HUDDERSFIELD Giants passed another massive test of character to grind out their most hard-fought victory of this memorable Super League season.

Coach Jon Sharp's heroes made it five wins from six top-flight starts after calling on all their reserves of energy to secure victory at rock-solid Wakefield.

Huddersfield's last-gasp opening-day win over Castleford may have gone right down to the wire.

But there was a general feeling that the Giants had to dig so much deeper to produce a result which took them to third in the Super League ladder.

In days gone by, there's simply no way a Huddersfield side would have won a game of such a ferocious competitive nature. The white flag would certainly have been raised.

Now, however, there's a belief, a hunger and a desire to do everything humanly possible to get the Super League points on the board - and here was one of the clearest possible examples.

In-form Wakefield, buoyed by their 39-16 victory at London Broncos last Thursday night, threw everything at their visitors during a torrid opening spell.

Yet despite putting the Giants' defence under so much early pressure and then repeating the dose at the start of the second half, all the Wildcats had to show for their efforts were two tries from kicks.

Everything else they tried was swallowed up by a Huddersfield defensive effort that left Sharp brimming with pride.

And in the final 10 minutes, the amount of energy left in the Giants' tank despite Friday's gruelling home test by Salford had to be seen to be believed.

While Wakefield looked dead on their feet, the Giants had grown stronger and stronger, and it was no great surprise when Darren Turner wrapped up the contest with a try with four minutes remaining.

Huddersfield had timed their victory charge to perfection, and for that everyone, including Sharp for the way he rotated his players to keep them fresh, should take an almighty bow.

Turner's effort was the icing on the cake for what had been a pulsating contest from start to finish.

Within three minutes the action had reached fever pitch with Ben Roarty placed on report for a late challenge on the highly impressive Ben Jeffries.

Jamie Rooney added the extras, and the first points had been registered in this gripping see-saw battle.

By the seventh minute, however, the Giants had hit the front for the first time, thanks to an outstanding score.

Former Wakefield favourite Paul March set the wheels in motion, working the blindside to set Chris Nero on his way.

Nero made valuable ground before plunging into the heart of the Trinity defence and slipping the pass to Hefin O'Hare who in turn fed Roarty to finish off.

March converted and it was 6-2.

But immediately from the restart, full-back Paul Reilly launched a long and wayward pass inside his own 20 which gifted possession straight back to the Wildcats.

And within seconds Jeffries had kicked through for Darrell Griffin to pounce and score for Rooney to convert.

That signalled the start of an all-out Wakefield assault on the Huddersfield line.

Twice, centre Stuart Donlan was forced to concede a drop-out under intense home pressure and in the 32nd minute Michael Wainwright's `try' was ruled out due to a forward pass.

Then suddenly and against the run of play, the Giants sensed some light at the end of the tunnel.

Turner was held up over the line in the 37th minute on the third tackle, and three plays later Stuart Jones and Nero had combined to send O'Hare over in the corner to level the scores.

March was unable to convert, but on the stroke of half-time added a penalty to make it 12-10 to the visitors.

The lead didn't last long, however.

Within five minutes of the restart, Jeffries' kick-through on the sixth tackle caused confusion in the Giants' in-goal area and Colum Halpenny was on hand to pounce and get the vital touch.

Rooney was unable to convert, although he did follow up quickly with a penalty and drop goal to make it 17-12 by the 57th minute.

But the time had now come for the Giants to step up a gear, with the likes of lively substitute duo Stanley Gene and Sean Penkywicz leading the way.

And it was Penkywicz who was the first to strike, plunging over from acting half-back from close range after Reilly had taken the play to the line. March's goal made it 18-17 to the Giants.

The excellent Nero almost gained a fitting reward for his efforts, but was held up over the line before Turner struck the decisive blow.

Reilly and Gene both broke from deep to take play into the Wakefield 20, and with the tackles running out Turner kicked ahead and followed up to seal a stunning victory.