STEVE CLARIDGE branded his team's first-half performance as "gutless" after a festive stinker at Fratton Park.

The Portsmouth player-manager ripped into his troops after an appalling opening first 45 minutes when lowly Huddersfield took a 39th minute lead from a John Dyson header.

It took a 76 minute leveller from Claridge to snaffle a share of the spoils against a Terriers' team who dropped to the bottom of the first division table on the back of this result.

"It was a gutless display in the first half. I'm not happy to have come away with a point," moaned Claridge.

"If we had applied ourselves from the start then we would have won the game. It shouldn't take a wake-up call from me at half-time to get people going.

"I'm disappointed that people seemed to let the game go, and let it pass them by without grabbing it by the scruff of the neck.

"I won't be bringing them in for extra training, but the players will be watching the video, I know that. There won't be too many smiling faces around this place if they put in any more performances like that."

Portsmouth were all at sea in the first half, as Huddersfield's feisty team ruthlessly exposed a midfield which had gone AWOL, and a four-man defence which looked vulnerable in the extreme.

It was awful and the Fratton faithful let Claridge and his players know at the break.

Dyson's goal from Ben Thornley's cross was no more than Huddersfield deserved from a team who worked hard for each other.

Aaron Flahavan produced a stunning save to deny a stinging volley from the lively Simon Baldry after 35 minutes, and crucially he foiled Thornley who was through one-on-one in the second half.

Had Huddersfield grabbed a second goal then, it is doubtful whether Portsmouth would have had anything to show from the game.

But Claridge's half-time talk stirred the troops. Huddersfield manager Lou Macari found himself ejected from the touchline after a dispute with fourth official Barry Wade, and as the half wore on Portsmouth got stronger.

Claridge headed home for his ninth goal of the season from Lee Bradbury's deep cross.

Then five minutes into injury time and with the last action of the match,

Portsmouth could have won the game. Ceri Hughes' low cross hit Huddersfield defender Jamie Vincent and crawled towards the line where goalkeeper Nico Vaesen spun on a sixpence to fall on the ball and prevent it from creeping over the goalline. Claridge took some heart from the second 45 minutes.

He said: "I was pleased we showed a lot more character. In the first half people didn't take responsibility, they took the easy option. It wasn't just one or two players, it was the whole team.

"At half-time you can only say so much because the performance was so bad.

"I asked them to squeeze and press and deny Huddersfield space, and that had an effect.

"A point is better than nothing, but points are not just about results, they are about performances."

Final score: Pompey 1 - Huddersfield 1