A better display!

Mar 10 2001 By The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

St Helens 54 - 16 Giants. FORGET the final margin of victory that helped sweep St Helens into the semi-final of the Silk Cut Challenge Cup.

This was a game in which the Giants produced a far better display than the final scoreline suggests.

Admittedly, there was a spell at the start of the second half when St Helens turned on their world championship class and highlighted the still obvious defensive frailties in the Huddersfield ranks.

But that aside, there was much to encourage new coach Tony Smith as he looks to build up the Giants from scratch.

Their first-half performance, in particular, was especially encouraging and if they had led at the break Saints could not have complained.

While the home side scored three first-half tries after capitalising on Huddersfield errors, the visitors grabbed two tries which owed everything to smart thinking and individual brilliance.

In fact, when Sean Long elected to go for goal from a penalty inside the Giants' 25 to make it 18-10 in the 36th minute, it summed up the respect the world champions were giving their opponents.

In normal circumstances, St Helens would have been expected to run the ball from such an advanced position.

Unfortunately, however, the second half was to prove a different story.

Within two minutes of the restart, man-of-the-match Long had cut the Giants apart and raced in for the first of seven second-half tries as the visitors began to crumble.

Suddenly, the likes of Long, Keiron Cunningham, Chris Joynt and David Fairleigh ran riot.

And when Saints get on a roll, it's seldom that any side can respond effectively, and particularly a Huddersfield team at this stage of its development.

It was worrying to see the ease at which St Helens were able to brush beyond their markers and punish missed tackles so clinically. Hopefully, in time that will change.

But rather than dwell on the negative factors, let's concentrate on the positive - and that heart-warming opening 40 minutes.

After conceding a 90th-second try to Paul Wellens, the Giants responded in magnificent fashion.

By the sixth minute they had drawn level and by the 11th minute they had stunned the Saints bytaking a deserved 10-4 lead.

And both tries were right out of the top drawer.

Their opening score came from a planned move that could not have been executed better.

From a scrum just inside the St Helens half, Steve McNamara peeled away from the base and fed Chris Thorman.

The stand-off quickly booted the ball downfield for Andrew Frew to go charging down the flank before picking up the loose ball and diving over. Magnificent!

Thorman was also involved in try No2, which was scored courtesy of another superbly-worked move.

Collecting the ball on the sixth tackle, Thorman darted through a gap in the defence at electryfing pace and was on hand to feed the supporting Paul Rowley.

The England hooker then raced to the line and found big Steve Molloy the quickest to join a lightning break and gave him the simplest of tryscoring passes.

Steve McNamara added on the extras and a six-point lead had been established.

The dangerous-looking Dale Cardoza almost broke clear to increase the lead three minutes later.

But within seconds the tide was dramatically beginning to turn.

First, an attempted Thorman short ball fell to the ground and Tommy Martyn picked up and raced the 65 yards to finish off.

Then three minutes later and following a Ben Kusto fumble, Chris Joynt galloped away from the scrum 30 yards out to score with ease.

Long added the extras to both tries and then extended the advantage wth his penalty and at the break there was everything to play for at 18-10.

Yet what a transformation after the interval!

Long was over twice in the first 12 minutes and with Cunningham, Wellens, Steve Hall, Tim Jonkers and John Stankevitch all scoring, Saints reached the 50-point mark by the 75th minute.

But at least the Giants' never-say-die spirit was rewarded in the closing minutes when Rowley kicked through on the last tackle, regathered and scored a converted try.

It was a try to show they hadn't stopped trying.

MATCH FACTS

St Helens - Wellens; Stewart, Hoppe, Newlove (Stankevitch 50mins), Sullivan; Martyn (Stewart 18mins), Long (Stankevitch 38mins, bb, rev 47mins, Edmondson 63mins); Fairleigh (Nickle 63mins), Cunningham, Nickle (McDonald 25mins), Sheils, Joynt, Jonkers.

Tries - Wellens (1min & 58mins), Martyn (15mins), Joynt (18mins), Long (42mins & 52mins), Cunningham (48mins), Hall (65mins), Jonkers (68mins), Edmondson (75mins).

Goals - Long 7 from 8, Wellens 0 from 3.

Huddersfield Giants - Reilly (Moxon 35mins, bb, rev 36mns, Thorman 65mins); Frew, Gleeson, Cardoza, Cooper; Thorman Moxon 43mins), Kusto; Molloy (Turner 24mins), Rowley, Laughton (Molyneux 30mins, Molloy 72mins), Lomax (Marshall 49mins), Atkins (Laughton 67mins), McNamara.

Tries - Frew (6mins), Molloy (11mins), Rowley 78mins).

Goals - McNamara 2 from 3.Half-time - 18-10.

Referee - Karl Kirkpatrick (Warrington).

Attendance - 7,899.

Scrums won - St Helens 9, Huddersfield 5.

Penalties conceded - St Helens 2, Huddersfield 10.

Top Huddersfield tacklers - Rowley 22, Molyneux 21, Atkins 20, Lomax 18, McNamara 18.

Silk Cut man-of-the-match - Sean Long (St Helens).