Match report: Bradford Bulls 6 - 52 Huddersfield Giants

Jun 7 2010 by Chris Roberts, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

BACK-IN-FORM Huddersfield put their nightmare May behind them to get their Super League campaign explosively back on track.

An almost perfect opening 40 minutes laid the foundation for a stunning triumph as the Giants ended a run of four successive defeats in the most emphatic of fashion.

With captain Brett Hodgson pulling the strings from the off, it wasn’t long before the visitors were in complete control.

While Bradford looked tired after their bruising Challenge Cup quarter-final defeat to Warrington, Huddersfield looked as if the week off had done them a power of good.

Besides the attacking influence of Hodgson, Eorl Crabtree’s omission from the England Test side picked by Bulls boss Steve McNamara brought the best out of him as he led the forward charge by example.

And out wide Jermaine McGillvary couldn’t have asked for a better Super League debut as he crossed for two well-created first-half scores.

His second try after 30 minutes came on the back of a completely one-sided opening as the Giants raced into a 28-0 lead.

By the fifth minute Huddersfield had hit the front with their opening score and the tone for the afternoon had been set.

Man of Steel Hodgson was inevitably the provider, dabbing the ball ahead for Lee Gilmour to follow up and touch down against his former club.

Hodgson converted and the men from the Galpharm were on their way.

Their second try came 10 minutes later when Hodgson’s bomb was collected by Rikki Sheriffe and Michael Lawrence immediately trapped him in the in-goal area.

From the Bulls’ drop-out, the Giants went straight back on the attack, with Brett Hodgson, Kevin Brown and Crabtree keeping the ball alive for Danny Brough’s long pass to put David Hodgson in at the corner.

On this occasion Brett Hodgson couldn’t convert, but he made no mistake with his next three efforts wide on the right.

Try No3 came in the 18th minute when Leroy Cudjoe’s perfectly-timed short pass put McGillvary over for his first try at this level.

Then four minutes later, Brown broke clear on halfway and raced away before feeding Cudjoe to finish off.