Huddersfield ended an eight-match winless run as they produced one of the narrow football results of the weekend in the Championship. On either side of half-time, Joseph Hungbo and Jaheim Headley scored their first goals for the Terriers, bringing them from behind after Troy Deeney had given Birmingham an early lead. Huddersfield’s win, they’re first since December 29th, takes them up to 22nd in the table and two points from safety. Warnock, 74, announced his retirement on Monday to take over at his former club, which he led to promotion to the second tier in his first term in charge in 1995. He made seven changes to the lineup that started the 3-0 defeat at Stoke last week, with only Tom Lees, Headley, Jack Rudoni, and skipper Jonathan Hogg remaining.
But Birmingham captain Deeney bundled the ball in from close range from former Huddersfield midfielder Juninho Bacuna’s left-footed cross in the sixth minute to put Birmingham ahead. Huddersfield, on the other hand, rallied brilliantly and nearly equalized inside a few minutes when Blues goalkeeper John Ruddy mishandled a probing free-kick from Hogg and teenage French midfielder Etienne Camara hit the post with his outstretched left foot. Warnock’s team gradually eased into the game and drew level in the 25th minute, hitting the visitors on the break from a corner.
Headley fed Hungbo down the left after latching onto a clever roll-out from goalkeeper Nicholas Bilokapic, and the Watford loanee cut inside and hammered the ball into the top corner. The second half began with a bang, with Deeney’s diving header from Emmanuel Longelo’s cross hitting the post seconds after the restart. Huddersfield took the lead after Colin misjudged Bilokapic’s long kick, allowing Headley to run in behind and drive the ball into the bottom corner. After the goal, Town was ecstatic, and it took two brilliant stops on the line from Bacuna on the hour mark, first to deny Matthew Lowton and then Danny Ward, to maintain the score at 2-1. In the 70th minute, Deeney had another chance to double his tally, but he fired over the crossbar from point-blank range.
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