The opening fixture of round six of Super League pitted fifth placed Huddersfield Giants against sixth placed St Helens as both sides looked for their third win of the season and a chance to end the evening in fourth spot in the table.
The two sides should have met in the opening fixture of 2023 but that game was postponed due to the World Club Challenge commitment of St Helens who were in Australia to face the Penrith Panthers.
Most eyes this week would be on Jake Connor who would make his Giants debut off the bench, and on a St Helens side who have still to for on all cylinders in the current Super League campaign as they looked to justify the bookies favourites tag.
Good harrying from the Giants early on, coupled with the reorganisation required after the loss of Sione Mata´utia for a failed head impact assessment with just seconds on the clock, saw the home side take the early initiative.
But the first twenty-seven minutes were pointless, the closest either side came to scoring was when Curtis Sironen was held up over the line by four Giants defenders.
Two mistakes in quick succession from the Giants finally presented Saints with a scoring opportunity and as the home side defence tired and dropped off tackles, Konrad Hurrell went for the line from ten metres out and had the strength to drag the Giants tackler over the line with him and he stretched to score. Tommy Makinson added the conversion to give the World Champions a six-point lead, a little against the run of play.
On thirty-one a fast pass from Hurrell found Makinson to tiptoe down the touchline and lunge for the line to score in the corner. Makinson added the touchline conversion to his own try and from nowhere Saints had a 12-0 lead.
With two minutes of the half remaining Ashton Golding spotted a gap as he scooted from acting half back to go in from five metres out to put the Giants right back in the game as half-time approached. Olly Russell added his touchline conversion, and the deficit was back to six points at the interval.
The Giants should have opened the second half scoring after three consecutive sets on the Saints twenty but a poor offload from Seb Ikahihifo couldn´t be taken by Chris McQueen and Saints swept up the loose ball. The stage was set for Jake Connor as he entered the fray for the first time on his second debut for the Giants, just under ten years after his first game for them.
A swinging arm from Ikahihifo on Hurrell gifted Makinson a simple penalty to extend the visitors lead to eight points on fifty one minutes.
Back to back penalties for the Giants inside the Saints half were both run when eminently kickable, the second ending with a Saints knock-on and a Giants scrum. From the back of the scrum fast hands saw the ball moved left with Innes Senior scoring one-handed in corner. Russell again added a conversion from wide, the Saints lead down to two points with fifteen minutes remaining.
The Giants threw everything into the last fifteen minutes but couldn’t break the Saints line again to snatch the win, the visitors holding on to take the points by a two-point margin. There was as little to choose between the two sides as the scoreline suggests, and indeed it would be easy to argue that the Giants were the better side on the night. but Saints showed tenacity and dedication and in the end it was enough to secure the win.
Huddersfield Giants: Pryce, Golding (T), Halsall. Naiqama. Senior (T), Marsters, Russell (2G), Hill, Peats Trout, McQueen, Livett, Yates. Subs: Connor, Ikahihifo, Rushton, Ashworth. 18th Man: Cudjoe.
St Helens: Welsby, Makinson (T, 3G), Hurrell (T), Hopoate, Bennison, Lomax, Dodd, Walmsley, Roby, Lees, Mata´utia, Sironen, Bell. Subs: Lussick, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Paasi, Royle. 18th Man: Ritson.
Half-Time: 6-12.
Full-Time: 12-14.
Score Progression: 0-4, 0-6, 0-10, 0-12, 4-12, 6-12 : HT : 6-14, 10-14, 12-14 : FT .
Lead Exchanges: St Helens.
Referee: Jack Smith.
