IN the space of six days the Giants have suffered the joy and despair of Super League clashes that have gone right down to the wire.
Last Saturday, Huddersfield came from behind to snatch a dramatic 22-20 last-minute victory over Hull.
But last night the boot was very firmly on the other foot as coach Jon Sharp's side were left to reflect on a nail-biting 21-20 defeat in which a 74th-minute Ben Jeffries drop goal sealed the visitors' fate.
It was a result which has now confirmed Wakefield's place in the top six play-offs at the expense of the Giants.
And how fitting it was that the close and tense race for that prized finishing spot should have been mirrored by a contest of such a similar nature.
Just like in the two clubs' bid for play-off glory, it was the Giants who did all the early running in last night's gripping encounter.
But as the battle progressed, Huddersfield's luck began to run out and in the closing stages the Wildcats came to the fore to grab the headlines.
It summed up the season in a nutshell.
Yet had the Giants held their nerve and composure last night they could easily have been celebrating a victory that their endeavours would have deserved.
Huddersfield's defence was once again outstanding, just like it had been against Hull last week, and it was noticeable that two of the three tries they conceded were at the end of the first half when Julian Bailey was in the sin-bin for holding down.
And Wakefield's levelling try in the 70th minute came after Stanley Gene had been penalised for a voluntary tackle and Jason Demetriou almost immediately sent out a speculative long pass which bounced kindly for Semi Tadulala to race in at the corner.
But what added to that particular frustration was that it was scored just a minute after Paul Reilly had returned from the sin-bin for committing a similar offence to that of Bailey.
In fact, it summed up a night of frustration for the Giants as they found themselves on the receiving end of a 15-10 penalty count.
Several of those came in the opening 10 minutes, allowing hooker David March to strike two penalties to give his side an early 4-0 lead.
But as the game progressed the Giants began to get on top and by the 17th minute they had hit the front.
A strong Chris Nero drive took him to the line and acting half-back Sean Penkywicz was on hand to plunge over from close range.
The outlook was even brighter 10 minutes later as the Giants deservedly got their second try.
This time it was Jon Grayshon who made it possible, charging strongly to the line before feeding the supporting Jim Gannon to crash over at pace by the posts.
Brandon Costin landed both conversions and it was 12-4.
Yet crucially Bailey was sent to the sin-bin eight minutes before the break and Wakefield had been handed the golden opportunity to hit back.
Within three minutes the home side had capitalised on the gap vacated by Bailey for Sid Domic to score in the corner.
And two minutes before the break Marcus St Hilaire fumbled badly close to the line and the Wildcats took full advantage as Colum Halpenny squeezed in at the corner to make it 12-12 at the break.
Yet within three minutes of the restart, Giants spirits were lifted again with a superbly-worked try.
It all started after rock-solid centre James Evans had picked up a loose ball close to his own line, made ground and fed Paul White who almost escaped the clutches of the last line of cover.
But three plays later, White was not to be denied as he plunged over for a try after excellent work from Costin and in-form captain Darren Fleary.
A Paul Handforth penalty three minutes later narrowed the deficit, but when Steve Snitch was sin-binned for interference and Costin banged over the penalty it looked as if the visitors had regained the initiative.
Unfortunately, it wasn't to be.
By the 59th minute Reilly was in the bin for an enforced 10-minute rest, March added the subsequent penalty and the balance of power had shifted again.
Demetriou, Tadulala and March all had tries ruled out by the video referee before Tadulala finally levelled the scores.
And as the sides appeared to be settling for a draw, Jeffries popped up with a drop goal to seal a gripping game.
* Huddersfield's Junior Academy side completed their First Division campaign with an excellent 18-14 victory at Wakefield last night. They are now preparing to embark on their bid for play-off glory. Full details on Tuesday.
