Fast starters Fleet fail at the death

Huddersfield 2 Gravesend 1

GRAVESEND and Northfleet's adventure in this season's FA Cup came to an end at the first round stage as they lost at Huddersfield Town on Saturday. Andy Ford's side looked set for a replay but Leon Knight cracked a fierce left foot drive into the top corner of the net with just one minute remaining to give the Second Division giants a slightly fortuitous victory.

The Ryman League Premier Division outfit can be proud of their efforts, although after leading for over an hour they'll be disappointed not to have come away from the McAlpine Stadium with at least a draw.

Gravesend got off to the perfect start when Eliot Martin's inswinging corner on two minutes flicked off the top of Nathan Clarke's head into his own net for the opening strike. If that wasn't good enough for the visitors, it could have got even better on 21 minutes when another inswinging corner was headed over the line by Francis Duku. However, all celebrations from The Fleet players and fans were cut short when the referee harshly adjudged that the Gravesend centre-back had illegally climbed over a home defender.

Huddersfield dominated the remainder of the first period but despite creating a number of decent opportunities they couldn't find an equaliser before half time.

The interval seemed to galvanise the visitors and they looked a stronger side in the early stages of the second half but Town's class began to show and after a couple of half chances they deservedly levelled the scores on 63 minutes.

Ade Moses was given time and space by the Fleet defenders to line up a left foot shot from 25 yards and the Huddersfield man made no mistake, finding the bottom corner of the net.

Despite the obvious disappointment of losing their lead, the goal actually helped Gravesend come out of their shells and they were arguably the better team in the last half an hour of the tie.

Liam Hatch and Paul Booth came off the bench to liven up the attacking play and it almost brought immediate reward when the two strikers were involved in a two-on-one situation but the latter was caught off-side as he burst through on goal. If that miss was important, the chance that fell to Darren Smith five minutes from time proved crucial.

After a good run and cross from the inside-right flank, the Fleet midfielder latched onto the loose ball eight yards out but, with only the Town keeper to beat, he blasted the ball over the bar. Four minutes later, Knight who is currently on loan from Chelsea and hadn't been expected to play, scored and Gravesend were out of the competition.

Gravesend: Turner, Lee Martin, Barnett, Duku, Lye (McKimm 86), Smith, Owen, Jackson, Wilkins (Hatch 75), Stadhart (Booth 65). Unused subs: Skinner, Blake.