City made a change at the break, Tom Bayliss replacing Alfie Lloyd, and started the second half on the front foot with a series of long throws and a corner that put Huddersfield under early pressure without creating a clear opening.
The first real chance of the half came from a direct ball forward, which beat the visiting defence, allowing Ben House to go through on goal, but Lee Nicholls reacted well, blocking the effort and taking the striker in the process.
Huddersfield responded with a double substitution, Ryan Hardie and Lynden Gooch making way for Alfie May and Lasse Sørensen, before Marcus Harness was introduced shortly after for Antony Evans. City followed with changes of their own, Reeco Hackett and Ryan Oné replacing House and Dom Jefferies.
Hackett made an immediate impact, winning a corner soon after coming on. Bayliss delivered, Sonny Bradley headed down, and Nicholls produced a save on the line to keep Huddersfield ahead. Hackett continued to drive City forward down the right, winning another corner as the visitors began to take control, and from the resulting delivery the ball was nodded off the line before a follow-up from Street was blocked, with strong appeals for handball waved away. It was a stonewall penalty, with Feeney grabbing his face, knowing he’d handled. Still, we have got away with a couple, so you can’t complain too much.
The game then opened up. Jack Moylan led a break and saw his cross nodded back into Bayliss, whose effort from distance was comfortably gathered, before Huddersfield went straight up the other end. Adam Reach went down injured during the move, but play continued, but May fired over.
Reach was unable to continue and was replaced by Ryley Towler, and Huddersfield might have had a spot kick of their own when Josh Feeney was shoved into Tendayi Darikwa in the area, only for the referee to dismiss the claims. Bayliss was later shown a yellow card for a high boot on Cameron Humphreys as the contest grew increasingly stretched.
City continued to press, and another long throw caused problems, Moylan nodding the ball across goal for Towler at the back post, but the defender headed wide when he should have tested the goalkeeper. Deji Elerewe was then introduced for Darikwa as City pushed forward, and he looked comfortable.
The pressure kept building. Hackett delivered into the box for Oné, whose effort was blocked, and when the move was recycled, another Hackett cross was met by Tom Hamer, who headed over. City were knocking, and when eight minutes of injury time were added, the home side panicked. Only one side looked like they were going to win.
City finally found their reward deep into stoppage time, continuing to press. A long throw created chaos in the Huddersfield area, the ball eventually dropping to Towler, who stabbed home to level the scores. It was his first of the season, City’s 19th, and was no more than City deserved. Towler was booked after entering the crowd, but it was a goal he enjoyed.
There was still time for one more opportunity, another long throw leading to a foul by Cameron Humphreys on Bayliss as the ball was cleared, giving City a late free kick. It was wasted, but the Imps job was done.
Results elsewhere meant City didn’t lose any ground. We now just need to match three of Bolton’s results to be promoted automatically, and we’re now five points clear of Cardiff City at the top of the table.
On to Rotherham this weekend, who lost 5-0 tonight.
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