Stockport boss Dave Challinor was left counting the cost of conceding a first-minute own goal that proved enough to give Huddersfield a 1-0 victory in a battle between promotion contenders.
Lewis Bate’s deflection directed Brodie Spencer’s cross into the Stockport net at the end of Huddersfield’s first attack, and Stockport were unable to find a reply despite dominating the run of play.
Challinor said: “It was a horrible start to the game, which it goes without saying can’t happen.
“I thought we had some good moments throughout the game, but didn’t have the quality in the final third of the pitch to get the goal.
“Maybe our play deserved it, maybe not, but we’ve had two gilt-edged opportunities at the start of the second half that we’ve not taken. That’s the difference in terms of the levels when you come up against the teams that are at the top of the division.
“You’ve got to take those chances, because I’m not sure how many opportunities on goal Huddersfield have had, yet we’ve lost the game.
“We had good control of the first half, and if I’m being critical we could have played forward more: they were too negative and played backward to the goalkeeper. But we’ve had some good moments within that.
“You have to produce on a given day and we’re disappointed that we go away from here – which was always going to be a tough place to come – with nothing from the game, based on what we’ve done in it.”
Huddersfield counterpart Michael Duff was glad to see his side extend their unbeaten run to 12 games, despite being denied what could have been a first-half penalty for a clumsy challenge on Josh Koroma.
Duff said: “It’s a good win against a good team. Weirdly, sometimes you can score too early, like scoring when we did, because all your game plans – for them as well – almost go out the window.
“I think the referee’s decision to not give a penalty is a big moment in the game, because if it’s a penalty and if we score, I think there’s a totally different outlook on the game.
“Second half, particularly, we were really loose with the ball. We didn’t keep it well, we didn’t put any passes together, and then ended up just sitting in.
“We had some chances but they had the big chance – but I don’t think there were loads of chances in the game.
“We were resilient, but can be better, absolutely. But it’s finding a way to win and we’ve played better than that in other games this year and lost. So I’m not under-valuing it either, because it’s a good win and Stockport are a good team.”
