Huddersfield hold off Bolton to reach fourth round - 7M sport

Huddersfield hold off Bolton to reach fourth round



Posted Sunday, January 07, 2018 by PA

Rajiv van La Parra and Danny Williams struck second-half goals barely a minute apart as Huddersfield booked their place in the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 2-1 win at Bolton.

Substitute Van La Parra stabbed home the opening goal soon after the interval and Williams crashed a deflected 30-yard shot beyond home goalkeeper Mark Howard as a turgid cup tie ignited after a dismal first 45 minutes.

Bolton pulled one back with 26 minutes remaining through a header from Derik Osede, who went close to firing an equaliser soon after in front of a disappointing crowd of 11,574.

The two sides are steeped in FA Cup tradition, albeit having carved their names in the competition's history during the 1920s.

Bolton lifted the cup three times during that decade and Huddersfield once, while the visitors were also beaten finalists four times in the 20s and 30s.

But this encounter started out more like a practice match than a cup tie and was not helped by the fact that the Macron Stadium was less than half-full.

Neither side mustered a single effort on goal until Huddersfield midfielder Jonathan Hogg blazed a 20-yard shot over the crossbar in the 37th minute.

Bolton conjured up their only first-half chance four minutes later when Filipe Morais beat his man on the left and crossed to the far post, but Aaron Wilbraham skewed his header way off target when he should have scored.

Huddersfield made eight changes from the side which started in the defeat at Leicester on New Year's Day, with new loan signing Terence Kongolo making his debut in central defence.

Bolton, who have climbed out of the Sky Bet Championship's relegation zone after winning three of their last four matches, also made wholesale changes with six players returning to the starting line-up.

Abdelhamid Sabiri, handed a rare Town appearance, tested Bolton goalkeeper Mark Howard with a rising drive early in the second half and Joe Lolley's deflected effort span just wide.

The Terriers' travelling fans then had something to shout about at last as Town struck twice in just over a minute.

Van La Parra, a first-half replacement for the injured Collin Quaner, poked home at the near post following Sabiri's 51st-minute corner and 70 seconds later Williams' 30-yard shot took a big deflection and fizzed into Howard's right-hand corner.

But Bolton hit back eight minutes later when Osede headed home Morais' corner to keep the tie alive.

Williams went close to crashing home his second, but Howard tipped another long-range shot over the crossbar, and Osede was inches away from an equaliser as his first-time shot curled over.

Bolton pressed for an equaliser without opening up the visitors' defence before Howard saved well to deny Williams again, while Craig Noone fired Bolton's last chance off target in the closing stages.

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