Giants fall after superb opening

Jul 23 2001 By Chris Roberts, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Castleford 20 - 14 Giants. HOW times are changing for Huddersfield Giants!

Just over a month ago, a 20-14 defeat away to Castleford Tigers would have seemed a relatively encouraging result.

Yet one month on and there was widespread disappointment among everyone from the Huddersfield camp that victory had not been achieved.

The manner of last week's win over Warrington had produced a sense of high expectation, even though facing Castleford at The Jungle is always guaranteed to be exceptionally tough.

And after the opening 15 minutes that expectation had been heightened.

The Giants deservedly led 10-0 after a rip-roaring opening salvo and the future was looking bright.

But at the end of a nail-biting 80 minutes, that early sense of eager anticipation had been replaced by a deep sense of frustration that a third win in four games had not be secured.

On so many occasions during the contest the visitors looked the more likely winners and had their hosts rattled.

In the first half, in particular, Huddersfield should have capitalised far more on their superiority.

Yet with a combination of dogged defence - "that won us the game", was the assessment of Castleford coach Graham Steadman - and missed opportunities, the Tigers were let off the hook.

Furthermore, referee Richard Silverwood did little to help the Giants' cause.

Winger Andrew Frew, for instance, was justifiably annoyed to be pulled back for offside after `scoring' from a Martin Gleeson kick-through just before the break.

A video assessment of the situation would have shown Frew was onside after clearly calling for the kick to be made - something a player in an offside position simply wouldn't do!

Yet Silverwood can't be held solely accountable for the Giants' demise.

There was far more to the outcome than this, not least of which was the way Huddersfield allowed their hosts back into the contest after they had made such a dream start.

The opening signs suggested the Giants, who were backed by a superb following of around 1,500 supporters, were about to carry on from where they had left off against the outclassed Wolves the week before.

Within minutes Stanley Gene and Paul Reilly had embarked on promising raids and after 10 minutes they took a deserved lead.

Once again the inevitable Brandon Costin made it possible with a strong burst to the line and pass out of the tackle for Gleeson to feed Frew to score.

Costin was unable to add the touchline conversion, but made no mistake five minutes later after Ben Kusto had intercepted a Danny Orr pass on halfway and raced away to score under the posts.

At 10-0 the Giants were on a roll.

But they then immediately gave Castleford a much-needed lifeline.

Prop Troy Stone, who has been such a rock since his arrival, committed the cardinal sin of losing the ball deep inside his own half on Castleford's restart.

It was a gift the Tigers were only too pleased to accept and straight from the scrum Orr made amends for the interception by strolling over and adding the conversion.

Despite further periods of Giants' pressure they were unable to find the breakthrough and had to settle for a 10-6 interval lead.

That had been whittled away within seven minutes of the restart as Jon Roper landed a penalty and then Mitch Healey charged over to put the home side two points ahead.

Fortunately, Huddersfield's response was almost immediate and by the 51st minute they had regained the lead.

A quick play-the-ball from hard-working hooker Paul Rowley caught the Castleford defence on the backfoot and Costin used all his power to crash over from close range.

Reilly was held up on the line five minutes later following a powerful burst to the line, with a score at that stage possibly having the desired effect of killing off Castleford's resistance.

But it was not to be.

On the hour, the Tigers somehow kept the ball alive on the sixth tackle for Roper to eventually finish off in the corner, much to the great relief of the home contingent.

And eight minutes later Michael Smith put a little more daylight between the sides with a strong blindside charge.

Healey saw a 76th-minute drop goal attempt drift wide, but despite late Huddersfield pressure they were to be denied a victory that in so many ways would have rated higher than that against Warrington.

The relief among the Castleford players at the final hooter could be felt throughout the ground.

Coach Tony Smith's men may not have collected two more Super League points, yet the general feeling was that this was still a team that has turned the corner.

MATCH FACTS

Castleford Tigers Flowers (Lennon 51mins); Wells (Flowers 70mins), Roper, Eagar, Pryce; Orr (Gay 54mins), Healey; Sampson, Shaw (Orr 70mins), Smith (Lynch 38mins, bb, rev 45mins), Harland (Lynch 57mins), Fritz, Vowles. Subs not used: Bates.

Tries - Orr (16mins), Healey (47mins), Roper (61mins), Smith (69mins).

Goals - Orr 1 from 2, Roper 1 from 3.

Huddersfield Giants - Reilly; Frew, Gleeson, Gene, Langley; Costin, Kusto; Stone (Walker 37mins, Lomax 74mins), Rowley, Marshall (Molloy 30mins, Marshall 60mins), Lomax (Stone 51mins), Atkins (Thorman 70mins), McNamara (Cardoza 58mins, bb, rev 79mins).

Tries - Frew (10mins), Kusto (15mins), Costin (51mins).

Goals - Costin 1 from 3.

Half-time - 6-10.

Referee - Richard Silverwood (Mirfield).

Attendance - 5,698.

Scrums won - Castleford 6, Huddersfield 7.

Penalties conceded - Castleford 10, Huddersfield 11.

Top Huddersfield tacklers - Rowley 29, Atkins 28, Lomax 23, Marshall 23, Stone 23.

Next game - Home to Leeds Rhinos, Sunday, 3pm.