Lucas Jutkiewicz headed home his 5th goal of the season as Birmingham claimed a point at Huddersfield.
Town came into the game with one of the worst runs of form in the Championship after losing three of their last 4 matches including a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Fulham last weekend.
They welcomed a Birmingham side, who were in slightly higher spirits than Huddersfield after a David Davis strike earned the blues a draw against bitter rivals Aston Villa last Sunday.
As expected, it was the home side that had the early chances, and Town could’ve been ahead in just the 5th minute when top scorer Elias Kachunga had an effort turned off the line by blues defender Ryan Shotton.
Then, Polish keeper Tomasz Kuszczak beated away a powerful 20-yard strike from Nahki Wells before he kept out the follow-up from Chris Löwe.
Birmingham had barely shifted the ball into Huddersfield territory in the first half, and they were defending once more as Tommy Smith had an effort from distance which once again, Kuszczak was equal to.
Nahki Wells curled his free-kick wide of the right post as the Terriers were piling on the pressure, Birmingham left-back Jonathan Grounds diverted the ball wide of the target on a couple of occasions to keep Town at bay.
Kuszczak was proving hard to be beaten as Wells had one final effort before the break, which the Birmingham keeper got down well to.
The second half saw a similar pattern to the first, Huddersfield still dominating and you felt it would only be a matter of time before Town broke the deadlock, Wells was denied yet again when his header was blocked from Kachunga’s cross.
Defensive midfielder Jonathan Hogg hit a belter from far out but Kuszczak once more thwarted Town.
David Wagner decided to make a double change as Jack Payne and Rajiv Van La Parra replaced Kasey Palmer and Sean Scannell.
The substitutions proved to work and Town finally beat the solid defence of Birmingham in the 69th minute when Elias Kachunga seized the opportunity to shoot at goal from outside the box, Kuszczak did get a hand to it but not a strong enough one as Kachunga’s effort found the bottom left corner.
Huddersfield were unlucky not to double their advantage two minutes later when Wells hit the crossbar from 25 yards.
But Town’s lead lasted a mere 4 minutes when referee Stephen Martin made a poor decision to award Birmingham a free-kick after Aaron Mooy had won the ball. David Cotterill whipped in the ball which Town failed to clear and there was ex-Town loanee Lucas Jutkiewicz to head in the equalizer.
The Town faithful felt outraged as the ref waved away a penalty shout six minutes from time when Nahki Wells went down.
The points were shared as the whistle blew and without a doubt the happier of the sides were the west-midlands club after a hard fought defensive display from Birmingham denied Town to bow into the international break on a high.
In conclusion, Town were made to pay for not taking their chances and failing to clear from yet another ball into the box which is clearly a weak point of the Terriers.
Birmingham will be more than happy with a point after being on the back foot for almost the entire match. The result means they remain 7th in the table.
Player ratings:
Huddersfield Town:
Danny Ward 6, Tommy Smith 7, Micheal Hefele 7, Christopher Schindler 7, Chris Löwe 7, Jonathan Hogg 8, Aaron Mooy 7, Sean Scannell 6, Kasey Palmer 7, Elias Kachunga 8, Nahki Wells 7.
Substitutes:
Jack Payne 7, Rajiv Van La Parra 7.
Birmingham City:
Tomasz Kuszczak 8, Jonathan Spector 8, Ryan Shotton 8, Micheal Morrison 8, Jonathan Grounds 8, David Cotterill 7, Stephen Gleeson 7, Maikel Kieftenbeld 7, David Davis 6, Clayton Donaldson 6, Lucas Jutkiewicz 7.
Substitutes:
Diego Fabbrini 6, Greg Stewart 6.
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