The dream has come true and the terriers are back in The Championship after defeating Sheffield United 8-7 on penalties at Wembley.
The match was played at England's national stadium in glorious conditions as the sun was out on a day that will be remembered by all Huddersfield fans for years & years to come. The terriers sported their home blue & white stripes as the blades played in their new 12/13 season red & white stripes.
The first corner came in the 7th minute as Woods and Higginbotham set about their ways down the wing to force the blades onto the back foot. The corner was sent swinging in and Tommy Miller managed to head it across goal into the path of on loan centre back Sean Morrison. The defender shot on target but the effort was blocked by United's defence. Jack Hunt started to look threatening for the terriers moments later when he manage to brush past Sheffield's left back Matt Hill before crossing into the box. The cross was deflected into the path of Higginbotham on the edge of the box but his shot was put well wide of the target.
The blades started to come back into the game minutes later and by doing so they created their first chance of the game from a Huddersfield Town error. Sheffield launched the ball up into the Town half and with skipper Peter Clarke facing his own goal and on the back foot he wasn't able to cope with it and got caught out by an attacking Sheffield United player. The ball was crossed into the terriers box and picked up by United's winger Williamson who could only hit the side netting with his shot from a difficult angle.
Miller was battling very hard in the middle of the park and it was his crunching tackle which won the ball and allowed Damien Johnson to push forward into space. Johnson played a beautiful ball into the path of Lee Novak but as the striker was about to latch onto it, Blades centre back Maguire took it away from him with a great interception/tackle.
Simon Grayson looked to take the game to Sheffield United and did so by switching the wingers, Ward & Higginbotham, around. It worked beautifully as Ward sent in a deep cross which was met by the head of Higginbotham but unfortunately the ball dropped to Neill Collins before any of the on rushing Huddersfield strikers.
As the first half drawed to a close, Sheffield United were the team which were starting to dominate the game with crisp passing moves and attacking flair. Left back Hill drove a shot in at goal from the edge of the box but skipper Peter Clarke made up for his earlier mistake by getting his body in the way in a typical yet remarkable style.
Jack Hunt pushed forward for the terriers moments later down the wing and with the ball at his feet he cut inside, skipping past two defenders and unleashing a shot but it failed to test Sheffield's goalkeeper.
The first half whistle was blown by the referee and with no clear cut chances what so ever, it looked like both sets of fans were in for a long evening. The terriers were looking dangerous down the wings especially Higginbotham & Ward who were constantly on the ball trying to find a way through. However, top goalscorer Rhodes had been quite in the first half with his first touch failing him on several occasions. At the other end, Cresswell was being kept rather quite by Morrison & Clarke who were dominating aerial battles between themselves.
As the teams emerged for the second half it was revealed that neither manager was ready to make a change just yet and the same starting XI lined up in the glorious sunshine at Wembley. It was the terriers who immediately created the games first huge chance and it came from the increasingly impressive Danny Ward. A Town cross was cleared by Blades defender Maguire straight into the path of Ward who was on the edge of the box. The winger took one touch of the ball before curling it towards the top corner but unfortunately, with the keeper beaten, the ball smashed off where the post & bar meet and went to safety.
The terriers were dominating the early periods of the second half and starting to make the Sheffield team chase after the game by keeping hold of the ball. When the blades eventually did get hold of the ball they launched an attack which forced the terriers to defend two corners in front of the blades faithful. The first came to nothing but the second reached Maguire's head but he could only head wide of the goal. The ball was up at the other end next as the terriers pushed to try and get that decisive goal. Higginbotham won the corner and delivered it into the box where Peter Clarke managed to get above his marker but his powerful header could only ripple the side netting.
Callum Woods set up the next flowing attack for the terriers when he expertly intercepted a pass to send Rhodes on his way. League One's top goalscorer Rhodes switched the ball to the opposite sode of the field into the path of ex-Falkirk winger Kallum Higginbotham. Kallum hit the pass on the volley and sent it well wide of the goal to the annoyance of numerous Town players and a lot of Town fans.
The game was opening up and becoming instant end-to-end action as both teams looked for the winner late on. In the 77th minute, Quinn pressed forward with the ball and his cross/shot skipped along the front of the goal but no Blades player could get a touch of the ball and direct it goalwards. Quinn was becoming increasingly dangerous as the game progressed and minutes later he was threatening the terriers goal once again when his one two with Lowton opened up some space but once again he failed to hit the target with his shot from the edge of the box.
The terriers won yet another corner in front of the 25000+ blue & white army that had come down from West Yorkshire. Danny Ward went across to take the corner and his in swinger was met brilliantly by the head of Peter Clarke but this was blocked by the mass of Sheffield players in the box. The ball landed at the feet of hard working midfielder Tommy Miller who side footed it towards the corner of the goal. Just as it looked like Huddersfield were going to take the lead, Nick Montgomery miraculously slid in to clear the ball off the line and deny the goal. Another corner followed for Town and this one was equally as dangerous as Clarke's unmarkedx headed effort was fantastically saved by Blades goalkeeper Simonsen.
In the dying moments of the game, substitute Gary Roberts went down theatrically in the box claiming for a penalty but this fell on deaf ears by both the linesman & the referee. The final whistle went moments later and both Yorkshire clubs headed for extra time.
Both sides came out fighting after the short break for extra time but it was Sheffield United who created the first chance through a Chris Porter header which was incredibly blocked by Callum Woods who was having a great game. Skipper Peter Clarke then put his whole body on the line with his amazing diving block from yet another Quinn shot moments later.
Extra time substitute Alan Lee was getting involved in a lot of aerial battles upfront for the terriers and it was Lee who won Town a free kick in a dangerous position. Gary Roberts lined the free kick up and sent in a deep cross to the back post for big defender Morrison to get on to but even he couldn't jump high enough as the ball went away for a goal kick.
Quinn once again was running at the Huddersfield defence with the ball at his feet but this time he did force Smithies into a save before the referee blew for half time of extra time.
The second half started off well for Town as Hunt linked up with Roberts well and it was his superbly weighted reverse pass that gave Alan Lee half a yard to shoot at goal and force Simonsen into yet another decent save. Both teams were not taking any chances in the final 15 minutes and the referee blew his whistle yet again to signify the dreaded penalty shoot-out. 120 minutes of football could not separate the two Yorkshire clubs at Wembley!
Here is how the penalties went;
Penalty 1 (Town): Tommy Miller saved
Penalty 2 (United): Lee Williamson saved
Penalty 3 (Town): Damien Johnson missed
Penalty 4 (United): Neill Collins scored
Penalty 5 (Town): Alan Lee missed
Penalty 6 (United): Matt Lowton missed
Penalty 7 (Town): Peter Clarke scored
Penalty 8 (United): Andy Taylor missed
Penalty 9 (Town): Scott Arfield scored
Penalty 10 (United): Chris Porter scored
Penalty 11 (Town): Jordan Rhodes scored
Penalty 12 (United): Stephen Quinn scored
Penalty 13 (Town): Gary Roberts scored
Penalty 14 (United): Harry Maguire scored
Penalty 15 (Town): Calum Woods scored
Penalty 16 (United): Kevin Doyle scored
Penalty 17 (Town): Jack Hunt scored
Penalty 18 (United): Michael O'Halloran scored
Penalty 19 (Town): Sean Morrison scored
Penalty 20 (United): Matt Hill scored
Penalty 21 (Town): Alex Smithies scored
Penalty 22 (United): Steve Simonsen missed
Huddersfield gained promotion into The Championship even though they missed their first three penalties in extraordinary scenes at Wembley!
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