Huddersfield Giants 16 Salford Red Devils 18: No home comforts for 12-man hosts as valiant fightback falls short

The Giants were outplayed by Salford Red Devils but may well have stolen the two competition points with the benefit of a few extra minutes.

Ian Watson's side scored three late tries to set up a nervy final 90 seconds, only to run out of time with Salford on the ropes.

The biggest frustration for Watson would be that Huddersfield only started playing after losing Elliot Wallis to a soft red card on the hour mark for nudging Tim Lafai with his head.

It was a case of what might have been for the Giants in another disappointing home outing.

Huddersfield have lost all three Super League games at the John Smith's Stadium – where they were beaten seven times last year – and are in danger of failing to build on a strong platform.

In a curious start that saw Huddersfield play seven of their first nine fixtures away from home, the Giants claimed 10 points on the road and were unfortunate to leave St Helens empty-handed last week.

But they could have few complaints about the outcome on Friday night after losing to the better side.

Salford were perhaps guilty of putting the cue on the rack in the closing stages but had done enough to record a victory that takes them four points above Huddersfield and into fifth spot.

Nene Macdonald injected some life into proceedings after a sedate start, reading Jake Connor's pass to perfection to race 75 metres and give the Red Devils an eighth-minute lead.

The former Leeds Rhinos centre went from scorer to provider for Salford's second try to leave Huddersfield chasing the game.

Macdonald shrugged off Esan Marsters' attempted tackle to burst into space before getting away a classy offload to give ex-Hull KR winger Ethan Ryan a clear run to the line.

The Giants had been doing a good job of restricting Salford's metres yet found themselves 12-0 down.

Huddersfield were struggling to fire with the ball, Connor seeing another pass knocked down by Ryan shortly after Macdonald's opener to give the home fans a fresh scare.

Adam Swift claimed Tui Lolohea's high kick only to run out of room near the corner flag under pressure from Ryan and Wallis was crowded out on the opposite flank as Huddersfield’s frustrations continued.

The Giants thought they were back in it when Harry Rushton got over the line from Adam Clune's short ball but he was brilliantly held up by Lafai and Ryan Brierley.

Huddersfield were hanging on as half-time approached after being forced to concede a series of drop-outs.

The hosts benefited from a let-off when Brierley was pulled back for obstruction following a break, a call that left the Salford full-back baffled.

Perhaps still frustrated by the decision, Brierley saw yellow for a high tackle on Marsters to leave the Red Devils down to 12 men for 10 minutes either side of half-time.

But there was no sign of Huddersfield getting back into the contest, in contrast to their thrilling comeback at Headingley two weeks ago when they were always in the game.

The Giants struggled to land a meaningful blow on Salford during Brierley's absence and fell further behind in soft fashion.

After conceding back-to-back drop-outs, Huddersfield allowed Macdonald to sneak over from dummy-half.

Marc Sneyd, who was becoming increasingly influential in general play, knocked over the simple conversion to seemingly put the Red Devils out of sight at 18-0.

The Giants had to play the final quarter with 12 men after losing Wallis to round off a difficult night for the winger but had half an opening when Chris Atkin was sin-binned for blocking a chaser from a kick.

Swift belatedly got Huddersfield on the board courtesy of quick hands on the left edge to take his tally for the season to 16.

The Giants scored again when Lolohea raced through to touch down his own kick and Jake Bibby went over in the corner but the home side ran out of time.

Huddersfield Giants: Connor, Swift, Marsters, Naiqama, Wallis, Lolohea, Clune, Wilson, Milner, Greenwood, Rushton, Halsall, Yates. Substitutes: Golding, Ikahihifo, Bibby, Salabio.

Tries: Swift (70), Lolohea (75), Bibby (78)

Goals: Connor 2/3

Red card: Wallis (60)

Salford Red Devils: Brierley, Ryan, Macdonald, Lafai, Cross, Atkin, Sneyd, Singleton, Mellor, Ormondroyd, Stone, Watkins, Partington. Substitutes: Cust, Wright, Shorrocks, Dudson.

Tries: Macdonald (8, 47), Ryan (19)

Goals: Sneyd 3/3

Sin bin: Brierley (39), Atkin (63)

Referee: Tom Grant.