WHAT a shame Leeds Rhinos went and took all the gloss off another highly encouraging Giants performance by running in three late tries to give the final scoreline a highly unflattering look.

One look at the result would suggest a comfortable win for the Super League leaders, with their visitors contributing very little to the proceedings.

Yet that couldn't have been further from the truth.

Even without six of the Giants' top performers - Darren Fleary, Stanley Gene, Paul March, Paul Reilly, Ben Roarty and Darren Turner - coach Jon Sharp's men played with real guts and determination.

And until the final 21 minutes, Huddersfield were still in with a shout of inflicting the first Super League defeat of the season on their hosts.

With 59 minutes on the clock and with Brandon Costin virtually running the show and young hooker Phil Joseph providing excellent back-up, the Giants were just 14-6 behind.

A try to Huddersfield at that stage would have made it very interesting indeed.

But, instead, it was Leeds who grabbed the decisive next score - a score that signalled the end of the Giants' brave challenge.

With Chev Walker completing his hat trick in the corner, converted from the touchline by Kevin Sinfield, Leeds had put themselves in the winning position.

And with the three late scores, they had rattled up a win which was cruel in the extreme on the Giants.

It didn't look encouraging for the visitors early on as the Rhinos built up a 10-0 lead inside the opening 13 minutes.

They had opened their account in the fifth minute when Andrew Dunemann fed Richard Mathers to score from close range, and then Mathers was on hand to feed Walker for his first to extend the Leeds lead.

At that stage, the signs were looking ominous for the third-placed Giants.

But in the 19th minute their luck began to change.

A sloppy Chris Feather pass was intercepted by the alert Julian Bailey, and had it not been for an excellent tackle by Sinfield the centre would have been over for a fourth try of the campaign.

On the next play, however, Leeds were caught offside and Costin banged over the two points.

In an instant the tide had turned.

Three minutes later a strong surge by Paul Smith took play deep into Leeds territory.

Costin collected and immediately worked the blindside, sending out a superb long cut-out pass for Marcus St Hilaire to touch down in the corner.

The inspirational Australian's touchline conversion attempt hit a post, but at 10-6 the Giants were right back in contention.

The pressure mounted as one of Costin's excellent kicks forced Leeds to drop-out from under their posts and Rob Burrow produced a brilliant cover tackle to deny St Hilaire a second.

That 30th-minute moment proved a turning point.

Within three minutes Walker had scored his second try, completely against the run of play, and the Rhinos were able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Huddersfield did create the odd second-half chance, with Iain Morrison and fit-again Jonathan Grayshon both going close.

But, overall, it was a forgettable final 40 minutes for the Giants.

Once Walker had completed his hat trick in the 59th minute, the outcome was totally inevitable, particularly when Sharp followed up minutes later by taking off Costin in a move which clearly suggested he had by that stage turned his attentions to the Challenge Cup semi-final matters next Sunday.

Yet it was still bitterly disappointing to watch David Furner (twice) and Danny McGuire crossing for late scores to give the home side a 32-point winning margin.

Given the events in the opening hour, that just didn't seem right.