Written off at large before a game which even caretaker-manager Gerry Murphy believed everyone outside Huddersfield expected them to lose, a rousing fightback in the second half of an excellent derby rewarded them with a result which might double as a badly-needed catalyst for improvement.

The Terriers forced a win against a Leeds United team who had hoped to reach the top of their division this weekend. In rising to a potentially uncomfortable occasion, it will not hurt Huddersfield to have pricked the bubble of their West Yorkshire neighbours.

United were given the chance to run riot by the goal they scored in the fourth minute, and Gary McAllister was the manager with more reason to feel aggrieved by the final result, at least on the balance of possession.

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His frustration will focus on the tame goal conceded by his players immediately after half-time, and a header from Luciano Becchio which the striker drove against the crossbar when it was easier to find the net.

Yet it was hard to begrudge Murphy or his squad their result after a grim fortnight at the Galpharm Stadium, and Michael Collins' composed overhead kick at the death was a worthy winning goal.

United were in control early on and seemed comfortable after half-time, but Town succeeded in marking Fabian Delph out of the game in the second half, and the quality of Leeds' performance decreased as the influence of their 18-year-old midfielder waned.

The spirit of Town's players was as strong as it could realistically have been a fortnight after the departure of former manager Stan Ternent – and they had the nerve to fight back from an early concession.
Promotion remains a more realistic prospect at Elland Road than it is for the employees of the Galpharm Stadium, and Leeds' performance was not poor enough to merit a defeat. But McAllister cannot have failed to notice that his team, again, lacked a certain something at the end of their numerous attacks.

United's boss named Jermaine Beckford, his leading goalscorer, in reserve as he had against Derby County on Tuesday, but Murphy was forthright enough to overlook a proven striker of his own.

He found no place for Liam Dickinson in his squad, unceremoniously ending the striker's three-month loan from Derby which has been worth a goal from every second appearance. Yesterday's derby should have been Dickinson's swansong but the urgency of Murphy's job did not afford him or his club room for sentiment.

Their penchant for charity has been pronounced this season, however, and the frailty of their organisation was demonstrated by the sight of Murphy's defence self-destructing after four minutes.

Becchio, United's lone striker, drifted towards the left wing to collect the ball, and his cross to Matt Glennon's back post fell in between two of his defenders, Joe Skarz and James Barrett. Each waited for the other to flick the ball to safety, and Robert Snodgrass punished their hesitancy by stabbing it over the line with an out-stretched boot.

The worst scenario for Huddersfield was a repeat of last season's fixture at Elland Road, which Leeds settled by scoring four goals without reply, and Snodgrass' goal made that prospect immediately possible.

Bitten by the scoreline, Huddersfield countered immediately with a free-kick from Gary Roberts which beat Casper Ankergren and the crossbar and a shot from Keigan Parker that rose over United's goalkeeper. And their strikers kept McAllister's defence engaged as often as they saw the ball. The glaring difference between the teams before the interval was the range and quality of United's passing in midfield.

Occasional mistakes played into Leeds' hands, like the loose throw-in from Andy Butler which saw Delph shoot wide from outside the box, but other passages of play were too incisive and accurate for Town to contain.

Andy Robinson's sweeping pass to Snodgrass on the right wing after 24 minutes brought a shot with the outside of the striker's right boot which, from a narrow angle, swung within yards of Glennon's net. And when a string of passes started by Neil Kilkenny gave Frazer Richardson a clear view of Huddersfield's keeper, he could only shoot tamely when a full-blooded strike was needed.