GIVEN the circumstances, the Giants can take a great deal of heart and pride from this defeat at Super League champions Bradford Bulls.
With TEN members of coach Jon Sharp's senior squad either injured or out on loan, his side were virtually doomed from the start.
Several of the starting line-up were clearly carrying knocks, while the substititutes' bench included Academy players Bolu Fagbourn, 18, and Jason Southwell, 17, who were both making their debuts.
Furthermore, fellow Academy junior Thomas Hemingway was named 18th man.
Was it any wonder, therefore, that Huddersfield failed to pick up another two Super League points?
Yet despite the massive odds, the visitors at times made life exceptionally difficult for their hosts.
There was never really a genuine sense that the Giants would win this game.
But they never gave up, and Sharp's prediction that his players would produce a performance full of passion and pride proved spot-on.
They also scored two well-worked tries - just three less than the Bulls - and at times worked heroically for each other in defence.
Full-back Stuart Donlan led the way in the defensive department with a number of trysaving efforts, while the work produced in the middle of the field by Ben Roarty was also something to savour.
Out wide, new centre James Evans once again caught the eye, with his 53rd minute try crowning another wholehearted display.
It was a score which proved the Giants were capable of breaking down solid Super League defences, even without the likes of injured playmakers Brandon Costin and Paul March.
With these two out of the equation, Stanley Gene was left with far more of the attacking responsibility.
And it was his neat kick to the corner which enabled Evans to slide over the tryline and plant the ball down.
Hefin O'Hare was unable to add the conversion with his first ever Giants attempt at goal.
But nine minutes later, Paul White made no mistake adding the extras to his own try - a try that was by far the best of the contest.
The way the Giants kept the ball alive was a joy to behold, with Eorl Crabtree and Donlan finally combining for White to finish off and collect his first four-pointer of the season.
The conversion made it 26-12, but it was never going to be enough to help the Giants overcome the convincing lead the Bulls had already built up.
White and Paul Deacon exchanged penalties in the opening nine minutes.
But when Bradford finally got into their stride there was little stopping them.
A second Deacon penalty in the 14th minute helped them regain the lead - the scrum half was to go on and complete a perfect 10 out of 10 goalkicking haul - before they breached the Giants tryline for the first time in the 17th minute.
It was set up by a fine sweeping move, resulting in Shontayne Hape collecting Stuart Fielden's kick-through to score.
Then eight minutes later Robbie Paul's short pass enabled Logan Swann to charge over the line.
Two further Deacon penalties either side of half-time made it 20-2 and in the 48th minute Fielden showed great strength to plough through numerous defenders to score.
It was then the Giants sparked into life.
Five minutes later Evans crossed for his second in two weeks and Huddersfield had hope.
A mass brawl, which was sparked by Fielden's late challenge on Gene, resulted in Fielden and Jim Gannon being sin-binned and the incident placed on report.
But the visitors reacted strongly with White's try of the match.
Another Giants try at that stage would have made it interesting.
But all of their momentum was left with six minutes remaining when Donlan was sin-binned for holding down Lee Radford.
Within a minute the home side were taking full advantage as Stuart Reardon raced 60m to score.
Then immediately from the kick-off Joe Vagana charged clear of the defence and, after Paul had been caught by Fagborun, the position was worked for Hape to grab his second.
Only an obstruction by Roarty in the final seconds prevented Bradford scoring a sixth try, although it did earn the Australian a yellow card.
Deacon added the extras to bring up the 40-point mark, a total that in light of the Giants' brave effort was a little unkind.
* Huddersfield's Junior Academy side secured a 34-14 victory over Featherstone over the weekend. Full report tomorrow.
