Huddersfield Giants are 80 minutes away from a trip to Old Trafford after they dumped much fancied Warrington out of the Super League play-offs by virtue of a 34-22 win at the Halliwell Jones Stadium tonight.
From the outset, Huddersfield ran harder with the likes of David Fa'alogo, Keith Mason and Darrell Griffin keen to make an impact. This laid the platform from where their little men bossed proceedings. With Luke Robinson and Danny Brough alternating things at dummy half and then later mixing things with Shaun Lunt, Warrington didn't know what to expect while linkmen Brett Hodgson and Kevin Brown gave excellent performances.
The Giants were first to trouble the scoreboard after three minutes when a switched pass by Robinson found Stephen Wild and the Salford-bound backrower cut through for the try and Brett Hodgson chipped in with his first goal.
Warrington then thought they had claimed a try to Chris Hicks after Lee Briers angled kick but the video referee felt otherwise.
The Wolves were then lulled into a false sense of security by Brough. He had been kicking early in the tackle count but as he feigned, the halfback instead stepped and blistered through the defence before Danny Kirmond supported at his shoulder for the second try of the game.
A near perfect first quarter was brought to an end when Brett Hodgson kicked through and Lee Gilmour cleverly controlled the ball with his foot to touch down. Again the fullback was on hand to convert and mae it 18-0.
Finally Warrington began to build a bit of pressure and two kicks down the left from David Solomona and Ryan Atkins saw Hodgson get the ball dead for a drop out.
That spell proved short lived as Huddersfield motored down the ground again and only good work from Chris Hicks denied a try for David Hodgson after a clever grubber kick by Kevin Brown. The next try was all Brown's doing after Larne Patrick drove close to the line. A quick play-the-ball then released Brown and he showed strength to get downward pressure despite the attentions of two players.
With just four seconds play remaining in the half, Brough struck a masterly drop goal from forty metres and Huddersfield led 23-0.
Warrington needed the first try in the second half and it came after four minutes when Michael Monaghan's pass was taken by Mick Higham who proved as slippy as an eel to get through the defence. Ben Westwood goaled before Brough's kicking and the Giants eager chase saw them force a couple of drop outs. From the first, Warrington conceded a penalty when Briers dumped Lunt but Hodgson missed the goal.
On 53 minutes, Hodgson converted an altogether more straightforward penalty and a 19 point lead looed too much for the Wolves to overcome. It was at this stage that mistakes started to creep into the Giants game.
Hicks grounded a try in the corner for the Wolves on the hour and Huddersfield were rocking five minutes later when Higham somehow broke through from dummy half after searching for the penalty and acquplaned over despite the best efforts of Brett Hodgson.
Brough appeared to give Huddersfield the edge with another blistering break and chip kick and when Briers again trangressed, Hodgson put over his fifth goal. Leading 27-16, Huddersfield threw the ball away and as a scrap broke out, Matt King sent Hicks in for his second try of the game. Westwood converted superbly from the touchline and this sparked a frantic finish.
If Brough's first drop goal was majestic, his second after seventy eight minutes was anything but. After referring the decision upstairs, referee Phil Bentham awarded the goal which just about scraped the crossbar on its way over.
At the restart, Warrington went short and regained possession through King. A miracle play on the left looked on but instead of finding an unmarked Chris Riley the lofted pass was plucked out of the air by Leroy Cudjoe who set off running, realised the tackler coming across was Adrian Morley and moved through the gears to touch down 90 metres down field. Hodgson converted for his sixth goal of the evening and the Giants will now wait on the result of "club call" tomorrow lunchtime before knowing who and when they will play next week.
HUDDERSFIELD GIANTS 34 (Tries: Wild, Kirmond, Gilmour, Brown, Cudjoe. Goals: B Hodgson 6/8, Drop Goals: Brough 2) defeated WARRINGTON WOLVES 22 (Tries Higham 2, Hicks 2. Goals: Westwood 3/4) at Halliwell Jones Stadium.
This was a cracker of a game with the right result. Huddersfield wobbled but managed to settle the ship while Warrington were shocked at the tenacity and pressure being put on them by their visitors in the first half.
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