Giants too hot in 12-try romp

Jan 2 2002 By Chris Roberts, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

HUDDERSFIELD Giants turned up the heat on a bitterly cold New Year's Day to blitz outclassed Keighley Cougars and move joint top of the Northern Ford Premiership ladder.

Twelve tries without reply speaks for itself as the Giants stepped up a gear and signalled their intentions for 2002.

The home side dominated from start to finish and only once did the Cougars look like scoring when hooker Matty Firth was held on his back over the line a minute before the break.

By that stage Huddersfield had already opened up a 32-0 lead and by the end of the contest had doubled that lead without having to break sweat.

The ease at which the Giants strolled to this latest victory to make it four out of four must surely have sent a shiver down the spines of the other leading NFP contenders.

But what should also fill their rivals with fear is the fact that there is still so much more to come from coach Tony Smith's men.

Missing from yesterday's side were the likes of Stanley Gene - he will be back for the home game against Barrow a week on Sunday - Paul Reilly and Matthew Walker.

All three would be expected to feature in Smith's first-choice 17 and provide far more options on attack.

But with such genuine competition for places now emerging, nothing can be taken for granted.

For instance, what must Reilly have thought about the five-star display of full-back replacement Ben Cooper?

The manner in which he took his chance was stunning.

Inside the opening 35 minutes he had completed a hat trick of tries and laid another on a plate for Eorl Crabtree.

Without question he was the first half star of the show.

But after the break he was forced to hand over that accolade to fit-again forward Darren Turner, who immediately staked a massive claim for the hooking role.

Paul March has been magnificent at No9 in the opening three games, but was forced to take over at scrum half in the second half following an eye injury to Mark Moxon.

That enabled the Huddersfield-born star to play at hooker, and his response was to score a hat trick of tries from acting half-back and set up another for Chris Molyneux.

Quite simply, Turner could not have made a better return to action.

Such efforts make Smith's choice for the side to face Whitehaven a complicated affair.

But what is for sure is that Sunday's trip to Whitehaven will be significantly tougher than yesterday.

Within a minute it was clear the Giants were a class apart as Paul March chipped ahead into a huge space in the in-goal area for Hefin O'Hare to pounce and score.

Steve McNamara failed with the conversion, but eight minutes later landed a penalty after a stunning O'Hare break from deep.

Keighley were already looking shaky, and by half-time the lead could easily have been greater than the 32 points.

Cooper raced on to a long McNamara pass to score the first try of his hat trick in the 16th minute, and after Eorl Crabtree had harshly been given offside after touching down from a Moxon kick the scoring gained even greater momentum.

In the 23rd minute Thorman's lovely delayed reverse pass sent Cooper charging through and McNamara bagged the second of his four goals.

And right from the kick-off O'Hare collected inside his own 25 and broke clear before releasing Cooper on halfway.

The full-back was halted just short, but Crabtree was up in support to collect the pass and finish off. McNamara added to the excitement by landing the touchline conversion.

Three minutes later the Giants were over again as Dave Atkins raced into the heart of the Keighley defence and slipped the pass to Graeme Hallas to crash over.

Five minutes before the break Cooper's strength and determination enabled him to burst out of numerous tackles to complete a hat trick in 19 minutes and the scoring in an embarrassingly one-sided half was over.

Yet within a minute of the restart the momentum was being maintained as Turner added his first score, which was converted by Chris Thorman in the absence of Mcnamara who was enjoying a well-earned rest on the bench.

Turner grabbed his second in the 50th minute and Atkins crossed four minutes later as Keighley's misery continued.

With Crabtree and impressive debutant centre Matthew Whittaker causing havoc down the right, Turner soon helped Molyneux score his first try of the season in the 64th minute.

Then Thorman raced over from a scrum after his successful 40-20 kick had put the Giants back on the attack and with eight minutes remaining Turner crashed over from close range to complete his hat trick.

Thorman nearly added a second in the 79th minute when he almost managed to collect the returning McNamara's kick-through to score under the posts.

But it hardly mattered. An emphatic win had been achieved.

MATCH FACTS

Huddersfield Giants Cooper; O'Hare, Crabtree (McNamara 78mins), Hallas, Langley; Thorman, Moxon (Rice 40mins); Slicker (Whittaker 55mins), March (Wittenberg 66mins), Wittenberg (Molyneux 28mins), Roberts, Atkins, McNamara (Turner 36mins).

Tries - O'Hare (1min), Cooper (16mins, 23mins, 35mins), Crabtree (26mins), Hallas (29mins), Turner (41mins, 67mins, 72mins), Atkins (54mins), Molyneux (64mins), Thorman (67mins).

Goals - McNamara 4 from 7, Thorman 5 from 6.

Keighley Cougars - Rushforth; Horne, Smith (Mitchell 40mins), Wilkes, Durham; Fearon, Ashton (Stephenson 55mins, Hannah 66mins); Stephenson, Firth, Shaw (Hannah 22mins), Foster, Banks, Pickles. Sub not used: Boothroyd.

Half-time - 32-0.

Referee - Richard Silverwood (Mirfield).

Attendance - 3,049.

Scrums won - Huddersfield 7, Keighley 7.

Penalties conceded - Huddersfield 8, Keighley 10.

Top Huddersfield tacklers - Molyneux 32 in 52mins, Atkins 21, Slicker 17, Roberts 16.

Next game - Away to Whitehaven on Sunday (3.00).