A LAST-minute goal saw Ilkley Town beaten by Huddersfield Amateurs at home on Saturday.

After the recent flood damage to the 4G pitch at Ben Rhydding, Town played on grass at home for the first time this campaign.

The ball was up in the air far too much during the first half and neither team would fashion a clear cut opportunity, as both teams endured a frustrating 45 minutes. Huddersfield were very strong in the air, in fact throughout the 90 minutes they rarely lost a header.

Town had little fluency and simply could not get a foothold in the game, and as a contest both teams seemed to cancel each other out.

For the spectators it was an incredibly poor half to watch as both teams came in at 0-0 with the consensus being a mistake would probably win the game.

The second half provided a slight improvement and it was Huddersfield who took take the lead on 65 minutes.

A free-kick was floated to the back post and an unfortunate deflection played the ball back across the six-yard box for the Huddersfield player to slot home to make it 1-0.

Town levelled the scores within a few minutes.

For the first time in the game, Town played with more urgency and started to stretch the away defence.

Some nice play on the edge of the Huddersfield penalty area saw the ball make its way to Tom Smith, who decided to go for a shot and from point blank it hit the Huddersfield player's arm and a penalty was awarded.

The majority of people at the ground agreed this was harsh and it seemed the defender could do little to get out of the way.

Smith stepped up and calmly tucked the ball in the bottom corner to make it 1-1.

In the final 20 minutes, both teams created opportunities, the best of which went Huddersfield's way, as the shot beat Tim Edney but fine work by man of the match saw Joe Garside clear off the line.

As the clock wound down, it seemed like both teams would share the spoils and on the balance of play this seemed about right.

However in the final 30 seconds, a long punt saw Huddersfield snatch victory.

The unfortunate Tom Bull, who has been outstanding this season, simply sliced his clearance perfectly into the run of the Huddersfield centre forward, who kept his composure and slotted into the bottom corner to make the final score 2-1.

Ilkley Town manager Simon Armstrong said: "Today was, by our standards, a really poor performance. We had no real control over the game, didn't pass well and created little. Huddersfield were that little bit stronger and very impressive aerially.

"We've played really poorly twice this season, today and earlier in the season against Wyke. Whilst we're all very disappointed, we need to learn from the experience and remember what a fine season we've had so far and how much there's still to play for."