Giants hang on in tense finale

Jul 29 2002 By Chris Roberts, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

There was then a universal shaking of heads in disbelief as first O'Hare and then Whittaker were both denied tries by apparent forward passes that only referee and touchjudges were able to see.

Yet those ruled-out scores ensured a nail-biting finale.

The status quo was maintained early in the second half when Oldham winger Hayes and Andy Rice crossed for scores inside the first 13 minutes.

But the tide began to turn after an hour.

Will Cowell started the ball rolling with a long-range effort and six minutes later the Giants were down to their 12 men.

Almost immediately the home side struck again as Jon Goddard crossed in the corner and with four minutes remaining Whittaker failed to collect a grubber kick and Chris Campbell kicked through to score.

To add to the sense of excitement, Keith Brennan landed all three goals to cut the deficit to two points - but in the end it proved two points too many.

MATCH FACTS

Oldham Sibson; Hayes, Barber (Goddard 54mins, bb), Goddard (Cowell 31mins, Campbell 64mins), McNicholas; Roden, Brennan; Molloy (Norton 55mins, Molloy 75mins), Hough, Norton (Guest 27mins), Henare, Doran, Gibbons (Clegg 53mins).

Tries - Doran (17mins), Hayes (49mins), Cowell (60mins), Goddard (67mins), Campbell (76mins).

Goals - Barber 2 from 4, Brennan 3 from 3.

Huddersfield Giants - Reilly; O'Hare, Crabtree, Cooper, Whittaker; Gene, Thorman (Walker 66mins), Slicker (Molyneux 31mins, Slicker 63mins), Turner, Walker (Rice 45mins, Langley 53mins, bb, McNamara 76mins), Atkins, Cruckshank (Hallas 60mins), McNamara (Cruckshank 73mins).

Tries O'Hare (1min & 22mins), Reilly (19mins), Turner (25mins), Crabtree (31mins), Rice (53mins).

Goals - McNamara 4 from 7.

Dismissal - Turner (alleged head butt, 65mins).

Half-time - 8-26.

Referee - Russell Smith (Castleford).

Attendance - 1,339.

Scrums won - Oldham 5, Huddersfield 5.

Penalties conceded - Oldham 6, Huddersfield 7.

Top Huddersfield tacklers - Atkins 30, Walker 23, Crabtree 22.