Match report: Hull KR 8 Huddersfield Giants 30
Coach Nathan Brown’s men once again underlined their rising Super League status to out-muscle and out-play the fourth-placed Robins to leapfrog champions Leeds Rhinos into second place.
It was the 10th successive League and Cup win on the road for the buoyant Giants, who will now be relishing the visit of the Rhinos to the Galpharm Stadium on Saturday.
Normally, Leeds would be red-hot favourites to triumph.
But such is the confidence inside the Giants’ camp – coupled with a stuttering spell for Leeds, which included a shock home defeat to Salford yesterday – that a defeat next weekend against Brian McClennan’s men would come as a huge disappointment.
Clearly, Huddersfield will have to improve dramatically on the shaky start to the contest they made against the Robins when they found themselves 8-0 down inside the opening quarter.
But once they got into their stride there was no stopping them as the visitors chalked up a sixth win from eight top-flight starts.
Early tries from Kris Welham and Liam Colbon suggested it could be a tough afternoon for Brown’s side.
Yet such is the character that now exists throughout the squad that by half-time they had hit back to lead 10-8 through Michael Lawrence and David Hodgson.
And as the hosts began to feel the effects of Friday’s physical derby win over Hull, the men from the Galpharm wrapped up victory with further scores from Shaun Lunt and Stephen Wild before Lawrence then claimed a second long-distance try as Rovers went looking for a consolation in the final minute.
The only downside for the Giants, who were marshalled superbly yet again by five-goal full-back Brett Hodgson, was the loss of new signing Liam Fulton with a knee injury midway through the first half.
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