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CRISIS, what crisis?

Heroic Huddersfield Giants produced an incredible opening Super League XVII performance to defy all the odds.

With seven front-line players missing, coach Nathan Brown’s men were given little hope of beating full-strength Wigan at the DW Stadium. It was as if ‘damage limitation’ was the sole mission.

But all the talk that the Giants’ patched-up side would be overwhelmed by the Challenge Cup holders never materialised as the 17 brave battlers worked together as if their lives depended on it.

At the end of an absorbing 80 minutes, Huddersfield were celebrating a 20-16 triumph that no-one could say they didn’t deserve.

Yet even though they were lacking the services of seven front-line players, the Giants were still able to field a relatively strong-looking line-up.

The surprise starter was young forward Jacob Fairbank, who spent last season on loan with Halifax in the Co-operative Championship, at prop, with fellow youngster and front-rower Adam Walker named on the bench.

There was also a substitute spot for Larne Patrick, who proved his fitness at the end of the week after recovering from a broken wrist which had forced him to miss a large chunk of pre-season training.

But with starting front-rowers Fairbank and Eorl Crabtree lasting for the full opening 40 minutes, it wasn't until the second half that Patrick was introduced – and to devastating effect with his two-try blitz in the space of seven unforgettable minutes.

And it was right to keep Fairbank and Crabtree on the field after they had produced a monumental effort that summed up Huddersfield's performance through that incredibly-encouraging first half.

Although the visitors were placed under enormous pressure early on, their defensive effort was magnificent and they thoroughly deserved their 8-6 interval advantage. The more they stifled the Warriors’ attack, the more the Giants’ confidence grew.

With acting captain Luke Robinson prompting and probing at dummy half, Huddersfield’s threat slowly began to increase, and midway through the half they struck the first blow of the contest.

Having worked their way to the home side’s 20, Scott Grix – playing at scrum half rather his usual full-back role – ran across the face of the defence and produced an exquisite inside pass for Lee Gilmour to collect at pace and run a perfect line to help him charge over from 20m.

The highly-influential Danny Brough added the conversion and the DW Stadium was stunned.

Wigan’s pressure finally paid off eight minutes later when Sam Tomkins stepped over from 15m and Pat Richards converted.

But three minutes before the break, Brough added a penalty after Wigan had been guilty of holding down, and an excellent half had been completed.

Unfortunately, the sight of Leroy Cudjoe having to be helped off the field following a heavy challenge as the half-time hooter sounded meant it wasn’t 100% smiles all round.

But the sight of the England centre trotting back onto the field for the start of the second half once again raised spirits.

He soon proved he was fully fit with several strong charges before the Giants’ delight increased even further 10 minutes after the restart with a cracking Patrick try.

Brough kept the ball alive on the sixth tackle by finding Jermaine McGillvary with a kick out wide, and the winger immediately hacked on for Shaun Lunt to collect and make further ground.

In his attempt to keep the ball alive, his attempted pass hit a Wigan hand, the Giants re-gathered, it was back to six and Lunt fed Patrick to crash over by the posts for a second converted score.

Liam Farrell’s try five minutes later suggested the tide may be about to turn.

But Patrick had other ideas, collecting 40m out and showing his amazing burst of pace to beat the cover and dive over for Brough to make it four goals out of four.

With five minutes remaining, Sean O’Loughlin gave his side hope by plunging over in the corner for an unconverted score to reduced the deficit to four points.

That led to the nerviest of finishes, with a superb take of a high ball by McGillvary with two minutes left a real heart-stopper.

But it was enough to secure a truly remarkable triumph.