Five conclusions: Goals at last and a good point, but Huddersfield Town still need more

There was plenty of reassurance to take from the Terriers' first-half showing against League One leaders Lincoln, but two more goals conceded from set pieces is a concern

1. Mixed emotions, but overall more encouraging than anything

On the final whistle, two Huddersfield Town fans at the top of the Riverside Stand erupted into boos. They were quickly told to shut up. The majority of the stadium instead opted to applaud the Terriers off the pitch, despite the disappointment of conceding a 93rd-minute equaliser.

Town’s inability to see out five more minutes and take the full three points means they’ve dropped out of the top six, leaving them with just nine points from their past eight games. That is nothing like the kind of form that is going to get them back into the play-off places before the end of the season.

But the damage was really done by Town having dropped points against Blackpool, Stevenage, Doncaster, Wigan and Port Vale — most of whom are firmly involved in the relegation fight towards the bottom of the table.

Lincoln were the better side for two-thirds of the game, and will feel the late equaliser was the very least they deserved.

But 29 minutes of Town being on top against a side who came into this game with 16 wins, five draws and no defeats from their past 21 league games was beyond any reasonable expectation based on their awful recent performances. Ryan Hardie’s opener was the first goal a Town player had scored since the Scot notched the winner against Barnsley, back when the shops were still selling Valentine’s Day merchandise at knockdown prices.

A lot of noise was made about Town’s inability to get the job done at bottom-placed Port Vale at the weekend, so it’s only fair that we acknowledge the reverse here.

Town are the first side to score twice against Lincoln since Luton 12 games before. They’re only the second side to get a point out of them in that time too, with third-placed Bolton being the other. Since their last defeat in all competitions — at home to Town in the EFL Trophy in early December — Lincoln have handily beaten Bradford, Plymouth, Cardiff (twice) and Stockport (twice).

After going 2-0 up inside 20 minutes, would you have liked Town to see out the win, regardless of the opposition? Yes, and there’s an argument to be made that they invited too much pressure on themselves in the second half.

But would you have taken a point from this game before kick-off? Also yes.

Was this a significantly better performance than we’ve seen out of Town in the past six weeks? Yes again.

The late equaliser stopped this from being the kind of result that makes you say, ‘This is where it all turns around for them’. But it was, at long last, a reason to start wondering if there’s still hope after all.

There are areas for improvement, naturally, but given where Town have been recently, we’re inclined to take that.