Triumphant Huddersfield Giants celebrated another victory over Leeds Rhinos to return to winning Super League XVIII ways and remain on course for a top-two finish.

After a superb 32-8 triumph at Headingley in March and hard-fought 24-8 home Challenge Cup triumph in May, the Giants completed a hat trick of wins over the Rhinos in 2013 by rattling up 40 points in the process.

But, just as importantly, it helped them get straight back on the winning track following the surprise 35-28 defeat at Hull KR last time out.

And that could prove crucial in the bid to remain ahead of third-placed Warrington with just eight games of the regular season still to play. If the Wolves lose at home to leaders Wigan tonight, the Giants would be three points clear in second.

Admittedly, this latest Huddersfield success over Leeds wasn’t the most polished, with the rustiness at having last week off clear for all to see.

However, it was still another notable win that should give the Giants a further lift in confidence ahead of Friday’s home clash against Catalan Dragons.

At the same time, it would also only be right to give praise to the way the Leeds youngsters performed on the day.

Although the Rhinos had a whole host of injuries to star men there were spells in the game when they put their far healthier hosts under considerable pressure, including the opening exchanges when they were well on top.

Twice within the opening seven minutes they had forced the Giants to drop out from under their own posts, with one big Ukuma Ta’ai hit on Rob Burrow being the highlight for the home side.

So it was somewhat against the run of play when Huddersfield took the lead after 10 minutes when Danny Brough shrugged off a couple of markers before sending out a long ball to Leroy Cudjoe .

And the in-form England centre showed great footwork to make further ground and feed the supporting Luke Robinson to finish off for Brough to land the first of his first-half conversions.

But all credit to Leeds, who struck back almost immediately as teenage half-back Liam Sutcliffe showed great strength to shrug off several questionable tackles before crashing over for a try converted by Zak Hardaker.

More pressure almost brought further reward for the visitors – before the Giants struck twice in three minutes midway through the half to underline their class.

First, Shaun Lunt squeezed in at the corner from acting half-back after Joe Wardle had been held up on the line.

Then on the next attack, Brough and Lunt off-loaded superbly to release Wardle, who made ground before slipping the pass to Aaron Murphy to finish off.

At 16-6, the signs didn’t look too good for the battered reigning champions.

But again to their credit they refused to wave the white flag and reduced the deficit in the 32nd minute when Jimmy Keinhorst’s pass – which did look well forward – gave Ben Jones-Bishop a walk-in.

Again, the Giants made sure they kept their distance points-wise a minute before the break when Eorl Crabtree and Brough combined to send Brett Ferres through a large gap from 5m to make it 22-12 at the break.

There was little to separate the sides during a close third quarter, with a midfield break by props Craig Kopczak and Crabtree the shining light.

Yet it was a different story in the final 20 minutes, with tries scored at regular intervals.

A deep Lunt kick forced a Leeds drop-out and from the subsequent set, the in-form hooker took play to the blindside for Cudjoe to stretch out and score.

And at 28-12, there were many who were tipping the floodgates to open – although not the Rhinos, who were next to score when Burrow’s break paved the way for Sutcliffe’s second.

That was scored within minutes of Scott Grix having been sent to the sin-bin for holding down, and there was even a hint of a remarkable Leeds fightback.

But as the Leeds youngsters began to tire, the Giants made sure that never happened as they took full advantage to run in two more tries.

With five minutes remaining, some individual brilliance from Brough opened up the visitors’ defence and created the opening for man-of-the-match Lunt to finish off and grab his second.

Then in the 78th minute, Larne Patrick raced away and fed Jamie Cording to send Grix over for a try with his first touch since returning from the sin-bin.

It was a good way to finish another great day against the Rhinos.