MX23RW : Monday, February 3 05:01:09| >> :600:250939:250939:

Huddersfield Town 0-0 Sheffield United - Huddersfield Town win 8-7 on penalties

Huddersfield 0-0 Sheffield Utd - Huddersfield win 8-7 on penalties
© PA Photos
Huddersfield are promoted to the Championship after a dramatic 8-7 penalty-shootout victory over Sheffield United at a blistering Wembley.

Huddersfield Town have been promoted to the Championship after a dramatic 8-7 victory on penalties over Sheffield United at Wembley.

Despite Huddersfield seeing most of the ball early on, it was United who looked most threatening in the opening half with Terriers' keeper Alex Smithies appearing uneasy.

First the young Englishman looked hesitant following a long ball forward, before he missed two attempted punches when trying to clear crosses from his area but luckily for Huddersfield nothing came of these mishaps.

Simon Grayson's side's main threat seemed to come from right-back Jack Hunt as the two Yorkshire teams went in level at the break with not a single real goalscoring opportunity.

Huddersfield almost had the lead moments into the second period when Danny Ward hit the upright with a fizzing drive.

The game then petered out in the next half an hour, with neither side testing the keepers at either end in the hot conditions.

The first attempt on target came in the 83rd minute when Peter Clarke saw his header saved low by Steve Simonsen before Lee Novak saw his rebound effort cleared off the line by Blades captain Michael Doyle.

The Terriers took confidence from this and Clarke again saw a header saved before top scorer Jordan Rhodes watched his header drift wide of the far post.

Substitute Chris Porter sent a header bobbling wide of the post with a rare Sheffield chance before full time was called.

Porter was having an impact and saw another header blocked before Stephen Quinn danced inside the area but his low effort was palmed away by Smithies.

In the second 15 of extra time Huddersfield substitute Alan Lee was denied acrobatically by Simonsen before Clark again won a header, this time the ball was cleared off the line by Nick Montgomery.

Penalties would settle promotion the second tier of English football as neither side could find a way through after 120 minutes of lacklustre football.

Six of the opening eight penalties were missed as both sides looked nervous before 13 penalties in a row were scored with Terriers keeper Smithies beating his opposite number Simonsen with the 21st penalty.

Simonsen himself then had to step up but the veteran goalie blazed over to send Huddersfield into the Championship.

ID:28729: cacheID:28729:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:4195:
Written by
Pascal Lemesre
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Jordan Rhodes
Read Next:
Half-Time Report: Huddersfield 0-0 Sheffield Utd
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Birmingham CityBirmingham27196246192763
2Wycombe WanderersWycombe29178455302559
3Wrexham29167643251855
4Stockport CountyStockport29148744281650
5Huddersfield TownHuddersfield28146841261548
6Leyton Orient281351040251544
7Charlton AthleticCharlton2812883628844
8Reading28135104341244
9Bolton WanderersBolton29135114343044
10Barnsley29127104139243
11Stevenage2711792725240
12Lincoln CityLincoln29109103534139
13Blackpool2891184140138
14Mansfield TownMansfield27114123534137
15Rotherham UnitedRotherham28107113333037
16Wigan AthleticWigan2897122728-134
17Exeter CityExeter2995153346-1332
18Bristol Rovers2894152844-1631
19Peterborough UnitedPeterborough2986154555-1030
20Northampton TownNorthampton2979132845-1730
21Burton Albion29510143044-1425
22Crawley TownCrawley2766152748-2124
23Shrewsbury TownShrewsbury2865172848-2023
24Cambridge UnitedCambridge2857162950-2122


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!