HUDDERSFIELD TOWN 2, BRISTOL CITY 1
Relegation-threatened Huddersfield Town put further daylight between them and the teams at the bottom of the Sky Bet Championship following a hugely important home win against promotion-chasing Bristol City.
A run of two wins from their last nine league matches had left the Terriers nervously looking over their shoulders, though it was hard to believe on the evidence of this performance.
The pressure eased with a thoroughly deserved victory which was earned through from on-loan Benfica player Chris Willock and a penalty from Karlan Grant as they climbed to 19th place and five points clear of the bottom three.
A late goal from Famara Diedhiou left Huddersfield to face an anxious final few minutes as they were aware how costly another slip would be.
While there was jubilation from the hosts, it was bitterly disappointing for Bristol who have won only once in five league games to slip outside the play-off positions.
Manager Lee Johnson pulled no punches admitting his side was not good enough.
“The players know it was nowhere near the standards we have set. As a collective, we didn’t perform anywhere near good enough,” he said.
“It was very difficult to take and there is a bad feeling sat in my stomach.
“I expected us to perform better than we did and feel as upset as I have been from one of the sides I have managed.”
That contrasted sharply with Terriers’ manager Danny Cowley who described it as an “important win”.
He said: “It was a good performance, probably our best performance with the ball.
“If I was critical we should have had a third or fourth goal as some of our attacking play warranted it.
“I was disappointed not to keep a clean sheet, but I was pleased with the response after the goal we conceded.
“In our position, we could easily have panicked, been nervous and anxious, but we stayed calm and saw out the game.”
After an opening 35 minutes of mediocrity, the match suddenly exploded to life.
In the space of three incident-filled minutes, Frazier Campbell could have scored a hat-trick.
A compete air kick in front of goal was followed by a goal ruled out for offside while another effort was deflected against the upright.
The breakthrough was made in the 39th minute with a goal made on Arsenal’s training ground as it involved the former academy products from the Emirates.
Emile Smith Rowe provided the assist with a crossfield pass to Willock who cut in from the right before walloping a shot high past visiting goalkeeper Daniel Bentley.
Bristol came within inches of equalising with their first goal attempt of the game in the seventh of eight added minutes.
A drive from striker Diedhiou struck the post with goalkeeper Jonas Lossl beaten.
Town doubled the lead in the 63rd minute after winning a penalty when Smith Rowe was unceremoniously upended by Nathan Baker.
Grant scored after his spot kick squeezed past Bentley who was unlucky not to keep out his 14th goal of the season,
Huddersfield had several chances in the last half hour to increase their lead.
Grant’s deflected shot was well kept out by the legs of Bentley with Smith Rowe firing the rebound over from six yards and then disappointing pulled an effort wide after weaving his way clear after a mazy run.
Smith Rowe was denied by Bentley with Lewis O’Brien firing into the side netting with his follow-up effort.
And they looked as though they may be costly misses when Bristol halved the deficit in the 88th minute.
Jay Dasilva’s header was parried by Lossl and Diedhiou, following up, nodded home from a couple of yards.
Huddersfield, in fairness, held firm and were never troubled again as they claimed three valuable points in their bid to stave off the threat of relegation.