BATTLING Huddersfield fought back from a 10-0 half-time deficit to leave title-chasing Beverley hanging on for victory in a typically tough Yorkshire derby.

The East Yorkshire side may not have lost at home for over two years and have already claimed the scalp of North I leaders Caldy at their Beaver Park ground.

But if Huddersfield had given it their best shot from the start, a famous victory for player-coach Mark Sowerby and his men may have been secured.

In the opening stages, the visitors allowed their hosts the time and space to do all the running and, had it not been for a high standard of defending so sadly lacking at Kendal in the Cup two weeks before, Beverley could have been out of sight by the break.

Yet once Huddersfield got to grips with their hosts' open style of play, they began to become a genuine threat themselves.

As a result, they had the better of the second-half exchanges, with Alex Shaw crossing for the only try during that period to leave second-placed Beverley hanging on for their eighth win of the campaign - and leaving Huddersfield to reflect on what might have been.

For the opening half hour, the Lockwood Park side seemed incapable of dealing effectively with Beverley's big attacking threat.

Only desperate last-ditch defending restricted the home side to a solitary Ian Archibald penalty in the opening 15 minutes.

And there must have been a genuine fear when Archibald stretched out for the first try after 16 minutes - converted by the scrum half himself - following some more excellent approach play, that the floodgates may be about to open.

But all credit to the way Huddersfield battled back.

Rather than crumble under the intense pressure, they rolled up their sleeves and began to fight back.

Only a solid cover tackle by home centre Tim Carney denied Tim Taylor a try in the corner after good link play by Huddersfield University student Olly Wickett and Ben Paxman and, by the end of the half, Huddersfield looked capable of making a real game of it.

That was re-inforced seven minutes after the restart when Chris Johnson banged over a penalty - and the visitors had made their intentions clear.

Archibald settled the hosts' nerves with his second penalty in the 52nd minute and then saw another attempt drift wide five minutes later.

But from then on, Huddersfield were in the ascendancy.

When visiting prop Tony Stringwell paid the price for his side going continually offside by earning 10 minutes in the sin-bin after an hour, it looked as if Beverley would take full advantage.

Instead, it was the visitors who reacted the strongest, reducing the deficit to just three points with 13 minutes remaining.

Taking a leaf out of Beverley's book, Huddersfield kept the ball alive and worked their way to their opponents' line, with the Paxman twins combining to create the overlap and feed Shaw to dive over unopposed in spectacular style.

With Johnson having hobbled off with a bang to the right knee, Wickett landed the conversion off the crossbar and it was 13-10.

But despite a big late effort, Beverley held out and Huddersfield were left to rue making such a shaky start.

Beverley: Dale; Cuozzo, Hope, Carney, Jelenic; Posa, Archibald; Smith, Cross, Hatfield, Jackson, Gibson, Hopa, McKay, Worrall. Subs: Clappison, Henderson, Shaw.

Huddersfield: Wickett; Taylor, Paxman (B), Carter, Shaw; Johnson (Paxman L), Clayton; Stringwell, Gough, McPhail (Chatta), Barnard, Hinchliff, Jones, Whitehead (Rotchell), Sowerby.