Giants so close to halting Rhinos

Jul 30 2001 By Chris Roberts, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Giants 26 - 32 Leeds Rhinos. FOR a second successive week the Giants came within one converted score of matching a club with top-five ambitions.

Seven days previously it was Castleford Tigers who managed to hang on for a hard-earned victory.

Yesterday Leeds Rhinos just held out to deny the Giants at least a share of the spoils.

Yet the similarities hardly end there.

In both matches the Giants put themselves in excellent positions to win the contest.

And on both occasions, they were badly let down by the performance of the referee.

Many Huddersfield supporters are now of the opinion that there is a tendency for bigger clubs to win close-call decisions.

It's a view shared by fans of other clubs at the bottom end of Super League, particularly when up against a side from higher up the standings.

That may be taking the criticism a little too far, but there does seem to be a leaning towards the so-called bigger clubs.

And this match, refereed by Wigan's Robert Connolly, proved no exception.

When it came to the tough - and at times crucial and match-defining - calls, Leeds always seemed to benefit.

The decision to award the Rhinos' opening try when Brett Mullins appeared to be out of play when patting the ball back for the destructive Tonie Carroll to score set the scene.

It was followed by the awarding of the most cruel of offsides when the Giants frantically attempted to get back onside following a scorching break from inside his own half by Mark Calderwood.

In the exhausting heat, no-one would have been able to manage the feat.

And with play taking place on the other side of the field, the call was totally unecessary, but still earned Leeds another two points.

Then Chris Thorman was harshly sent to the sin-bin for holding down inside Leeds' half seven minutes before the break.

Thorman was guilty of the offence, but to send him to the bin when his side had only been penalised for holding down once before was stretching it too far.

If the Giants had been at it all game, fair enough.

But on only the second occasion, surely not!

Furthermore, if Karl Pratt can elbow a grounded Brandon Costin in the face and not be given 10 minutes to `cool off', as should have happened during the opening exchanges, is it right that Thorman should be made to suffer more severely for his technical misdemeanor?

Neither was Huddersfield's cause helped by the number of Leeds' forward passes or the number of times they were offside.

So, under the circumstances, this wasn't a bad all-round effort by the home side.

In the opening quarter they were by far the better team but had to settle for two penalties from Steve McNamara to open their account.

In fact, despite their early dominance, the closest they came was when full-back Paul Reilly was held just short in the 13th minute.

Then, in the 19th minute and against the run of play, Leeds grabbed their controversial opening try through Carroll, which Kevin Sinfield converted to give his side a lead they never lost.

If that was a bitter pill to swallow, what followed was even worse.

Costin's kick-off went out on the full and from Leeds' gift set of six, Sinfield took full advantage to stroll over under the posts and add the conversion.

Sinfield followed up with a 27th-minute penalty and within two minutes of Thorman being sin-binned, Andy Hay had charged over on the blindside to make it 18-4.

But on the stroke of half-time, the Giants were handed a glimmer of hope when McNamara's kick through was gathered by Stanley Gene.

He fed substitute Ben Kusto to score with his first touch of the game.

The conversion made it 18-10 with everything to play for.

Thorman intercepted Danny Ward's loose pass to score an unconverted try in the 45th minute.

By the 65th minute, however, all again looked lost for the Giants.

Two further scores from Carroll and one from Mullins took Leeds 32-14 ahead.

But from then on it was all Huddersfield.

Immediately after Carroll had completed his hat trick, Leeds failed to gather the kick-off and Chris Langley pounced to score and McNamara converted.

Then with seven minutes remaining, Costin crashed over from close range, with the conversion by McNamara making it 32-26.

But despite more concerted pressure and a magnificent Kusto 40-20, the Giants just couldn't get that all-important equalising score.

The relief among the Rhinos players and supporters when the final hooter sounded was crystal clear.

The Giants had so nearly pulled it off!

Match facts

Huddersfield Giants Reilly; Frew, Gleeson, Langley, Thorman (Rowley, 52mins); Costin, Gene; Stone (Slicker, 27mins, Stone, 29mins, bb, rev 40mins, Stone, 62mins), Rowley (Kusto, 37mins), Marshall (Walker, 53mins), Lomax (Molloy, 23mins, Slicker, 76mins), Atkins (Lomax, 65mins, bb, rev 77mins), McNamara.

Tries - Kusto (37mins), Thorman (45mins), Langley (67mins), Costin (73mins).

Goals - McNamara 5 from 6.

Sin-binning - Thorman (33mins, holding down).

Leeds Rhinos - Cummins; Mullins (Wrench, 70mins), Carroll, Senior, Calderwood; Pratt, Sheridan (Harris, 52mins), Ward (McDermott, 50mins), Mears (Diskin, 65mins), McDermott (Hay, 23mins), Mathiou, Wrench (Walker, 55mins), Sinfield.

Tries - Carroll (19mins, 41mins, 65mins), Sinfield (22mins), Hay (36mins), Mullins (59mins).

Goals - Sinfield 3 from 5, Harris 1 from 2.

Half-time - 10-18.

Referee - Robert Connolly (Wigan).

Attendance - 4,645.

Scrums won - Huddersfield 7, Leeds 7.

Penalties conceded - Huddersfield 6, Leeds 6.

Top Huddersfield tacklers - McNamara 29, Atkins 25, Marshall 25, Costin 23, Rowley 23, Stone 23.

Next game - Away to Hull on Sunday.

Next Wakefield game - Away to Salford Sunday.