Huddersfield Giants’ season is over.
Despite producing a performance that was so much better than the 57-4 humiliation at Wigan last Thursday, it was still not enough to see off the battling Dragons.
As a result, it was a bitterly demoralising end to a campaign that always offered hope heading into the play-offs, with the Giants having worked so hard to finish third and give themselves a better crack at reaching the Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford for the first time.
But given the farcical events at the start of the game and the highly-disruptive power cut, there was also a sense this might not be the Giants’ night.
It couldn’t have been a more farcical build-up to a contest, with a power cut just after 6pm casting a serious doubt over whether the contest could go ahead.
But even though just two floodlights were working on half power through a generator, both sides were determined to get the game played.
That meant the fans were only allowed to enter the stadium at a trickle, as the electronic turnstiles couldn’t be used.
And apart from club officials and the press, all the supporters had to be accommodated in the Britannia Stadium, despite the fact it was in darkness!
As a result, the game did start at the allotted 8pm start.
Yet the darkness didn’t effect Jodie Broughton, who made the two most significant contributions during the bizarre opening exchanges.
First, he combined with Aaron Murphy to somehow hold up Michael Oldfield over the tryline in the opening minute and was then on hand to finish off a fine sweeping move in the corner two minutes later.
But the French responded superbly to dominate much of the half by producing some outstanding attacking skill.
Daryl Millard and Oldfield both finished off some top-quality moves to edge their sure 10-4 ahead, while Ben Pomeroy was denied a try by video referee Richard Silverwood for a knock-on in the build-up and Elliott Whitehead lost possession over the tryline attempting to score.
However, that close call in the 26th minute and 10 minutes after full power to the floodlights had been restored, signalled a balance in the power on the field.
Just seconds after the Whitehead scare, Shaun Lunt released Joe Wardle to charge clear and feed the supporting Murphy to score under the posts.
Danny Brough’s conversion made it 10-10, and the Giants could sniff the blood of a Frenchman.
Unfortunately, after Craig Kopczak had earlier had an effort ruled out for a forward pass, Broughton was thwarted when he s knocked off the ball chasing a Brough kick to the corner to score and then Leroy Cudjoe failed to gather a Brough grubber over the tryline.
Broughton looked to have given his side the lead within four minutes of the restart when he collected a Dragons’ bomb and raced the length of the field to touch down.
But video referee Silverwood ruled an obstruction had helped the winger collect the ball cleanly and Bosc added the subsequent penalty.
Silverwood then came to the rescue of the Giants in the 55th minute when he adjudged Louis Anderson had failed to ground Sam Williams’ kick-through.
Luckily, there was no denying Luke Robinson in the 62nd minute when video replays showed he just managed to ground Brough’s grubber before it went dead. Brough converted, and it was 16-12.
It was petty clear, however, that this game was far from over.
And with 11 minutes remaining, Pomeroy was in the right place at the right time to pick up the pieces from a contested high kick to the corner to strike a killer blow.
That made it 16-16, and Bosc held his nerve to add the goal and edge his side two points ahead.
It had also sealed the Giants’ fate.
