Match Report | St Helens v Huddersfield Giants

The Huddersfield Giants fought admirably, but eventually succumb to consistent second half pressure from St Helens who won the game with a drop goal in the final seconds.

The Huddersfield Giants fought admirably, but eventually succumb to consistent second half pressure from St Helens.

After five wins in a row, the Giants travelled to St Helens with confidence. But the hosts came into the game with an urgency to regather there champion team mentality, after two defeats in their last three against Warrington and Catalans putting a slight dent in their usually glimmering form.

The Giants started the game brightly, a defensive first set that kept Saints in their own half, followed by an attack that ended with a Giants scrum on the Saints 20. The set from the scrum saw the Giants force a goal line dropout thanks to a nice kick from Tui Lolohea.

On the return the Giants would score the first of the game! Unbelievable hands from Adam Swift saw the Giants stuck on the far left corner on the final tackle, but another brilliant kick from Tui was tapped on by Jake Connor and picked up by Kevin Naiqama who dived into the far right corner. A fantastic conversion from Jake meant the Giants were 6-0 after eight minutes.

Five minutes later and the Giants were in again! The Giants who looked trapped in their own 10, put on a brilliant passing move, on the left edge Jake Connor held his nerve and passed at the perfect point to find Adam Swift who flew down field, put in a kick over the top and somehow he managed to chase down his own kick! Jake converts and suddenly it was 12-0!

The Giants then had to act on the defensive. A good ten minutes they were stuck in their own 20. But the Giants defended set after set admirably to keep the Saints to nothing after the first 20 minutes.

With 12 minutes left on the clock Saints got onto the board. The Giants shifted to the left and an attempted cut out pass from Tui was intercepted by Tommy Makinson who went 50 meters to score with no opposition. 30 minutes gone it was Giants 12 – 6 St Helens

The final 10 minutes saw Saints  control the ball, but other than the interception, St Helens didn’t have one meaningful attack all half.

Half Time: St Helens 6 – 12 Huddersfield Giants

After the first five minutes of the second half the Giants dominated, brilliant defensive sets and attacking sets that made good yardage, both aided by a fiery Seb Ikahihifo.

Then after eight minutes the Saints thought they had scored a try, a high kick went to Wallis who caught the ball in the air and was hit before he touched the ground, the ball was spilled and Saints touched down, but the ref called no try and the Giants received a penalty.

The pressure from Saints continued, another no try after a spilled ball saw the Giants pegged back again. The Opening 15 minutes were certainly bruising the Giants who were having to show real grit in defence.

But eventually, after set after set the defence was finally broken, a dummy half run from Daryl Clark from only four meters out was enough to find a gap in the defence. 12 – 12

Finally with less than 2 minutes on the clock, Saints received a penalty which saw them move up field get in position for a drop goal which Lomax took with only 30 seconds left.

And that’s how the game would end. Saints 13 – 12 Giants.

A tough defeat to take for the Giants who didn’t deserve to lose the way they did.

St Helens team: Bennison, Makinson, Hurrell, Percival, Blake, Welsby, Lomax, Mata’utia, Mbay, Lees, Whitley, Batchelor, Knowles.

Interchanges: Clark, Bell, Sironen, Delaney

Tries: Tommy Maikinson, Daryl Clark

Goals: Maikinson x 2

Drop Goal: Lomax

Giants Team: Connor, Swift, Bibby, Naiqama, Wallius, Lolohea, Clune, Wilson, Milner, Greenwood, Rushton, Cudjoe, Yates

Interchanges: Golding, English, Ikahihifo, Halsall

Tries: Naiqama, Swift

Goals: Jake Connor x 2