WARRINGTON Wolves were knocked off top spot as they were out muscled 29-10 by Huddersfield Giants who leap frogged them into pole position at the Galpharm Stadium tonight.
The Giants took just three minutes to open the scoring as winger Jermaine McGillvery cut the Wolves’ defence to shreds before kicking through for Scott Grix to score, with Danny Brough adding the extras to make it 6-0.
Warrington were back on level terms just three minutes later as a Chris Bridge up and under was passed back by Joel Monaghan to the supporting Matty Blythe, who then kicked through for Monaghan to feed the supporting Brett Hodgson for a superb try. Monaghan then added the extras to level the scores.
But the Giants dominated much of the play and were rewarded on 21 minutes as Luke Robinson split theWolves’ defence with a superb pass to send Larne Patrick surging through. Brough made no mistake with the conversion to make it 12-6.
The Giants extended their lead on 33 minutes when Robinson burrowed over from the quick play the ball as the Warrington defence was caught napping and Brough was again on target to make it 18-6.
Hodgson gave the Wolves a lifeline on the stroke of half-time as Richie Myler passed to Hodgson who bounced over for his second try but he couldn’t add the extras from out wide making it 18-10 at the break.
The first score of the second half was always going to be crucial and it went Huddersfield’s way as David Solomona was penalised for a high tackle, allowing Brough to bang over the penalty.
Then on 58 minutes Benny Westwood was penalised for a ball steal allowing Brough to convert another penalty to make it 22-10 and five minutes later Brough slotted over a drop goal meaning the Wolves had to score three times.
With the Giants strong in defence the Wolves never really looked like getting back in the game and it was no surprise when McGillvery went over in the corner in the closing stages, with Brough adding a touchline conversion to rub salt in the wounds and complete the scoring at 29-10.
Pictures show (from the top) Brett Hodgson scoring against his former club, young winger Rhys Evans challenging for the ball and Louis Anderson taking on the Giants’ defence.
For more pictures from the game CLICK HERE
Huddersfield Giants: Scott Grix; Jermaine McGillvary, Leroy Cudjoe, Michael Lawrence, Jamie Simpson; Kevin Brown, Danny Brough; Eorl Crabtree, Luke Robinson, Andy Raleigh, Lee Gilmour, Dale Ferguson, Luke O’Donnell. Subs: Shaun Lunt, David Faiumu, Larne Patrick, Danny Kirmond.
Wolves: Brett Hodgson; Joel Monaghan, Matty Blythe, Ryan Atkins, Rhys Evans; Chris Bridge, Richie Myler, Adrian Morley, Michael Monaghan, Garreth Carvell, Louis Anderson, Ben Westwood, Ben Harrison. Subs: Jon Clarke, Paul Wood, Mike Cooper, David Solomona.
Atten 7,224 Ref: Richard Silverwood.
