Giants ripped apart by Hull

May 1 2001 By Chris Roberts, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Giants 14 Hull FC 44. BY the time Hefin O'Hare had raced in for a consolation try in the final minute, many long-suffering Huddersfield supporters had already departed the McAlpine Stadium.

They had endured more than enough in this tortuous contest to have fled the scene up to 10 minutes earlier.

In those 70 minutes they had witnessed their team being cruelly and clinically ripped apart by a Hull side that moved to the top of Super League as a result.

It was of no consolation to the home contingent whatsoever that the Giants had been beaten by the best team to have visited the McAlpine this year.

On the evidence of this latest Super League nightmare, Hull could be the team to break the stranglehold imposed on the competition by the `big four'.

That could particularly be the case if the inspirational Jason Smith maintains this current level of form.

The Australian loose-forward almost single-handedly destroyed the Giants to further strengthen his claim as the best player in the competition.

Quite simply, Huddersfield were powerless to stop him - and it was painful to watch.

Even though the Giants had made an encouraging start and were 8-6 ahead by the 17th minute, there was always a feeling that it would only be a matter of time before Hull took control.

Despite the best intentions of half back Ben Kusto, hooker Paul Rowley and substitute forward Dale Laughton, the writing was firmly on the wall by half-time.

By that stage the home side were 20-8 behind, with worse to follow after the break as the Giants capitulated in appalling fashion.

It hadn't taken long for the initial optimism to have become a very distant memory.

Huddersfield's early defence had looked solid enough as they weathered an early storm and managed to hold up Richard Horne on the line.

Steve McNamara opened the scoring against his former club with a seventh-minute penalty and doubled the advantage four minutes later to give his side the ideal start.

But within three minutes, Smith was starting to work his magic by executing a superb 40-20 kick.

It was just the encouragement his teammates required and straight from the scrum Horne charged to the line and fed Steve Prescott to crash over from close range.

Former Giant Matt Crowther landed the first of his six conversions and Hull had made their intentions clear.

At that stage, however, there were not having everything their own way.

Kusto's perfectly-executed kick-off was fumbled by Paul Broadbent behind his own tryline, forcing Hull to drop out.

And following five drives to the line, Kusto moved in at acting half-back and glided over after selling a dummy to create the necessary gap. McNamara was unable to add the touchline conversion, but at 8-6 it was at least looking promising.

From then on, unfortunately, it was all downhill.

Apart from half-chances from Kusto and Hefin O'Hare, the Giants were completely outclassed.

Perfectly-weighted kicks to the corner gave Gareth Rayner two tries, while Smith's charge to the line set up Lee Jackson to crash over by the posts.

Crowther landed one of the conversions and Hull had the luxury of a 12-point cushion.

But any hopes of a Giants' comeback in the second half soon became a laughable scenario.

Within five minutes of the restart Smith's `bomb' to the corner was collected by Tony Grimaldi, Crowther added the conversion and Hull were again in the ascendancy.

Six minutes later Deon Bird added try No6 and by the 57th minute Smith had strolled over to increase the lead to 30 points.

The signal for a mass exodus of home supporters came with four minutes when David Maiden charged over.

But at least O'Hare had the satisfaction of racing from halfway to score a converted try in the last minute to make it two tries in two senior appearances.

By then, however, most Giants fans had seen more than enough.

Huddersfield Giants: Cooper (Moxon 70mins); Frew, Cardoza, Costin, O'Hare; Kusto, Moxon (Thorman 46mins); Molloy (Laughton 28mins, Rice 50mins), Rowley, Molyneux (Crabtree 22mins), Lomax (Molyneux 64mins), Atkins, McNamara.

Tries: Kusto (17mins), O'Hare (79mins).

Goals:. McNamara 3 from 4.

Hull FC: Prescott; Rayner, Campbell, Bird, Crowther; Horne, Cooke; Broadbent (King 32mins), Jackson (Fletcher 44mins), Craven (Carvell 52mis), Felsch (Broadbent 66mins), Grimaldi (Craven 73mins), Smith (Maiden 58mins).

Tries: Prescott (14mins), Rayner (21mins & 31mins), Jackson (26mins), Grimaldi (45mins), Bird (51mins), Smith (57mins), Maiden (76mins).

Goals: Cowther 6 from 8.

Half-time: 8-20.

Referee: Robert Connolly (Wigan).

Attendance: 3,859.

Scrums won: Huddersfield 7, Hull 12.

Penalties conceded: Huddersfield 6, Hull 6.

Top Huddersfield tacklers: Rowley 30, Atkins 28, McNamara 25, Costin 23.

*Former Fartown captain Tommy Smales, who lifted the League Championship trophy in 1962, will be the guest speaker at the senior Giants meeting at Fartown Supporters Club tomorrow (2.30).