WHAT a crying shame that the Giants should sign off a superb home Super League campaign with a spectacle such as this.

When Huddersfield needed to come up with the performance of their lives to keep their slender play-off hopes alive, they failed to deliver.

Many factors contributed to this night of bitter disappointment, including the lack-lustre Giants display as opposed to the thoroughly professional performance produced by their impressive visitors.

But once again the way the match was controlled by referee Russell Smith has to come under scrutiny.

Had Smith been brave enough to send off Warrington prop Mark Hilton for a third-minute high tackle on Paul Reilly which left the full-back dazed and confused and unable to recall the incident afterwards, there would surely have been none of the ill-tempered nonsense that was to follow.

Yes, the Giants did go on to lose a fair share of discipline as a result - and there can be no excuse for that.

However, it must have been so frustrating for the home players to see Smith go for the `on-report' cop-out on Hilton rather than take firm and decisive action there and then.

With Hilton having escaped, the tone was set for the remaining 77 minutes, with a total of six players spending time in the sin-bin and a mass brawl being placed on report.

Ben Roarty (holding down), Reilly (late challenge) and Paul March (offside) were all given 10 minutes for technical offences, while Jamie Bloem was ordered to cool off for his part in the major brawl.

Warrington duo Nathan Wood and Ben Westwood were also shown the yellow card as a result of the brawl.

But, overall, it was the Wolves' ability to keep their concentration in such a heated environment that earned them a win which still keeps them in the play-off hunt going into the final week of the season.

And, having been the first team since the Bradford Bulls nine games ago to have won at the McAlpine, Warrington must fancy their chances of getting into the top six.

They must also have felt early on that last night's match was always going to go their way.

In the opening two minutes Eorl Crabtree coughed up the ball in his own 25 and then Reilly was forced to concede a drop-out as the Giants started in the most nervous of fashion.

Reilly did quickly make amends with a jinking run out of defence before he was felled by the infamous Hilton high shot.

Three minutes into the game and the gods were already clearly favouring the visitors.

With Huddersfield going on to concede penalty after penalty - some correctly awarded and others clearly not - Warrington had the perfect platform on which to build a lead.

By the 29th minute that lead was 16-0.

A Graham Appo penalty in the eighth minute set the ball rolling and three minutes later Daryl Cardiss latched on to an Appo kick for a converted opening try.

In the 18th minute Roarty was sin-binned and Appo added the penalty and within minutes Paul Wood crashed over after Hefin O'Hare's initial error.

The 26th-minute mass brawl briefly threaten to break the Wolves' momentum, but when Reilly was sent to the bin Appo again hit the target.

The game was already slipping away from the Giants, but four minutes before the break the home side were handed a lifeline.

A solid double tackle from March and O'Hare forced Dean Gaskell to spill the ball, and seconds later Jarrod O'Doherty showed amazing strength to crashe over from close range and through a crowd of bodies.

Steve McNamara added the extras to open the Giants account, but then slipped as he attempted a penalty attempt on the stroke of half time. It was that sort of evening.

The second half brought little change in fortunes, with the Giants continuing to concede penalties and the reliable boot of Appo making them pay with three more successes.

Nathan Wood was also on hand to bang over a drop goal, and with five minutes remaining the visitors' lead had been extended to 23-6.

But the Giants were determined not to throw in the towel.

After O'Hare had been held up over the line, Huddersfield worked the position from the scrum for McNamara to kick-through and for Jamie Bloem to beat Marcus St Hilaire to the vital touch for a second Giants converted try.

How ironic it was, therefore, that all 12 of the Giants points in the last home game were scored by the three players who are departing at the end of the season!

Unfortunately, the dominant Wolves had the final say as Cardiss landed a last-minute penalty.

Yet even though the final McAlpine act proved desperately disappointing, this home campaign was still special.

MATCH FACTS

Giants: Reilly, O'Hare, Bailey, Bloem, St Hilaire, McNamara, March, Fleary, Turner, Gannon, Crabtree, Roarty, O'Doherty; Slicker, Morrison, Whittaker, White

Wolves: Cardiss, Gaskell, Westwood, Burns, Grose, Appo, Wood, Fozzard, Clarke, Hilton, Wainwright, Wood, Domic; Gleeson, Guisset, Noone, Hulse

KEY MAN: Paul Reilly

RECOVERED from taking an early high shot from Mark Hilton to try his heart out after being handed the honour of leading the team for the first time.

KEY MOMENT:

MARK Hilton's high tackle on Paul Reilly after just three minutes set the tone for the rest of the contest. Had referee Russell Smith dismissed the Warrington prop, the game wouldn't have been so heated and the Giants' play may have been more controlled.

KEY STATS:

Giants. Tries: O'Doherty (36mins), Bloem (77mins). Goals: McNamara 2 from 3.

Sin-binnings: Roarty (holding down), Reilly (late challenge), Bloem (fighting), March (offside).

Wolves. Tries: Cardiss (11mins), P Wood (21mins). Goals: Appo 7 from 8, Cardiss 1 from 1. Drop goal: N Wood.

Sin-binnings: N Wood & Westwood (fighting).

Half-time: 6-16.

Referee: Russell Smith (Castleford)..

Attendance: 4,443.

Scrums won: Giants 4, Wolves 7.

Pens conceded: Giants 16, Wolves 10.

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