Credit shared in keen battle

Jan 28 2002 By Chris Roberts, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Giants 44 - 4 Wath Brow. IT'S not very often that both sets of players and officials return home satisfied by the outcome of a contest.

Yet this third-round tie was clearly one of those occasions.

While the Giants were left relatively unscathed after producing a workmanlike performance to take their place in the fourth-round draw, amateur opponents Wath Brow were left tingling with pride after a display which was a credit to their club.

The Hornets proved there are few - if any - better amateur teams in the game.

In fact, there's a fair chance that next Sunday's NFP home clash against Hunslet Hawks could be more straightforward than yesterday!

This encounter really did provide Huddersfield with a very genuine challenge, with the Giants having to remain alert from start to finish.

Any potential complacency among the home players had been obliterated inside two minutes as Wath grabbed the opening try.

The manner in which centre Gary Elliott broke confidently from deep and the attack was then maintained for winger Craig Calvert to finish confidently in the corner immediately underlined the quality of the opposition.

Breaching the Giants line had, of course, been something the professionals of Batley had failed to do on their own patch the week before!

Gavin Curwen was unable to land the touchline conversion and failed with a penalty attempt five minutes later after Craig Rudd had put his side on the offensive with a successful 40-20.

But in that brief time Wath had gained the total respect of all the home contingent.

Yet by the same token it had also provided Huddersfield with a timely wake-up call, and by the 12th minute they were back on level terms.

Fine work by Stanley Gene and Steve McNamara helped send Eorl Crabtree racing to the line and the centre slid over in the corner to open the Giants' account.

Chris Thorman, who was again in outstanding form, was unable to add the conversion, but would end up with a tally of six from eight.

And for good measure, the scrum half also weighed in with the second try.

That came after 16 minutes when he charged over with embarrassing ease straight from a scrum 10 yards from the Wath line.

At that stage the signs looked ominous for the visitors.

However, the recurrence of a leg muscle injury to captain Steve McNamara, whose superb work in midfield was clearly central to the fightback, proved crucial.

With McNamara forced to retire, much of the growing momentum was lost. And by the end of the first half, the Hornets were still alive and kicking at 20-4, even though Thorman was still proving to be a real handful.

In fact, it was the 21-year-old who had set up try No3, embarking on an individual break to create the opening for Paul March to finish off.

And, not surprisingly, Gene was also making a nuisance of himself in attack and was rewarded with a 31st-minute score after being fed by a long pass from David Atkins.

Gene almost doubled his tally within a minute of the restart when a long-range run was halted just short.

But by the 46th minute the lead had been extended, albeit in fortuitous circumstances.

The ever-alert March tried a round-the-corner pass close to the posts and saw the ball hit a Hornets' hand and bounce kindly over the line for the hooker to pounce.

Nine minutes later the lead was extended when Crabtree broke from deep and Thorman continued the good work to send Hefin O'Hare charging powerfully and skilfully through heavy traffic to the line.

O'Hare added a second four minutes later when Crabtree kicked ahead on the sixth tackle and the winger pounced ahead of a tiring defence.

However, just one further try was added in the final 21 minutes as Thorman grabbed his second after supporting a good March break.

The Giants had wrapped up the game, but after this performance Wath had won many new friends.

MATCH FACTS

Huddersfield Giants Reilly; O'Hare (Atkins 72mins), Crabtree, Cooper, Langley; Gene (Wittenberg 62mins), Thorman; Slicker (Hallas 48mins), March, Wittenberg (Molyneux 28mins), Atkins (Whittaker 58mins), Roberts, McNamara (Hayes 16mins).

Tries - Crabtree (12mins), Thorman (16mins & 66mins), March (18mins & 46mins), Gene (31mins), O'Hare (55mins & 59mins).

Goals - Thorman 6 from 8.

Wath Brow Hornets - Curwen; Calvert, Rooney, Elliott, Clarke; Rudd (Johnston 56mins), Hocking; Moore (Stables 23mins), Anderson (Currie 73mins), Currie (Teare 29mins), Troughton (Todd 56mins), Davidson, Stewart.

Try - Calvert (2mins).

Goals - Curwen 0 from 2.

Half-time - 20-4.

Referee - Bob Connolly (Wigan).

Attendance - 1,479.

Scrums won - Huddersfield 11, Wath Brow 15.

Penalties conceded - Huddersfield 3, Wath Brow 1.

Top Huddersfield tacklers - March 30, Atkins 27, Molyneux 27, Cooper 23, Hayes 22.

Next game - Home to Hunslet Hawks on Sunday.