Match report: Castleford Tigers 24 - 26 Huddersfield Giants

Mar 16 2009 by Chris Roberts, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

DAVID HODGSON was the toast of the Giants after scoring his first Huddersfield hat trick as coach Nathan Brown’s men secured a thrilling 26-24 triumph at Castleford Tigers.

Just eight days earlier, the 27-year-old former Great Britain winger had suffered a torrid time at the hands of Hull.

But Hodgson’s response couldn’t have been any better, grabbing two first-half tries and one in the second as the Giants made it a magnificent seven away Super League victories on the trot.

It was also a third triumph in five top-flights starts as the men from the Galpharm denied the in-form Tigers four Super League wins in a row for the first time in seven years.

Castleford looked capable of reaching that mark during a dominant 15-minute opening spell as they deservedly led 12-6.

But the dogged and determined Giants demonstrated superior finishing to nudge in front by the break.

And they also then defended superbly despite being reduced to 12 men through the sin-binning of Leroy Cudgoe to clinch a third away win of the season.

Huddersfield, who gave a debut to 20-year-old back row forward Larne Patrick after David Faiumu pulled out with a leg strain on the eve of the game, made a dream start with a try after just 23 seconds.

They collected the ball from their own kick-off thanks to a lovely piece of opportunism from hooker Scott Moore.