Match report: Huddersfield Giants 6 - 24 St Helens

Mar 29 2010 by Chris Roberts, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Scott Grix

THERE was no dream debut for new big signing Danny Brough as the Giants crumbled to their third defeat of the season at the hands of St Helens.

Hopes were high Huddersfield would have more than enough to see off last season’s Super League Grand Finalists after winning their last three games and with Brough ready to pull the attacking strings.

But on the day, the Giants came up well short.

They lacked the punch up front and the creative spark out wide to get the better of a Saints side who took their chances well and defended manfully from start to finish.

Huddersfield did create as many tryscoring opportunities as their visitors, but they simply lacked the execution to find that killer blow.

Hopefully, that’s something that will soon be re-discovered, especially when Brough begins to find his Giants feet.

Starting the game on the bench, the 26-year-old scrum half didn’t enter the fray until the 24th minute, and there were glimpses of the class that should soon make him a major asset.

But on the back of just a couple of run-throughs with his new teammates, it was always going to be something of a thankless task making his debut against opponents of such repute.

Hopefully, therefore, Brough will have far more of a say at home to Catalans Dragons on Good Friday when getting back to winning ways will obviously be the top priority.

On paper, it should be achieved, as the fixture should be far more straight forward than a clash against a Saints side who made it clear they meant business from the start.

St Helens had the advantage of a very strong wind in the first half and wasted little time making the most of it.

Within minutes the visitors were on the offensive and took the lead after six minutes when Kyle Eastmond kept the ball alive, creating the opening for Francis Meli to crash over in the corner.

And with the Giants’ kicking game exceptionally poor as a result of the blustery conditions, it was no great surprise that Saints were able to maintain the pressure and increase their lead 10 minutes later.

England prop James Graham’s explosive break from deep did the damage, scattering the hosts’ defence before releasing Gary Wheeler who in turn fed Meli to race away for his second.

Eastmond landed the conversion, and at 10-0 a very difficult afternoon looked in store.

But the more the game progressed, the more Huddersfield began to assert some authority.

Midway through the half, Stephen Wild crossed the tryline only to be called back for a forward pass from Shaun Lunt, and then two minutes later Luke Robinson’s long-range break would have produced a try had Leon Pryce not produced an excellent cover tackle on the Saints’ 40.

The Giants were over again after 27 minutes through David Hodgson, but Paul Whatuira had knocked the ball forward to his winger after failing to collect Kevin Brown’s bullet pass.

Robinson was then held up over the tryline as another chance went begging.

But with the advantage of the wind behind them after the break, the home side were desperate to make full use of the elements.