Paal pounces to ramp up the pressure on Moore

WHETHER it be his admission that the first half of their season was ‘unacceptable’, a declaration that a 1-1 draw with Plymouth was ‘not good enough’ or a pledge that he’s ‘not here to sightsee’, Huddersfield owner Kevin Nagle is not one to mince his words. A dramatic 1-1 draw in a sixpointer against QPR is unlikely to have done much to improve the American businessman’s mood after a tense game that had initially looked set to give the Terriers breathing space in the relegation battle. Jack Rudoni’s 86th-minute strike appeared to be decisive, but

Kenneth Paal turned in a 95thminute equaliser from an Ilias Chair cross to keep things as they were at the bottom. The draw heaps more pressure on Darren Moore, who has won just three and drawn 11 of his 22 games since taking over at Huddersfield in September. ‘We’re disappointed with the result,’ he said. ‘It’s another solid performance and we’ve controlled the game for large periods and deserved to win. It feels like two points dropped. ‘I should be eulogizing about three well-earned points and no one would complain about that. We’re not far away, but I accept draws are not enough. We want to win games.’ Moore’s side had the better of the play but it was a scrappy affair. As the game went on, QPR grew in confidence and Elijah Dixon-Bonner saw an effort curl just past the far post. But when a Huddersfield set-piece caused chaos, Rudoni fired home — though Tom Lees’ initial header across appeared to have come from an offside position. That looked to be that until Paal stepped up at the back post in the fifth minute of added time to ensure disaster was avoided for QPR, who remain three points behind Huddersfield. ‘It was not a good performance from our side,’ said QPR boss Marti Cifuentes. ‘We never got a grip of the game in the way I’d have liked. I’m not very pleased with our performance, but I want to praise the guys. To have that personality and courage to get the draw, it shows we are competing.’