Huddersfield 0 Forest 2: Vaughan’s bad luck sees Town’s Cup hopes disappear

The Championship’s Golden Boot looked more than a distinct possibility at that stage only for a combination of niggling injuries and loss of form to lead to his campaign unravelling.

Few would have believed it possible at the Riverside as Vaughan beat Boro goalkeeper Jason Steele just before the hour that it would be another 11 months before the striker would score again in open play. Last night, that wait finally ended with a trademark bullet header from close range.

Unfortunately for Town, though, Vaughan’s predatory finish came at the wrong end as he powered the ball past a helpless Joe Murphy from close range to break the deadlock in what until then had been a finely-balanced Capital One Cup tie.

Henri Lansbury then added a second goal to extinguish any hopes of a Huddersfield comeback and ensure the club’s impending new managerial appointment – Neil Lennon and Chris Powell are believed to still be in the frame – will have just the league and FA Cup to concentrate on this term.

The late double by Forest meant a happy end to the night for Stuart Pearce, who despite a sizeable contingent of 1,555 fans having travelled north opted to make seven changes from the team that beat Reading so comprehensively at the weekend.

Clearly, though, the former England international felt his squad had sufficient depth to see off Huddersfield.

For the opening 45 minutes, the jury was out on whether Pearce’s faith was misplaced or not as both teams had chances to get the all-important first goal.

For Town, Jon Stead curled a shot against the post with Karl Darlow well beaten just a couple of minutes after Harry Bunn had fired into the side-netting.

The Forest goalkeeper also had to react smartly to tip over an Adam Hammill cross that took such a wicked deflection off one-time Leeds United loanee Eric Lichaj that, but for Darlow’s intervention, would have looped into the net.

At the other end, Murphy, as in the previous round at Chesterfield preferred to Alex Smithies, proved equally valuable to his side. First, he dived bravely at the feet of Laes Veldwijk as the striker chased a neat through ball.

Then, after Michail Antonio had incurred the wrath of the home fans with a blatant dive, the former Sheffield Wednesday winger chose a more palatable way to try and give the visitors an advantage with a low drive that Murphy did well to turn round the post.

Antonio was also unfortunate to see a looping header from a corner beat Murphy on 23 minutes only for Hammill to head clear from directly under his own crossbar.

After such a finely-balanced opening 45 minutes that had seen both teams defend admirably, the consensus among the 6,509 crowd was that it might take something special to break the deadlock.

That proved to be the case, though only after a largely disappointing third quarter had seen the game become bogged down.

There were still chances during that time, as Veldwijk broke away smartly down the left before firing a shot just beyond Murphy’s far post.

At the other end, Paul Dixon dispossessed former Terriers defender Jack Hunt wide on the left and nudged the ball inside for Jacob Butterfield, but his shot was easily held by Darlow.

The response of the two managers to the apparent stalemate was to turn to their star striker, as Vaughan was brought on by Mark Lillis and Stuart Pearce turned to £5.5m summer signing Britt Assombalonga.

For Forest, the substitutions proved decisive – though not in the way anyone expected, as Vaughan broke the deadlock in unfortunate fashion.

Nineteen minutes remained on the clock when the ball was worked to Jamie Paterson on the right flank.

He had time to look up before firing over a cross that was a couple of yards in front of anyone in a red shirt.

Instead, Vaughan stood on his six-yard line and seemed certain to head the ball to safety.

Sadly for Town, he did exactly the opposite as, in trying to clear, all last season’s top scorer could do was power a header into his own net.

The Forest players couldn’t believe their luck, while Vaughan looked more mystified than anyone as to why he had planted such a firm header in totally the wrong direction.

Either way, the advantage was with Pearce’s men and they made certain of a safe passage to the third round when Lansbury finished with aplomb from the edge of the area in the 82nd minute.

Now there really was no way back for Huddersfield, who did at least have the last chance of the night when Danny Ward fired just over deep in stoppage time.

Huddersfield Town: Murphy; Smith (Holmes 71), Wallace, Lynch, Dixon; Hammill, Coady, Butterfield, Ward; Bunn (Vaughan 61), Stead (Scannell 79). Unused substitutes: Smithies, Billing, Crooks, Sinnott.

Nottingham Forest: Darlow; Lichaj, Mancienne, Lascelles, Hunt; Antonio (Burke 46), Tesche, Osborn, Paterson (Fryatt 79), Lansbury; Veldwijk (Assombalonga 66). Unused substitutes: Harding, Fox, McLaughlin, Durrant.

Referee: M Brown (East Yorkshire).