Ten minutes into the second half of a scrap of a game in filthy conditions, the Huddersfield Town fans roared with delight when returning familiar face Alex Pritchard – booed throughout – took a wild swing at a miskick that rather summed up all that had gone before.

But just moments later, Pritchard silenced those jeers and sent the sell-out Sunderland following home happy when he provided the finishing touch to one of the few fine moves the brutal weather conditions allowed, in doing so firing the Black Cats back to winning ways, a 2-0 win wrapped up in the dying seconds by Amad Diallo.

Pritchard endured a rough three and a half years with the Terriers but in Halloween week the 29-year-old returned to haunt Town, who remain rooted to the bottom of the Championship.

This wasn’t pretty but in conditions so rough a banner from the stands was at one stage blown onto the pitch, it was about getting the job done. And Tony Mowbray’s side dug deep through some difficult spells early in both periods and came up with the one deciding moment of quality, provided by Patrick Roberts, the visiting player who looked most likely throughout to make something happen. He crossed from the right for Pritchard to slot home.

Twelve months ago there was a full division separating these sides, Huddersfield sitting pretty in fifth in the Championship, Sunderland fifth in League One but rocking from successive hammerings at the hands of rivals Rotherham United and Sheffield Wednesday.

While Sunderland went on to succeed in the play-offs, Huddersfield fell at the final hurdle and a lot has changed since their Nottingham Forest Wembley devastation, Town losing their best two players Lewis O’Brien and Harry Toffolo as well as their manager Carlos Corberan, his replacement Danny Schofield lasting just nine games. Mark Fotheringham was the man tasked with saving Town but he’d won just two of his seven games before Sunderland’s visit, though did beat Millwall at the weekend in what was recognised as Terriers’ best display of the season.

And despite being forced into four changes from the team that beat the Lions, Huddersfield looked like a team buoyed by that recent victory in the early stages against the Black Cats, starting on the front foot and forcing the visitors back. M62 traffic chaos delayed Sunderland’s arrival and the visitors looked sluggish in the early exchanges, Jack Rudoni firing a warning when his early effort beat Anthony Patterson but was just north of the crossbar.

But in brutal conditions, Sunderland weathered that early storm and found their feet, coming to life with two openings just before the midway point of the first half, first Dennis Cirkin lashing just wide of the far post from inside the box before Leon Dajaku followed suit moments later.

Roberts – one of two changes from the team that started against Luton alongside Elliot Embleton – showed flickers of his class and tried to find a spark. But any hopes of easy on the eye football were wiped out by a torrential downpour and gale-force winds. The lack of quality on display was understandable. You suspect if the managers and players were offered the opportunity to call it a day at half-time and both take a point, they’d have gratefully accepted.

Before the break, the hosts were dealt a major blow when Yuta Nakayama was stretchered off injured, his World Cup hopes in doubt and the sympathy of the home crowd clear as all rose in applause. He was replaced at the break by Brahima Diarra, with Tony Mowbray making a change of his own – introducing Simms.

The hope was an improvement on what was being served up, but the miskick from Pritchard early in the second period, to the delight of the home fans, rather summed up the game’s struggle up to that point.

But with the ironic cheers of the home fans ringing in his ears, Pritchard popped up moments later to silence the home supporters, providing the finishing touch to a fine move down the right side, Roberts teeing him up to slot home. The goal came just moments after Huddersfield had spurned two glorious chances, Camara denied superbly by Patterson before Holmes blazed over from close range. And the Terriers were quickly punished.

The game was not yet an hour old but the goal sapped the life out of the hosts and Sunderland managed the final third superbly, frustrating the hosts and adding a second in the dying seconds of stoppage time when Amad  Diallo slotted home on the counter.