O'Hare proves a hero in the end

Sep 10 2001 By Chris Roberts, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Wildcats 19 - 21 Giants. THE emotional roller-coaster ride of following Huddersfield Giants in Super League will continue into the final week of the season.

Saturday's nail-biting victory over Wakefield Trinity Wildcats means the relegation issue goes right down to the wire.

Another tense week lies ahead for the Huddersfield faithful who have witnessed more thrills and spills this season than many experience in a lifetime.

There were the lows of the 15 successive defeats at the start of the season, followed by the highs in the second half of the campaign as the results finally started to turn the Giants' way.

And in so many ways this emotional roller-coaster ride was encapsulated in Saturday's gripping Belle Vue encounter.

There were times when the Giants were up, there were times when the Giants were down.

But in the end, coach Tony Smith's brave battlers pulled through.

So let's just hope that a similar tale can be told on the wider picture after the final round of Super League fixtures!

However, the emotionally-charged ride isn't just the sole preserve of those who watch events unfold from the stand.

How on earth, for example, must Giants utility back Hefin O'Hare have felt at various stages during Saturday's 80 minutes of action!

Thrown right in at the deep end for only his third Super League appearance when it became clear that first-choice full-back Paul Reilly was struggling with a leg injury, O'Hare was to experience the most heart-churning ride of his life.

There must have been despair as his lost ball helped Wakefield score their first try, and despairwhen his attempted pass went astray and laid the foundations for Ryan Hudson to drop a goal and give Trinity a 13-12 lead in the 61st minute.

Then there must have been despair which was to turn to incredible relief when the video referee ruled against Justin Brooker after he had charged down O'Hare's attempted pass and went on to score.

But his best emotion of all will have been felt in the 64th minute when he crashed over to score the Giants' third try which was to signal his side's march to victory.

Never will a try have seemed more sweet for the former Welsh rugby union junior international.

And, just like it would have been for the rest of his teammates, the relief he must have felt at the final hooter would have been incredible.

Huddersfield just about managed to hang on for their most important victory in Super League, although it couldn't have been much closer.

In a game that many were predicting would be nip and tuck, the Giants got off to a dream start with a try after two minutes.

An excellent burst from hooker Paul Rowley caught Wakefield on the back foot and Richard Marshall, Troy Stone and David Lomax then combined to send Martin Gleeson crashing over.

Steve McNamara added the conversion against his former club and the perfect start had been made.

But within three minutes that hard work had been undone when O'Hare lost the ball deep inside his own half on the first tackle.

Wakefield immediately worked the scrum to the blindside for former Giant Hudson to plunge over.

Martin Pearson failed to convert, so at least the visitors still had their noses in front.

That advantage appeared to have been extended midway through the half when Ben Kusto's lovely reverse pass sent Brandon Costin charging over the line.

Yet with the `advantage' of the video referee, an obstruction by Dave Atkins on Hudson was picked up and the try disallowed.

It was a decision that seemed to breathe new life into Wakefield and had it not been for some magnificent defensive work from Chris Langley, Andrew Frew and Marshall they would have hit the front.

Fortunately, for the visitors they struck next when Marshall's short pass sent Steve Molloy crashing over for a second converted score.

A Pearson penalty just before the break made it 12-6, but by the 61st minute Trinity had hit the front with Brooker's converted try and Hudson's drop goal.

At that stage the game looked to be going away from the Giants.

But there were not to be denied.

By the 64th minute Huddersfield had again hit the front when Kusto, Chris Thorman and Gleeson linked up to turn O'Hare from villain to hero.

Costin converted and four minutes later landed a penalty after an obstruction on Kusto, who banged over a drop goal in the 72nd minute.

David March set up a nerve-wracking finale with a 78th-minute try, converted by Graham Law, but Huddersfield held out to create a thrilling last week to the season.

Match facts

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats - Law (N); Westwood, Ellis, Brooker, Sovatabua; Pearson (Law (G) 71mins), Davis; O'Neill, March, Mason (Watene 25mins, Mason 70mins), Field, Price (Poching 36mins), Hudson.

Tries - Hudson (5mins), Brooker (48mins), March (78mins).

Goals - Pearson 2 from 3, Law (G) 1 from 1.

Drop goal - Hudson.

Sin-binning - March (fighting, 27mins).

On report - O'Neill and Mason (dangerous tackle, 75mins).

Huddersfield Giants - O'Hare (Thorman 28mins, bb, rev 50mins); Frew, Gleeson, Gene, Langley; Costin, Kusto; Stone (Molloy 28mins, Slicker 55mins), Rowley, Marshall (Stone 70mins), Lomax (Stone 45mins, bb, rev 60mins), Atkins (Moana 50mins), McNamara (Thorman 62mins).

Tries - Gleeson (2mins), Molloy (31mins), O'Hare (64mins).

Goals - McNamara 2 from 2, Costin 2 from 2.

Drop goal - Kusto.

Sin-binning - Atkins (fighting, 27mins).

Half-time - 6-12.

Referee - Stuart Cummings (Widnes).

Attendance - 4,150.

Scrums won - Wakefield 6, Huddersfield 13.

Penalties conceded - Wakefield 10, Huddersfield 10.

Top Huddersfield tacklers - Rowley 29, Marshall 26, McNamara 25, Molloy 22.