LEROY CUDJOE couldn’t have thought of a better way to celebrate his 150th Huddersfield Giants appearance.
The 24-year-old England centre marked the occasion by scoring two tries to sink Leeds Rhinos 24-8 in a man-of-the-match performance to send Huddersfield storming into the quarter-finals of the Tetley’s Challenge Cup.
Click on the link below to view a gallery of match action from the win
The former Newsome Panthers junior always had the feeling this thrilling John Smith’s Stadium contest would be a little special.
Having made his debut against the Rhinos at home in February 2008, the Huddersfield-born three-quarter admits he relishes every battle with the men in blue and amber – with this latest encounter without doubt the most pleasing.
“We’ve had some great wins over Leeds in recent seasons,” said Cudjoe, whose side have won on their last three visits to Headingley and also won 48-24 at home to Leeds last season, despite the early dismissal of Luke O’Donnell.
“But this one has to be the best. In fact, in my career, it’s probably got to be up there with our Cup semi-final win over St Helens in 2009 and our play-off win at Warrington a year later. It really is that memorable a victory.
“I suppose I’m bound to say that because I scored two tries and picked up the man-of-the-match award in a game shown by the BBC on national TV. But there’s far more to it than that.
“This was another one of those occasions when we needed to dig deep and work extra hard for each other to get the win.
“It was another top team effort that got us home.
“Even when we were down to 12 men (following the 61st-minute dismissal of Joe Wardle for punching), we always knew we would do it.”
And Cudjoe has no doubt why the Giants – who also had Luke Robinson sent off in the second half of their 28-20 Super League triumph at Catalan Dragons two weeks ago – are so strong in times of adversity.
“That’s got to be down to our pre-season trip to the army camp,” he added.
“It was a horrible few days and we were tested to the full, both physically and mentally.
“But that helped to bring us even closer together as a group.
“It taught us how important it is to rely on each other and make sure you go that bit further for your mates.
“And that’s exactly what we did to make sure we beat Leeds and get that step closer to Wembley.”
Click on the link below to see Giants fans and players celebrating - are you pictured?
