IN-FORM Huddersfield Giants secured the Senior Academy result of the season to topple leaders Leeds 28-22 at Headingley last night.
Coach Lee St Hilaire's side may have won eight of their last nine games, but this result over the Rhinos was still largely unexpected - except by the Giants!
The visitors were the dominant force for the vast majority of the contest, with Leeds grabbing two late tries to make the final scoreline respectable.
And the manner of the win did not come as a surprise to proud coach St Hilaire.
"This was one of those games where the only people who expected us to win were my players and myself," he said.
"Last week's defeat to Warrington - our first in nine matches - hit the boys hard and their response was magnificent.
"They did the small things right and worked together as a team to make sure everything came right on the night.
"But even though it was a fantastic all-round effort that brought the win, there were also some outstanding individual efforts.
"Full-back Jon Bullas, for instance, was my man-of-the-match, but the likes of Karl Mills, Matthew Whittaker and Tony Williams were also outstanding.
"It was a great night."
Leeds had the better of the early exchanges and midway through the first half had opened up an 8-6 advantage.
Johnny Wainhouse and Matt Gardner both crossed for the Rhinos, but a ninth-minute try from Craig McDowell and a Paul White conversion quickly showed the Giants were not there simply to make up the numbers.
And by the break, the visitors had stunned the healthy Headingley crowd by opening up an 18-8 lead.
In the 27th minute Ben Feehan raced 70 metres to set up the position for Jonathan Grayshon to stroll over for a second converted score.
Then two minutes before the break Ben Cooper backed up a McDowell break to score under the posts and for White to add the extras.
The good work continued at the start of the second half as White raced in for a solo effort and banged on the extras.
Leeds briefly fought back in the 57th minute with a Peter Fox try and Scott Walker conversion.
But five minutes later Grayshon doubled his tally by crashing over from close range to make it 28-14.
Fox and Austin Buchanan crossed for late Leeds scores, but they couldn't deny Huddersfield their finest Senior Academy hour.
