Huddersfield Town vs Ipswich Town. Sky Bet Championship.
The John Smith's StadiumAttendance20,000.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Huddersfield and Ipswich at the John Smith's Stadium as Brandon Williams struck late to earn a point for the Tractor Boys on Saturday.
Saturday 30 September 2023 18:42, UK
Ipswich moved to the summit of the Sky Bet Championship as Brandon Williams' late leveller denied Darren Moore a first home win as Huddersfield boss.
The Terriers looked destined to hand their new manager a dream start to life at the John Smith's Stadium thanks to Delano Burgzorg's goal after 61 minutes.
However, substitute Williams notched an equaliser three minutes from time as the Tractor Boys leapfrogged Leicester into top spot.
The entertaining draw saw both sides extend their unbeaten runs to five league games.
The visitors - who beat Wolves 3-2 in midweek to reach the EFL Cup last 16 for the first time since 2010 - started the brighter.
Wes Burns' floated delivery was met well by the rising George Hirst, but the forward could not direct his header either side of Lee Nicholls.
But Huddersfield - who won a late point against Coventry in Moore's first game as boss - grew into the fixture and should have opened the scoring after 15 minutes.
Josh Koroma was sent through on goal and forced an impressive stop from Vaclav Hladky one-on-one, with the ball looping up and landing on the top of the crossbar.
Ipswich looked uncharacteristically rocked and were fortunate again to not fall behind a matter of moments later.
An inviting cross just eluded Burgzorg before Sorba Thomas' cutback was fired goalwards by Koroma, who was again thwarted by a busy Hladky.
Tenacious Terriers' captain Jonathan Hogg personified his team's strong start with a fierce challenge that teed up Koroma for a strike that whistled narrowly wide.
Despite their early threat, Huddersfield were possibly lucky not to concede a penalty when Omari Hutchinson was felled, but referee Geoff Eltringham was unmoved.
After a brief period of Ipswich dominance, the hosts reassumed control as Moore's outfit finished the half the stronger.
And their supremacy was not swayed by the interval as the Terriers finally secured the goal that their performance richly deserved.
A bright counter ended with Yuta Nakayama threading through to Burgzorg, who advanced with purpose before firing low past a helpless Hladky.
Ipswich, who were in pursuit of a fifth successive second-tier away victory for the first time since 2003, then burst into life as they sought an equaliser.
Substitute Jack Taylor looked to add to his midweek long-range stunner against Wolves, but his strong strike was parried well by Nicholls.
Kieran McKenna's side were indebted to the impressive Hladky, who pulled off a miraculous save to deny Jack Rudoni and prevent Huddersfield from adding a crucial second.
And the stopper's heroics proved key for the visitors as they landed a late sucker-punch.
Hutchinson's deep delivery wreaked havoc and eventually Williams headed beyond Nicholls, extending Ipswich's unbeaten away league run to 14 games.
Huddersfield's Darren Moore:
"We set out our stall early in the game by disrupting Ipswich from settling into their play and their rhythm.
"And then we got the ball into real threatening areas of the pitch; we could have capitalised more with the chances we created.
"We had the more clear-cut chances in the afternoon and I was pleased when we got the goal because we deserved to get noses in front.
"I'd have liked to have seen us extend that because the game was disrupted by the substitutions we were forced to make.
"When Ipswich did score, we didn't allow them to go on and win the game, which was pleasing because it would've been a travesty from our point of view.
"It was a positive afternoon of football played by us; on the front foot, engaging our opponents and setting a positive atmosphere at home."
Ipswich's Kieran McKenna:
"We need to stay humble and keep learning. There's parts of the team and the group that are relatively inexperienced at this level and we'll learn lots from a game like today.
"We're in the middle of a busy schedule and against a motivated team with a new manager and that makes for an excited crowd and energetic group of players.
"It was a tough-fought and competitive game; we had to fight really hard for the point and we can take positives in the way that we kept going.
"We were the team at the end of the game that looked likelier to get the winning goal and that shows good resilience and ambition from the group.
"It's a good point because we didn't play anywhere near our best but we just need to keep focussing on our performances."
