Dean Hammond's brace rescued a point for the U's against Huddersfield Town this evening.

Dean Hammond rescued a point this evening with his second goal a minute into injury time after the U's looked set to suffer defeat at Huddersfield Town. Hammond's penalty in the first half had given the U's a lead, but Town replied in the second period through Pilkington and Roberts looked to have secured Lee Clarke's side all the points. They reckoned without the U's captain's injury-time treat.
Lambert was forced into one change, but made another three as he looked for a result in Yorkshire. Jimmy Walker had travelled with the squad but pulled out late with an injury meaning a return to the starting line-up for Mark Cousins. With no substitute keeper (Dean Gerken hadn't travelled), Lambert was forced to name five outfield players and substitute keeper on the bench. Elsewhere, Mark Yeates failed to start his first League game of the season, while Anthony Wordsworth and goalscorer Scott Vernon dropped to the bench to allow Clive Platt, David Perkins and captain Dean Hammond to come back in to the side.
Cousins had early work to do as he watched Pilkington fire over after he had been allowed to run too far while a scuffed clearance from the young goalkeeper almost gifted Cadamarteri a chance but thankfully, he wrong-footed the former Evertonian. Central defender Chris Lucketti than headed a corner over the bar.
Just after the quarter of an hour United took the lead thanks to Hammond. Marc Tierney's storming run down the left ended with a cross which hit the arm of Goodwin. A clear penalty but with Vernon and Gillespie not in the starting line-up it was down to skipper Dean Hammond to lift the ball over Smithies from 12 yards.
Hammond saw a freekick go well over from 20 yards while Cousins did well to prevent a looping ball going in to the net albeit at the expense of a corner. Clive Platt and Lewis Gobern then entered the referee's notebook for two challenges - the former flattening the Huddersfield Town goalkeeper Smithies.
Lee Clarke had clearly given his side a rocket at the break and the home side came out firing on all cylinders taking just five minutes to reduce the arrears. Cousins had initially made a goo save from Roberts' shot but could only divert the ball in to the path of Pilkington who had the simplest job of tapping the ball in to the empty net whilst the U's defence looked in vain for an offside flag.
Shortly afterwards the U's were forced in to their first change of the game as Paul Ried limped off to be replaced by Chris Coyne. A flurry of substitions did not help the flow of the game but in truth the U's were hardly in the second half showing little cutting edge. Steven Gillespie came on for Simon Hackney whilst Andy Booth and Craney came on for Goodwin and Jutkiewicz.
Twenty minutes after the break United went behind as Town scored the goal they deserved. Craney rattled the U's cross bar with a stinging shot that had Cousins beaten but the U's couldn't clear the danger. Roberts, the former Ipswich Town wide man, drilled in a shot which Cousins could do little about.
United responded by introducing Anthony Wordsworth for Lewis Gobern meaning that the leading goalscorer in Mark Yeates wouldn't been having a say in the U's result. However, in the first minute of injury time, Dean Hammond rescued the point. A free-kick just outside the box was delightfully curled over the wall and in to the net by the former Brighton midfielder for his 5th goal of the season. Steven Gillespie almost made it a remarkable turnaround but as he was released by Izzet, he just checked his run and though he tested out Smithies, the keeper had the answer to the ex-Cheltenham man.

U's: Cousins, Maybury, Reid (Coyne 55), Baldwin, Tierney, Perkins, Hammond, Izzet, Hackney (Gillespie 64), Gobern (Wordsworth 68), Platt
Subs not used: Yeates and Vernon
Huddersfield: Smithies, Holdsworth, Lucketti, Butler, Williams, Cadamareri (Ainsworth 73), Goodwin (Craney 56), Collins, Pilkington, Jutkiewicz (Booth 62), Roberts
Subs not used: Eastwood, and Clarke

Ref: K Woolmer
Att: 10,580

Photo: Action Images

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