Vital victory in relegation fight

Aug 13 2001 By Chris Roberts, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Giants 35 - 14 Salford Reds. ONE down, five to go!

The performance could have been better, but at this stage of the season it's the result that matters.

With second-bottom Wakefield handed a three-point cushion over the Giants after the decision by the Rugby Football League to deduct Trinity two League points rather than four for a breach of the salary cap, victory for Huddersfield over Salford was absolutely critical in the fight to avoid relegation.

But apart from the opening five minutes when Salford took the lead with an unconverted try from Stuart Littler the result was never really in doubt.

By half-time the Giants were 20-4 ahead and within three minutes of the restart that gap had been extended to 32-4 and the League points were already safely in the bag.

Yet the overall work is only a sixth of the way done.

The celebrations will only be allowed to get into full swing if this emphatic victory is followed up with at least two more in the remaining five games and the Giants avoid the drop.

The fact that Salford visit Wakefield next week is a cause for concern among many Huddersfield supporters.

There was little in the City Reds performance to suggest a win at Belle Vue can be nailed on.

But, on the other hand, how much of the way Salford failed to perform was down to the manner in which coach Tony Smith's men went about their task.

For the opening half-hour the visitors undoubtedly made a game of it.

Their opening try, which had been superbly created by Steve Blakeley, proved they could be a good attacking force, while in defence they looked well organised.

Yet when the Giants got into their stride there really was only going to be one winner.

Within two minutes of Littler's opener, Huddersfield had hit back to take a lead they were never to lose.

Graham Holroyd lost the ball 15 yards from his line and the alert Stanley Gene was on hand to pounce, dribble through and score by the posts.

Brandon Costin, who was once again in inspirational form, landed the conversion in a seven out of seven goalkicking haul and Huddersfield were away.

A 28th-minute Costin penalty eased his side further ahead during a nip-and-tuck spell before new recruit Marty Moana took matters into his own hands with two crucial scores.

And the two could not have been more different in their execution.

His first came after he collected a short inside pass off Ben Kusto to power through several defensive tackles to score by the posts.

Then, following a spectacular break by Paul Reilly, Moana had the vision to kick through the defence, barge past his marker and get the vital touch.

Costin added both goals and the Giants had a comfortable 16-point advantage.

However, if that wasn't exciting enough, what followed in the opening five minutes of the second half was even better!

Within a minute of the restart any hopes of a Salford revival were dashed as a loose ball was picked up on halfway by Chris Langley who took play deep into City Reds' territory.

The ball was then quickly swept right for Kusto to run across the face of the defence and feed an inside pass to Costin who led Salford a merry dance with a mazy run to the line.

And two minutes later, the Giants were at it again as Martin Gleeson received the ball wide out on the halfway line, pushed away his marker to gain extra momentum and showed outstanding pace to power away and score.

It was a magical score from a player on top of his game, both on attack and defence.

Unfortunately, that was the signal for the Giants to take their foot off the gas.

Although they could easily have scored several more tries with better execution, they had to settle for a Costin penalty and drop goal in the remaining 37 minutes.

Gene had twice broken clear from inside his own half and looked certain to score, until Nick Pinkney chased back to cut him down just short of the line.

On the first occasion he was able to pop up a pass to the supporting Chris Thorman to `score' but was brought back for a forward pass, while on the second he held on to the ball and the chance was again lost.

But Reilly, Costin, Stone and Langley could so easily have been celebrating tries had it not been for excellent last-ditch tackles by the Salford defence.

In that respect the visitors do deserve credit, and the fact they scored two second-half tries through Francis Maloney and one Holroyd touchline conversion proved that there is some spirit in their side.

Yet, overall, they were hardly a match for the resurgent Giants.

Compared with some of the displays produced by the home side, this was a little under-par.

But it's not bad when victories can be achieved as comprehensively as this in Super League when there is obviously so much more left in the tank!

Match facts
Huddersfield Giants: Reilly (McNamara 48mins, Reilly 62mins); Frew, Gleeson, Costin, Langley; Thorman, Kusto; Stone (Slicker 35mins, bb, rev 55mins, Slicker 4mins), Rowley, Marshall (Molloy 30mins, Marshall 65mins), Gene, Moana, Atkins (Molloy 78mins).

Tries - Gene (7mins), Moana (34mins and 39mins), Costin (41mins), Gleeson (43mins).

Goals - Costin 7 from 7.

Drop goal - Costin.

Salford City Reds - Arnold; Pinkney, Maloney, Littler, Offiah (Tassell 40mins); Holroyd, Blakeley; Driscoll, Alker, Harmon (Baynes 20mins, Stevens 67mins), Tassell (Hancock 30mins), Nicol (Harmon 72mins), Wainwright.

Tries - Littler (4mins), Maloney (58mins and 61mins).

Goals - Holroyd 1 from 4.

Half-time - 20-4.

Referee - Ian Smith (Oldham).

Attendance - 2,815.

Scrums won - Huddersfield 9, Salford 10.

Penalties conceded - Huddersfield 7, Salford 8.

Top Huddersfield tacklers - Atkins 38, Moana 23, Costin 23, Rowley 22, Stone 22.

Next Huddersfield game - Away to Halifax, next Sunday (6.00).

Next Wakefield game - Home to Salford City Reds.