Huddersfield 3-2 Blackpool: Sorba Thomas' late goals give Terriers dramatic win
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Sorba Thomas (right) had only previously scored one goal for Huddersfield
Sorba Thomas scored two late goals as Huddersfield came from behind to beat 10-man Blackpool in dramatic fashion.
Jerry Yates put the visitors ahead inside the first minute before Danny Ward equalised a couple of minutes later and Gary Madine then restored Blackpool's lead.
But the visitors came under sustained pressure once defender Jordan Gabriel was sent off just after the hour mark.
And Wales winger Thomas netted twice in the space of four minutes in a rousing finale to clinch victory for his side.
A spate of postponements because of Covid-19 meant this was one of just two Boxing Day matches played in the Championship.
Huddersfield's win took them up to sixth in the table, while Blackpool remain 13th and have now lost five of their past six games.
The Seasiders made the perfect start courtesy of Yates' seventh goal of the season.
After Town defender Tom Lees' had lost possession, Josh Bowler threaded a pass through to Yates, who fired beyond keeper Lee Nicholls and into the far corner.
The hosts hit back quickly when Ward also took his goal tally for the season to seven, heading home Harry Toffolo's left-wing cross.
Blackpool regained the lead on 18 minutes. Keshi Anderson rode a challenge near the edge of the penalty area and crossed to the far post, where Madine climbed higher than Matty Pearson to head past Nicholls.
Worse followed for Huddersfield when Lees was stretchered off just before half-time after taking a blow to the face in an accidental collision with Madine.
But Town turned things around in the second half - helped by Gabriel's 61st-minute dismissal for a second bookable offence, following a foul on Lewis O'Brien.
Thomas exchanged passes with two team-mates before tucking away the 80th-minute equaliser and then fired in the winner from 15 yards out after Blackpool failed to clear a corner.
Huddersfield head coach Carlos Corberan told BBC Radio Leeds:
"Tom Lees had concussion and now we are going to follow the medical protocols.
"He will have a scan, but the message from the doctors is positive - even though we are going to miss him in the next game because we need to follow the normal protocol with this type of injury. The positive is that he is fine.
"He has this concussion because he is very brave. He is a player who is going to put his face where it is necessary to stop an opponent.
"He is one of those players who for me represents very well the values that we want to show on the pitch."
Blackpool manager Neil Critchley:
"I thought we had been the better team and were comfortable to that point (the sending-off), but it's very difficult to play the last 30 minutes with 10 men away from home and that decision had a massive impact on the outcome of the game.
"I don't want to go on about referees, but it's very difficult not to when he had such a big bearing on the game and I thought both bookings were very harsh.
"I've seen the clip back for the second yellow and Jordan is running forward and the ball is going out of play and their lad goes to play it down the line and then jumps in the air.
"He (O'Brien) is an experienced player who knew the situation and acted as if Jordan had crashed into him, but there was no contact at all.
"We can also talk about the first booking, because every foul isn't a yellow card and I think referees need to take a breather and think about things before they show them."