March super show brings vital scalp!

Sep 8 2003 By Chris Roberts, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Giants 25 - 12 Widnes. Late burst sinks top-six rivals

MAGNIFICENT Huddersfield Giants hit back at all their Super League play-off doubters by producing a rousing display to claim the prize scalp of one of their rivals for a top-six spot.

Only victory against Widnes would have been good enough to keep their glimmering play-off hopes alive.

But the Giants' amazing Super League adventure goes on after they dug deeper than ever to secure two more valuable top-flight points.

It was a victory they thoroughly deserved, combining some inventive attacking play with a courageous effort on defence.

Even without main strike weapons Brandon Costin and Stanley Gene, the Giants posed a genuine threat throughout and their reward was to leapfrog the Vikings in the Super League table and go up to ninth.

Getting into the all-important six remains a very tall order, yet even if their seemingly mission impossible ends in failure, this has still been a superb season.

And results and performances like yesterday's are the reasons why.

In a magnificent all-round team effort in which every player contributed to the full, the Giants recovered from going 4-0 down to an eighth-minute Adam Hughes try to go on and dominate the contest.

Yet in another Titanic battle between these two perfectly-matched sides - the third of the season - it was only in the final 17 minutes that the Giants made it truly count.

Two converted tries and a Steve McNamara drop goal finally sealed Widnes' fate and guarantees that Huddersfield will go into Friday's crunch Super League clash against Warrington at the McAlpine in the best possible shape.