Derby 1-1 Huddersfield: Jacob Butterfield denies Terriers
From the German Second Division to the Premier League foothills of the play-offs, it has been quite a season for Collin Quaner.
The big striker began the campaign in Berlin before making a January move to Huddersfield. If all goes to plan, he will finish it with a promotion party.
At 6ft 3ins, Quaner provides a physical presence. Bang on cue he is providing goals too. He was the injury-time soring hero against Preston on Friday.
Substitute Jacob Butterfield struck with a deflected effort three minutes from time for Derby
David Wagner saw his Huddersfield side's promotion chances dented with a draw at Derby
Collin Quaner swept Huddersfield ahead from close range inside 10 minutes at Pride Park
MATCH FACTS AND TABLE Derby (4-4-1-1): Carson, Christie, Keogh, Pearce, Olsson, Ince (Camara 71), Hughes, Johnson (Butterfield 72), Anya, Vydra (Russell 72), Bent. Unused subs: Bryson, Baird, Lowe, Mitchell. Bookings: Camara Goals: Butterfield 89 Huddersfield (4-2-3-1): Ward, Cranie (Smith 61), Hefele, Schindler, Lowe, Whitehead, Mooy, Kachunga, Lolley (Hogg 80), van La Parra (Wells 67), Quaner. Unused subs: Hudson, Scannell, Coleman, Payne. Bookings: Hefele, Van La Para Goals: Quaner 9 Referee: Darren Bond (Lancashire) If the football's on, it's on Live tables
Fixtures
Scores Championship
Premier League
Championship
League One
League Two
Scottish Premiership
Scottish Div 1
Scottish Div 2
Scottish Div 3
Ligue 1
Serie A
La Liga
Bundesliga
His status as match-winner for the second time was not to be, however, as substitute Jacob Butterfield struck with a deflected effort three minutes from time.
The ever-changing fortunes of the Championship could not have been illustrated more perfectly than this afternoon.
A week ago Derby were harbouring faint hopes of gate-crashing the play-off places while Huddersfield were worrying about an unwelcome blip in results.
By the time these two clubs kicked off, County were in miracle-needed territory. Huddersfield, meanwhile, had the incentive of taking advantage of Newcastle's defeat at Ipswich.
Quaner's deft touch beat Scott Carson in the Derby goal to give the Terriers an early lead
His goal didn't prove enough to give the Terriers the victory as they were denied late on
To have any hopes of pipping the Geordies to the last automatic promotion place, David Wagner's team really could have done with victory.
Scoring from pretty much the first attack was a promising start even if there was a suggestion of off-side.
Joe Lolley sparked the move, picking out Martin Cranie on the right. Cranie slid the ball through to Quaner who put it past Scott Carson.
Having made the perfect start, the visitors were thanking the assistant referee's flag as Derby threatened to hit back. Tom Ince's curler invited Matej Vydra to finish off with a header. Instead the ball squirted towards Darren Bent who had strayed off side.
Darren Bent saw a goal ruled for offside almost immediately after Huddersfield's opener
This season has been a strange one for Derby, even by their eccentric standards in recent years. Three managers and the outside shout of finishing top six has kept hopes and dreams alive.
The supporters who again showed their loyalty by turning up to Pride Park also required some geeing-up.
Silence can muffle a performance. Derby's players needed to generate some noise but they really struggled to do so. Bent had a close-range effort blocked to raise a brief cheer.
Huddersfield did what any team with a one-goal advantage tends to do. They were disciplined and content to wait for opportunities to break.
At 6ft 3ins, Quaner provides a physical presence and caused Derby problems all game
Lolley sparked one scare with a cross from the right wing which looked like picking out Elias Kachunga except that Will Hughes got there first with a vital interception.
Derby's best hope lay in Gary Rowett's half-time talk and there was certainly a little bit more verve in the shape of Ikechi Anya. At least he brought Huddersfield's under-worked goalkeeper Danny Ward into the action with a shot in the second half which needed blocking.
It was a rare moment of excitement in a match which will not make many inroads into the memory banks. This time of the year it is all about results. In the case of Huddersfield, who have a match in hand, they can only deal in points.
Butterfield's late strike had big ramifications for the Championship promotion pricture
Quaner was left frustrated on full time that his goal did not provide the points his side needed
Stifled Derby kept working and Rowett made three attacking substitutions in Abdoul Camara, Johnny Russell and Jacob Butterfield in a last-ditch attempt to find an equaliser.
The clock was running down and Huddersfield dropping deeper and deeper as nerves hit. Suddenly Butterfield found himself in a scoring position but he still needed a massive deflection to beat Ward.
Brighton fans would have been celebrating. As for Huddersfield, they can still go up automatically but that was a big two points to lose.