HUDDERSFIELD Giants failed to rise to the occasion as champions Leeds spoiled a special Galpharm Stadium party.

In front of a club record 15,629 Super League crowd, the scene had been set for coach Jon Sharp’s side to strut their stuff.

But, almost immediately, stage fright struck, with the Rhinos playing the party pooper role to perfection.

In almost every facet of the game Leeds held the upper hand, claiming almost total dominance from the moment Brent Webb collected Kevin Sinfield’s kick-through after three minutes.

True, Rod Jensen did power over seven minutes later to give the Giants great hope by reducing the deficit to 6-4.

And had it not been for Webb’s wonder tackle to deny Jensen from grabbing a second to make it 10-8 with the kick to come in the 23rd minute, it’s possible Huddersfield could have become the dominant power.

But those were to prove the few bright moments on an otherwise bitterly disappointing first 2008 hit-out.

Expectations had been understandably high on the back of an excellent pre-season campaign, in which new boys George Gatis, Luke Robinson and Paul Whatuira had given the Giants a new attacking edge.

But, when it came to the crunch, the talented trio and their teammates all failed to deliver.

However, at the same time, it would be wrong not to mention Leeds’ part in all this.

After all, they aren’t the reigning engage Super League champions for nothing.

In contrast to their hosts, they took the chances clinically, while the Rhinos defence was outstanding. On the evidence of this showing, it’s going to take a very special team to break them down.

On several occasions in the opening period, the Giants threatened to make their pressure pay, only to be repelled by the tigerish tackling they encountered.

Huddersfield, too, had looked strong on defence in the initial exchanges, but quickly found themselves on the back foot, courtesy of two soft penalties.

With Leeds handed 70 cheap metres, the position was created for Webb to score with ease and for Sinfield to goal.

But when Whatuira worked the position for Jensen to collect out wide and somehow burst through several tackles to score, it looked as if the tide might turn.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.

Despite Chris Thorman’s brave attempt to hold second-rower Jamie Jones-Buchanan on his back after 12 minutes, the visitors had already built up a lead the Giants were unable to peg back.

And when Jensen was denied by Webb 11 minutes later, there was a growing sense that this just wasn’t going to be Huddersfield’s day.

Even when Webb collected his second try from a kick, this time off Danny McGuire, all was not lost at 16-4.

But on the stroke of half-time, a killer blow was struck.

Within seconds of the lively Ryan Hudson just failing to get a touch to a Robinson grubber, Ryan Hall had raced away to score a 70m solo effort, despite the best efforts of Jensen and Stephen Wild to close him down.

Sinfield’s goal made it 22-4 at the interval.

But there was still worse to follow within four minutes of the restart.

With Gatis working hard to get his new side on the front foot, Kevin Brown sent out a long pass which would have given Jensen a walk-in had he received it.

Instead, it fell invitingly to Hall who, for a second time, raced down field for another converted score.

Even at that stage, a 28-10 lead had made it game, set and match.

Credit to the Giants for not giving up and being rewarded for Robinson’s first try for the club when he shot over from the centre position from a scrum 20m out for Thorman to add his first conversion of the season.

But it was Leeds who had the last laugh, with Rob Burrow’s penalty completing the scoring with five minutes remaining.

Comment

HOW could we expect to beat Leeds on the back of a 50% completion rate!

I’m afraid that’s the bottom line.

We were looking forward to this game, but ended up coming second best to a good Leeds team, who I thought defended very well.

But while Leeds looked pretty good, I thought we contributed significantly in making them look that way.

We seemed incapable of keeping them under pressure through over-execution, and over-playing so much meant we lost the energy battle.

Quite simply, we lacked any real respect for the game and for the ball, that’s why I’m really disappointed.

After a performance like that, it’s hard to pick out any individuals for praise.

But I did think the cheerleaders looked good!

In fact, the real success story in this game was the fantastic work done by so many people to attract our new record crowd.