IF – and it’s obviously a big if at this stage – Middlesbrough go on a Championship charge in the second half of this season then Friday night’s win at Huddersfield Town will be pinpointed as a huge moment.

The celebrations that followed Jonny Howson’s dramatic late winner showed that the players and staff knew exactly that. Just seconds earlier the captain had seen his penalty superbly saved by Huddersfield’s third choice keeper Jacob Chapman and Boro looked set to have to settle for a point.

But from the resulting corner, the captain was on the spot again and hit a bouncing shot into the top corner to spark scenes of pure ecstasy in the Boro dugout and the away end.

Boro might not have the momentum of this time last year but they now have exactly as many points as they’d accumulated at the same stage last season. They were nowhere near at their best on a filthy night in west Yorkshire and for the first half were crying out for a centre-forward. Josh Coburn provided exactly what they’d been missing when he came off the bench early in the second period and made an instant impact to put Boro ahead, but Town hit back through Michal Helik and looked the more likely victors until the late drama.

Huddersfield beat Blackburn impressively on Boxing Day but won just one of 11 before that and included in a list of their 11 absentees for Boro’s visit was their first and second choice goalkeepers. Chapman was handed the gloves and his first start since joining the club four years ago. Boro, you’d have thought, would have been keen to test him but come half-time they’d only managed one effort on target.

Quite how the game was goalless at the break was the result of remarkable missed chances rather than the excellence of the Aussie keepers.

Chapman must have thought his first real involvement was going to be to pick the ball out of the net when Isaiah Jones latched on to a Jonny Howson pass and lifted the ball over the keeper but the winger then inexplicably miskicked from two yards out in front of an empty net and Yuta Nakayama somehow scrambled clear.

Josh Koroma’s miss quarter of an hour later was nowhere near as shocking but the Huddersfield forward will be in no rush to see a replay. He’d done the hard work after Huddersfield dispossessed Alex Bangura on halfway and the forward rounded Glover, who raced off his line and completely misjudged his interception. In Koroma’s defence, his touch around Glover had taken him wide and he did have a lunging Boro defender to lift the ball over but he still should have scored. Instead, his attempt to find the empty net crashed back off the bar.

Boro were desperately lacking a striker to play off and Carrick quickly saw to that in the second half, introducing Josh Coburn just four minutes after the restart. The change was bold, with defender Anfernee Dijksteel replaced and Jones dropping to right-back, but the rewards were instant. Coburn had been on the pitch just five minutes when he ghosted in behind Nakayama and poked in from close range after a sublime lofted through-ball from Rogers.

Boro’s joy was short lived and Huddersfield were level within six minutes. Thomas had asked questions with his deliveries all night but this time it was his driving run from the right that caused confusion in the Boro defence. Fry’s attempted clearance fell at the feet of Helik on the edge of the box and the defender’s low strike went in off Glover’s right post.

Huddersfield were buoyed and well on top, prompting Carrick into a change of shape in an attempt to stem the tide. Matt Clarke replaced the ineffective Sam Greenwood as Boro switched to a back three, and the change worked a treat. Boro got a grip of the game, started to threaten again and were handed the perfect chance to snatch a late winner when Rogers was fouled in the box. Howson missed his penalty but instantly made amends.