Acting Giants captain Danny Brough was sent off in the 75th minute as Huddersfield slumped to a 30-12 home defeat to Salford to remain second bottom of the Super League table.
Brough’s dismissal summed up another day of frustration for interim coach Chris Thorman and his men.
For large parts of the contest the home side more than competed with their hosts.
But the fact Huddersfield made far too many errors and also incurred the wrath of James Child, who made a number of tough calls against the hosts to leave Thorman ‘scratching his head’, made their task almost impossible.
And it was those factors that enraged Brough, who received a straight red card for verbal abuse of a touchjudge in the 75th minute.
That was an act Thorman was unable to condone.
But he remains hopeful Brough will be handed a ‘sending off sufficient sentence’ when he’s called up in front of a RFL disciplinary committee panel this week and will be available for Friday’s trip to St Helens.
With the injury-hit Giants still lacking the services of a number of key men, it’ll clearly be a case of keeping fingers crossed.
In contrast, Huddersfield bogey side Salford - the Red
Devils haven’t lost at the John Smith’s since 2013! - were on cloud nine after registering a first away top-flight triumph for almost 11 months.
Mark Flanagan and Ben Nakubuwai touched down inside the opening quarter of an hour while Weller Hauraki’s second-half score and Jake Bibby’s late brace clinched victory for the Red Devils.
Innes Senior and Oliver Roberts crossed for the hosts, but it was never going to be enough on the day.
The Giants are still to win since parting company with Australian boss Rick Stone at the end of last month, with everyone fully aware Thorman is facing a Herculean task in trying to change the club’s fortunes.
Salford, meanwhile, moved into the top eight at the expense of Widnes.
Their three previous victories this season had come at home and they had not won a league game on their travels since a 38-12 success at Warrington last May.
But they made a promising start to redressing the imbalance as they went in front after 12 minutes when Flanagan barged over from a penalty, awarded after Brough, restored to the team following a hip injury, went high on inspirational stand-off Robert Lui.
Three minutes later Nakubuwai raced onto a Flanagan pass and dived between the posts. Lui added the extras to both tries to give Salford a 12-0 lead.
The Giants hit back after 23 minutes when teenage winger Senior finished off a slick handling move by the corner post for his third try in two games.
Brough’s excellent touchline conversion, halved Huddersfield’s deficit by the interval.
Lui’s third goal - a 46th-minute penalty - gave Salford a 14-6 lead and they increased their advantage five minutes later despite losing Josh Jones to a leg injury.
Penalised for holding down, Huddersfield cracked as Lui’s strong run and final pass opened the door for Hauraki to register Salford’s third try. Lui tagged on the extras.
Roberts touched down for Huddersfield as Salford lost Lee Mossop to a late head injury.
Lui protected his 100 per cent record from the tee with a 72nd minute penalty.
Brough’s dismissal made no difference to Huddersfield’s hopes of a fightback but summed up his team’s frustrations.
And they finished well beaten as winger Jake Bibby sped in at the corner for two tries in the final two minutes. Lui missed both conversions but Salford celebrated a vital victory.
Huddersfield Giants: Rankin; McIntosh, Turner, Murphy, I Senior; Gaskell, Brough; Ikahihifo, Leeming, Clough, Roberts, Ta’ai, Smith.
Replacements: Hinchcliffe, Walne, English, Mellor.
Salford: Evalds; Bibby, Sa’u, Welham, Johnson; Lui, Littlejohn; Nakubuwai, Tomkins, Mossop, Hauraki, Jones, Flanagan.
Replacements: Tasi, Kopczak, Lannon, Wood.
Referee: James Child
