United fell to a Huddersfield Town team who chose their outing at Elland Road to raise themselves from mediocrity. And a game which had the potential to humiliate the Terriers has charged the club instead with valuable inspiration.

As Huddersfield's caretaker manager, Gerry Murphy, said afterwards – admittedly with the benefit of hindsight – the timing was perfect for a club who lost their manager a fortnight ago and were treading water in League One.

For those same reasons, Leeds might have been convinced that Town were there for the taking but the ill health of their West Yorkshire opponents is far from terminal.

Huddersfield did at Elland Road what countless clubs do when a derby fixture arrives – ignore their form, forget their problems and manufacture a result which is scarcely on the cards before kick-off and was seriously unlikely after their concession of the opening goal in the fourth minute.

It is United's prerogative to view their defeat in those terms – a result which, when viewed alongside to the clubs' respective league position, makes little sense – but Gary McAllister could not argue the outcome was inexplicable.

Leeds controlled much of the match and had the situation in hand after a composed performance before half-time, but they were beaten because of two fundamental concerns about their squad – namely, a defence that concedes too often and an attack which can dominate games week after week but has lost the knack of scoring goals at will.

United allowed Huddersfield to equalise Robert Snodgrass' fourth-minute strike inside the first minute of the second half and the scrappy goal gave the game a complexion and a scoreline which Town found more agreeable.

Murphy's players made hard work of containing McAllister's midfield before the interval, but Joe Skarz's finish in the 46th minute galvanised Huddersfield and gave them a point to protect.

Moreover, it gave them the scent of victory which visibly improved their body language, and their biggest success was in shifting Fabian Delph to the periphery of the game.

Delph controlled the contest in the first period with his strong running and telling use of the ball, brushing off a number of attempts to physically intimidate him.

But having been given the run-around for 45 minutes, Ian Craney and Jim Goodwin finally subdued a tired-looking Delph and prompted his substitution on 76 minutes.

Goodwin, in particular, enjoyed an excellent second 45 minutes.

When Michael Collins concluded that half and the match by hooking home an overhead kick three minutes into injury-time, Huddersfield made the most of the type of celebratory moment they have experienced infrequently.

McAllister's only reaction was to ask how Collins had been able to beat Casper Ankergren in a box flooded with Leeds players.

In defence of United's manager, the club's defeat should never have come to pass.