Defeat mirrors so many others

May 29 2001 By Chris Roberts, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Giants 26 - 44 Saints. STILL the search goes on for that first Super League victory of the season after a Giants defeat that has mirrored so many others this year.

It was the usual story of Huddersfield being competitive for certain periods of the game and then letting themselves down by producing costly lapses of concentration at crucial times.

On a number of occasions they had the world champions firmly on the back foot, but just lacked that cutting edge to capitalise on any advantage they could have gained.

The Giants' hard work always seemed to go to waste, with a crucial tackle being missed or an elementary error being made.

And St Helens are a side who seldom squander such welcome opportunities.

To a certain extent, Saints were let off the hook by Huddersfield's inability to once again put together a solid 80 minutes.

But during the Giants' dominant spells, they really did produce some scintillating play and were full value for their five well-worked tries.

Leading the way in that department were full-back Graham Appo, with a marvellous 48th-minute solo effort which helped the Giants cut the deficit to 22-16, and powerful prop Dale Laughton.

The way in which Laughton burst clear from inside his own half, dummied to pass to Appo and then outpaced the cover to score under the posts on the hour was a joy to behold.

Quite simply, it was a breathtaking try, with Laughton likely to dine out on the tale of this wonder score against the world champions for years to come.

In between such golden moments, however, it was largely another tale of woe, although the home side couldn't have got off to a better start.

Within a minute Steve McNamara had landed a penalty and five minutes later his high kick to the corner was collected by Andrew Frew who was awarded the try by the video referee.

But immediately after the good work, the Giants' negative side reared its ugly head.

Saints' restart was inexcusably allowed to go dead and within several plays of the drop-out Paul Sculthorpe had glided effortlessly through a static defence to score a try converted by Sean Long.

That proved to be Long's last act as he was carried off the field with a knee injury three minutes later after being felled by Brandon Costin.

It was a challenge that earned the Australian, who was again a highly influential figure, a spell in the sin-bin and an anxious wait after the incident was placed on report by referee Ian Smith.

And while Costin was taking his enforced break, Sculthorpe added his second as the Giants fell for the simplest of dummies close to their line, and Sculthorpe landed the first of his five conversions.

McNamara, Chris Thorman and Martin Gleeson all came close to levelling the scores before McNamara's long pass on halfway was intercepted by Paul Newlove to jog in for a gift six points and relieve the growing pressure on the Saints' defensive line.

The ever-dangerous Keiron Cunningham crashed over in typical style after 30 minutes to make it 22-6 and the signs were looking ominous.

Fortunately, however, that was the signal for a livelier Giants spell, with Thorman capitalising on a dropped pass by Kevin Iro to race in at the corner to cut the deficit to 12 points.

Costin almost added another three minutes before the break, and within a minute of the restart Thorman was bundled into touch as he went for glory.

By the 48th minute the pressure finally paid off as great approach play paved the way for Appo to show superb pace and sidestepping skills to cut through for a magnificent solo score.

McNamara's conversion made it 22-16 and the contest was well and truly alive.

But again the Giants' defensive frailties proved their undoing as first Cunningham and then Newlove made the home side pay to regain the initiative for Saints.

Laughton single-handedly hit back for Huddersfield with his sparkling solo try, and with 20 minutes remaining hopes were again high that a late Giants' matchwinning charge could be made.

Mark Edmondson calmed the visitors' nerves by crashing over from close range on the sixth tackle four minutes later, and that effectively ended the home side's brave resistance, particularly as they lost Appo through injury in the 67th minute.

Dale Cardoza recovered from the blow by kicking ahead close to the line and following up to get the vital touch ahead of two covering defenders.

But Saints had the final say when Paul Wellens collected a ball from the scrum and raced 40 yards to score under the posts.

Yet again the Giants had given a top side a run for their money before finally losing out.

Surely a win can't be that far away, can it?

MATCH FACTS

Huddersfield Giants Appo (Molloy 67mins); Frew, Costin, Cardoza, Gleeson; Thorman, Kusto; Laughton (Slicker 20mins, bb, rev 53mins, Lomax 65mins, bb), Rowley, Marshall (Molloy 30mins, Molyneux 53mins, Slicker 72mins), Lomax (Marshall 50mins), Atkins, McNamara (Cooper 61mins).

Tries - Frew (6mins), Thorman (35mins), Appo (48mins), Laughton (60mins), Cardoza (72mins).

Goals - McNamara 3 from 5, Costin 0 from 1.

Sin-binning and on-report - Costin (13mins, allegedlate challenge).

St Helens - Stewart; Hoppe, Iro, Newlove, Sullivan; Wellens, Long (Jonkers 15mins); Edmondson (Cruckshank 28mins), Cunningham (Fairleigh 71mins), Fairleigh (Matautia 61mins), Shiels (Matautia 17mins, bb, rev 25mins), Joynt (Hall 56mins), Sculthorpe.

Tries - Sculthorpe (10mins & 16mins), Newlove (25mins & 56mins), Cunningham (30mins & 53mins), Edmondson (64mins), Wellens (77mins).

Goals - Long 1 from 1, Sculthorpe 5 from 7.

Half-time - 10-22.

Referee - Ian Smith (Oldham).

Attendance - 3,559.

Scrums won - Huddersfield 5, St Helens 5.

Penalties conceded - Huddersfield 5, St Helens 7.

Top Huddersfield tacklers - Atkins 32, McNamara 22, Lomax 20, Costin 19.