Huddersfield Town 2 Hull City 0: Solid and competent Town extend Tigers' travelsickness

With Town boasting just one win in their last eight games and City without a win on their travels since April 9, this did not have the portents of being a classic. Huddersfield will be happy enough.

The breakthrough was likely to be important from both sides’ perspective and it arrived from Town.

It had a touch of luck, but the hosts - and certainly not Mark Fotheringham - would not have cared one bit in his first match in charge.

Cyrus Christie actually threatened to lead a Hull break, but he ran into Jack Rudoni. Etienne Camara picked up the loose ball on the left and saw his dangerous cross glanced into his own net by Lewie Coyle just before the half hour mark.

The second arrived early in the second half when Michal Helik crowned an excellent performance with his first goal in Town colours.

The hosts’ game management was good after that. Hull rang the changes, but looked a team of individuals. Soft at the back and soft up top.

It was a first half where Hull had plenty of possession, but did not do much with it. Several aimless potshots over the top were the extent of their threat on goal, until a big moment moments before the interval.

Coyle’s throughball evaded Town’s backline, with Longman played onside and in the clear. It looked like all the world like a leveller would transpire, but he stroked the ball the ball wide of the advancing Lee Nicholls.

Town kept eight-goal Oscar Estupinan quiet, with the main danger seeming to be Dimitrios Pelkas, who picked up some good positions.

The Terriers, aside from a goal, had a couple of decent moments from set-pieces, with Tom Lees, who fired one chance straight at Nathan Baxter at full-stretch, chesting the ball just wide soon after at the near post after being left unmarked from Sorba Thomas’s corner on the right.

Hull, who had seven efforts on goal in the first period, but none on target, made an interval change, with Dogukan Sinik coming on for Callum Elder.

The first development of the second half was not to the visitors’ liking.

Regan Slater received a caution for a challenge on Jackson and from the resultant free-kick, City did not clear their lines and paid the price.

Thomas’s set-piece was not dealt with and the ball broke for Danny Ward on the left and his fine cross was begging to be attacked, which Helik duly did to head home and make it 2-0.

From Town’s perspective, the game was now about game-management, while Hull - who quickly made a triple substitution - needed to up it drastically. But they looked bereft of conviction and confidence.

Their first shot on target arrived coming up to the hour mark and it was a tame one at that, with Coyle’s effort straight at Nicholls.

Hull’s increasingly flaky backline enabled Rhodes to find space and his half-volley was tipped onto the post by Baxter, who then blocked Lees’s follow-up.

The loose ball found Helik, whose effort was cleared on the line by Jacob Greaves.