Leeds Rhinos 21 Huddersfield Giants 20: Sinfield rescues Rhinos as Giants suffer late defeat

AS HE has done on so many occasions before, Kevin Sinfield held his nerve again last night, delivering a last-minute drop goal to keep Leeds Rhinos in touch with Super League's top four.

Despondent Huddersfield thought they were in sight of their first league success at Headingley since 1959 when the bustling Larne Patrick barged through two lines of weak defence to put his side ahead in the 73rd minute.

But Danny McGuire latched on to Ryan Hall's kick and Sinfield converted with four minutes to go to set up a frantic finish for the champions.

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The Leeds captain saw one drop kick attempt drop just wide before Lee Smith did likewise with only seconds remaining to leave the game destined for a draw.

However, luckless Giants replacement Graeme Horne fumbled early in the tackle count giving the hosts one last chance and Sinfield struck.

Assistant coach Francis Cummins admitted: "There was some desperate stuff towards the end.

"Was it a plan? No. But we came up with some plays to get us back in the game and lucky enough a carrier bag went over at the end.

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"We were even fighting among ourselves at times to get there but Kevin stepped up again."

For all the drama of the final stages, the first half was tedious.

Never mind 3D glasses, most of the 15,070 crowd last night would have settled for a sleep mask given the standards.

While fans across the UK were tuning in to Wigan v Warrington in the first-ever 3D televised match, those at Headingley were bemoaning the lack of some plain old-fashioned colour.

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Leeds went into the break 6-4 ahead mainly because they did not quite make as many mistakes as their shaky opponents.

Huddersfield, who knew they would draw level with their opponents in fifth with victory, were down to 12 men inside eight minutes when Darrell Griffin was sin-binned for a lazy, late challenge on McGuire as the Leeds man launched a kick.

Hooker Danny Buderus, one of four players returning from injury for Rhinos, spilled when diving towards the line, the first of numerous handling errors, while Simon Finnigan did well to haul in McGuire just as the darting stand-off looked likely to escape.

Huddersfield, who struggled to get out of their own half at times, seemed set to withstand the pressure while a man down until Leeds finally broke though in the 15th minute,

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Sinfield proved the instigator, delaying a pass perfectly for Chris Clarkson to charge through, for one of the few genuine moments of class.

Sinfield, operating at half-back again after Rob Burrow failed to shrug off a knee injury sustained in the defeat at Hull Kingston Rovers, converted but even the Leeds leader was generally out of sorts for long periods. Huddersfield had just one fleeting opportunity when Lee Gilmour was forced into erring from a timely Scott Donald tackle but responded just after the quarter mark.

Similar to Sinfield, Luke Robinson held up the line before ushering Shaun Lunt through but the Huddersfield forward had far more work to do than Clarkson.

He set off from halfway and, after leaving his support behind, showed impressive pace and confidence to round full-back Lee Smith and reach the corner.

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It was systematic of their first-half performance though that Scott Grix – earning a rare start at full-back in place of the crocked Brett Hodgson – threw a wild pass on his own line from the re-start and, though they recovered, Brown immediately delivered a wayward pass straight into touch.

The errors continued at will from both sides but thankfully the second period started off at apace.

David Hodgson scored a opportunistic try two minutes after the re-start when he chased down Brough's kick to the corner. Smith tried to let it roll dead but the Huddersfield winger flung out an arm and touched the ball down although it remained dubious as to whether it was still in play with stunned Leeds players quickly preparing for a 20-metre tap re-start.

Hodgson was in for his second moments later when Kevin Brown's long cut-out pass found Donald wanting.

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Brough converted the latter but Leeds quickly ended the slide when Ryan Hall surged over for his 21st try of the campaign. Sinfield improved and then drew his side level with a 67th-minute penalty before the frantic finale.

Giants coach Nathan Brown admitted: "It probably showed why they've been champions and we're just a bit behind.

"I feel for our players. The effort was outstanding. We just need to get a little smarter at crucial stages but showed we've got plenty of fight for the rest of the year."

Leeds Rhinos: Smith, Donald, Delaney, Senior, Hall, Sinfield, McGuire, Leuluai, Buderus, Peacock, Ablett, Jones-Buchanan, Clarkson. Substitutes: McShane, Kirke, Burgess, Lauitiiti.

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Huddersfield Giants: Grix, Cudjoe, Lawrence, Gilmour, D Hodgson, Brown, Robinson, Crabtree, Brough, Griffin, Finnigan, Wild, Faiumu. Substitutes: Lunt, Drew, Patrick, Horne.

Referee: Ben Thaler (Wakefield).

Warrington declared their title ambitions after overcoming a sluggish start to their table-topping clash to defeat Super League leaders Wigan 23-16.