Fans did us proud say Giants Challenge Cup final team

Aug 31 2009 by Roy Wright, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

TOP performer Shaun Lunt has hailed the role the Giants fans played in what he described as an ‘awesome’ Wembley experience.

Although the 22-year-old hooker admitted losing in the Challenge Cup final was a bitter experience, he was still able to appreciate the occasion and knows how lucky he is to have played in such a major sporting event.

“I’m absolutely gutted to have lost. To have won the Challenge Cup would have meant everything,” said Lunt.

“But I still know how lucky I’ve been to be a part of something as big as this.

“I think it’s every schoolboy’s dream to play at Wembley, and there are a lot of fantastic players who’ll never have the chance to do it. So I feel very privileged.

“And the support from the fans just blew us away.

“To see so many supporters in the claret and gold was out of this world and the noise they made was brilliant. That’s something else I’ll never forget.

“But, to be honest, I think it’s hard to fully appreciate everything that’s gone on so soon after we’ve just been beaten, especially when we were all feeling confident we could got out there and do it.”

Lunt was arguably the Giants’ best performer on the day, having a very eventful and somewhat controversial game.

As well as scoring one superbly-created try after nine minutes, he had one disallowed for a double movement moments earlier and was then penalised for obstruction by the video referee when Kevin Brown put David Hodgson over in the 23rd minute.