically by Daryl Dike who found the net with his effort to put his side 1-0 up on 65 minutes.
There was a let off for Town soon after as the South Yorkshire club nearly had a second with just under 15 minutes to go. After Morris’ looping header was cleared off the line, Michał Helik’s close-range effort crashed back off the crossbar.
In the Terriers’ search for an equaliser, Lewis O’Brien met substitute Sorba Thomas’ cutback but saw his floated effort denied by Barnsley ‘keeper Bradley Collins.
With the hunt for that all-important goal going on, on-loan Ajax midfielder Carel Eiting made his return from a long-term injury and immediately came close to helping Town get on level terms.
An incisive through-ball found the run of fellow recent returnee Rolando Aarons, who had also been introduced with the Dutchman, but the winger’s low cross intended for Danny Ward in the box was cleared behind.
In the closing minutes, Sarr was again required to clear from underneath the crossbar to keep the Terriers active in the contest, following a frantic period of play inside the penalty area.
Despite a late push as the Terriers continued to turn up the gears in the final minutes at the John Smith’s Stadium, the Tykes closed out the encounter to take all three points from the Yorkshire derby at the John Smith’s Stadium.
Next up for Town is a trip over the Pennines to Ewood Park, with Blackburn Rovers the hosts in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday 24 April 2021; 15:00 BST kick-off.
HUDDERSFIELD TOWN (3-1-4-2)
Ryan Schofield; Naby Sarr, Richard Keogh, Rarmani Edmonds-Green (Sorba Thomas, 69’); Jonathan Hogg (c); Duane Holmes (Rolando Aarons, 76’); Lewis O’Brien, Juninho Bacuna (Carel Eiting, 76’), Aaron Rowe (Scott High, 59’); Josh Koroma (Danny Ward, 69’), Yaya Sanogo
Unused subs
Joel Pereira; Richard Stearman, Demeaco Duhaney, Jaden Brown
BARNSLEY (3-4-2-1)
Bradley Collins; Mads Juel Andersen, Michał Helik, Michael Sollbauer; Callum Styles, Alex Mowatt, Romal Palmer (Jordan Williams, 78’), Callum Brittain; Carlton Morris, Dominik Frieser; Cauley Woodrow (Daryl Dike, 45+1’)
Unused subs
Jack Walton; Conor Chaplain, Toby Sibbick, Clarke Odour, Aapo Halme, Victor Adeboyejo, Jasper Moon
REFEREE
David Webb
