Painful opener ends dreams of a victory

May 12 2003 By Chris Roberts, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Hull 34 - 6 Giants. Giants faily to make tackles count.

WITHIN 13 painful minutes at the KC Stadium the Giants' dream of pulling off a big Super League win at Hull had been shattered.

Three tries had been conceded due to a combination of suspect defence and ill discipline as the visitors found themselves 16-0 behind, and a return to the dark old days of Super League were looming.

For the first time this season, the Giants were having to follow the sorry plot of damage limitation.

And also for the first time during this top-flight campaign, coach Tony Smith's men were unable to claim at the end of the contest that this was a match they could easily have won.

Without doubt, the Giants were second best in almost every department as their hosts backed up Smith's pre-match comments that his side were about to face their toughest test of the campaign.

Unfortunately, however, Smith probably wouldn't have predicted that the task would have been made so much harder by the refereeing of Ronnie Laughton.

How on earth the Barnsley official managed to award 31 penalties - 19 in Hull's favour and 12 to Huddersfield - in a game that was not in the least bit dirty was a mystery, as well as being totally frustrating.

The second-half penalty count, in particular, hit the Giants hard, with Hull handed 12 to Huddersfield's four.

It was during the second 40 minutes that the Giants managed to come to life and show some genuine character, but how could they possibly make an impact on the back of an uneven count like that?

And on top of that, the unfortunate Darren Turner became the second visiting player to be sin-binned for holding down in the 64th minute.