Controversy as Giants fall

Sep 3 2001 By Chris Roberts, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Giants 30 - 36 Hull FC. IF Huddersfield do finish at the bottom of Super League at the end of the season, this match could stand out as the defining moment.

A victory at Wakefield next Saturday and a win over London a week later may still be enough to guarantee the Giants' top-flight survival.

But what effect the nature of Saturday's defeat could have on the whole relegation issue is potentially serious.

Huddersfield definitely did more than enough to win this contest, make no mistake about that.

Yet the manner in which they fell to third-placed Hull has left a very bitter taste in the mouth, with the Giants obviously hurting over the way the visitors' victory was achieved.

Had Huddersfield produced a poor performance and been outclassed by the opposition, fair enough.

But, despite the fact that the Giants did make several costly errors, it was the decisions of referee Russell Smith which ultimately sealed their fate.

Seldom can Huddersfield's supporters have been so incensed by the man in the middle.

To be honest, it was almost unprecedented.

Slow hand claps and shouts of `cheat' echoed around the McAlpine for an hour as crucial decision after crucial decision looked to go against the Giants.

Someone was even heard to quip that if there is a conspiracy to keep Huddersfield in Super League at all cost, they hadn't told Russell Smith!

In Smith's defence, he was far nearer the play than the fans and receives help from touch judges and a referee in the stand.

But there were still three crucial calls, in particular, which were highly controversial and led to Hull tries.

The decision to rule that Brandon Costin had knocked down a ball from Scott Logan after a brilliant tackle from the Giants' star was one.

The awarding of a penalty to Steve Craven after he clearly spilled the ball in a crunching three-man tackle was another.

And then the ruling to wave play back to one when another solid Giants hit had forced a Hull man to fumble the ball and then bounce back off a Huddersfield man was the other.

Surely, when that happens it's a scrum to the defending side.

Unfortunately, not in Mr Smith's book.

However, the controversy didn't end there.

Confusion reigned when Chris Langley was `sin-binned', apparently for holding back Gareth Raynor when Paul Reilly touched down following Richard Marshall's high kick to the corner in the 54th minute.

The `try' was disallowed, and Langley, mistakenly believing he had been given 10 minutes on the sidelines, trooped off.

In fact, referee Smith had ruled Langley offside, signalling with his fingers that the Giants man was inside the 10 metre exclusion zone.

Not only was there widespread sympathy for the Giants, but the disputed decisions spoiled what was a highly entertaining game which had hung in the balance throughout.

The Giants conceded a converted try from Steve Prescott after only 100 seconds and a tough afternoon looked to be in store.

But after weathering the early storm, the home side began to get on top.

Ex-Hull man Steve McNamara opened his side's account with a seventh-minute try and after 25 minutes they took the lead for the only time when Costin slipped the ball out for the impressive Martin Gleeson to scorch away.

McNamara converted and the Giants held a deserved 8-6 lead.

Yet it was then that everything fell apart.

Three minutes later that ruling went against Costin and from the scrum, Richard Horne scored under the posts.

Four minutes later, Hull capitalised on Craven's piece of good fortune to provide Paul Cooke with a simple score.

All of a sudden it was 18-8.

A Costin penalty on the stroke of half-time reduced the deficit and within four minutes of the restart, Gleeson popped up a pass for Andrew Frew to score in the corner.

Huddersfield had been helped by the 43rd-minute sin-binning of Logan for ball stealing.

But just as he returned, Langley took his place.

Several more times during a see-saw second half, the Giants got within striking distance of their visitors.

While Prescott, Logan and Craven scored for Hull, Frew responded by completing a superb hat trick for the Giants and Stanley Gene grabbed another try against the club that had released him two months ago.

In the end, Huddersfield just ran out of time, with Frew having completed the scoring with a magical 50-yard burst on the final hooter.

The match will, unfortunately, be remembered for the way it was refereed.

However, it was still full of great entertainment, although that will be of little consolation to the supporters, who face a tense trip to Wakefield on Saturday.

Match facts

Huddersfield Giants Reilly; Frew, Gleeson, Moana (Lomax 52mins), Langley; Costin, Moxon (Thorman 61mins); Stone (Slicker 23mins, Stone 44mins), Green, Marshall, Atkins, Gene (Thorman 24mins, bb, rev 34mins), McNamara (Roberts 33mins, McNamara 62mins, bb).

Tries - Frew (44mins, 59mins, 80mins), Gleeson (25mins), Gene (66mins).

Goals - McNamara 4 from 4, Costin 1 from 3.

Hull FC - Prescott; Crowther, Maiden, Campbell, Raynor; Horne (Last 79mins), Smith; Broadbent (Craven 24mins), King, Felsch (Broadbent 50mins), Logan, Grimaldi (Carvell 64mins), Cooke. Sub not used: Poucher.

Tries - Prescott (1min), Horne (28mins), Cooke (32mins), Prescott (61mins), Logan (69mins), Craven (72mins).

Goals - Prescott 6 from 7.

Sin-binning - Logan (Hull) (43mins, ball stealing).

Voluntary sin-binning - Langley (Huddersfield) (53mins).

Half-time - 10-18.

Referee - Russell Smith (Castleford).

Attendance - 3,337.

Scrums won - Huddersfield 6, Hull 4.

Penalties conceded - Huddersfield 12, Hull 9.

Top Huddersfield tacklers - Green 30, Costin 26, Marshall 24.

Next game - Away to Wakefield, Saturday (6.05).