Huddersfield Giants 40 St Helens 18: Giants hit stride to pull up alongside title rivals

Over the years, on countless occasions, confident sides think they have got the better of the eight-time Grand Finalists only for some quickfire brilliance from the likes of Keiron Cunningham, Paul Sculthorpe and Sean Long to completely turn a fixture.

It is the knack of a champion team. However, on Saturday evening, they were beaten at their own game as Huddersfield – bidding to prove to everyone else they are capable of joining such elite company – laid down their own marker.

By producing a devastating spell of four tries in just eight second-half minutes, Nathan Brown’s side transformed a narrow 12-6 advantage into an unassailable lead to re-join Warrington and Wigan at the top of the Super League table.

For Giants’ Lee Gilmour, the veteran second-row who flourished against his former club with a series of cascading breaks, it was wholly reminiscent of those thrilling purple patches he once enjoyed in a success-laden career at St Helens.

“It’s nice we can put away a side like Saints,” he told the Yorkshire Post, after helping create the best try of that prolific spell for Michael Lawrence.

“I suppose it does remind me of what we used to do back then and it’s good to know.

“We’ve been little bit scratchy over the last two or three weeks and Browny’s had a few words with us about how we’ve just really not been working hard enough for each other.

“We’ve been going into games a little bit lax and nearly got turned over at Batley in the Challenge Cup last Sunday.

“But we were a lot better prepared here and in that second half we just executed really well.

“Apart from a 10-minute spell, we played a really good intense game of football and were really precise with some of our skill as well.”

It is a sign of the growing maturity and professionalism of Huddersfield though that Gilmour, 33, remained irked by that brief period in which, after storming 34-6 ahead, they let their opponents hit back with two tries from Matty Ashurst and Ade Gardner before Scott Grix’s effort restored order.

“We could have been a little bit more ruthless,” he insisted.

“You can’t give a side like Saints too much of an opportunity and they could have come back into the game there.”

Gilmour was obviously thinking of more important dates ahead – play-off football, for one, or Sunday’s Challenge Cup game with Catalan Dragons.

The fact Saints did not retaliate further was down partly to Huddersfield’s resilience but also the fact the depleted visitors – missing nine first-teamers and seeing Queensland forward Chris Flannery injured in the warm-up – had no such Cunningham, Sculthorpe or Long to look for heroics.

Dynamic England hooker James Roby had already done his utmost but, with Danny Brough in such stellar form for Huddersfield, there was only going to be one winner.

The scrum-half displayed all his usual vast kicking repertoire – spiralling bombs, a huge 40/20, reverse grubbers and six goals – as well as scoring a sensational first-half 80-metre solo try which saw him break the line and then deceive Wellens with a big step and acceleration.

The England hopeful also showed some quality passing, including a splendid long effort which invited young centre Joe Wardle to get on the outside of Francis Meli for the final try of that blistering second-half quartet.

Stricken Saints only touched the ball to kick-off during that spell. After Roby’s threaded kick saw Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook cross in the 44th minute, the hosts sprung into action.

Captain Kevin Brown started them off with a typically weavy run eight minutes later and in the restart set came Lawrence’s pearl of a try.

From inside their own 20, Brough gave Gilmour enough space to fend off Michael Shenton and race clear before feeding Leroy Cudjoe down the touchline.

The England winger, running with the ball in one hand with the cover fast closing, then produced an outlandish arrowed reverse flick pass fully 15 metres inside for his centre to finish off.

It was perhaps the pass of the season – “Leroy’s a very skilful player; as he gets older and matures he’s going to be fantastic,” mused former Great Britain star Gilmour – and illustrated the overall potential of Brown’s side.

They were well-supplemented by some robust forward efforts from the ever-impressive prop Larne Patrick and the increasingly noticeable second-row Dale Ferguson, both of whom will hope for England recognition themselves on this form.

England prop Eorl Crabtree, who had scored his 50th career try and first of the season to get Huddersfield moving in the first period, bagged his second from Luke Robinson’s well-spotted cut-out pass.

Then came impressive Wardle’s finish as the West Yorkshire club, who easily overcame New South Wales star Luke O’Donnell’s loss with a hamstring injury in the warm-up, denied their opponents a share of top spot, deservedly securing that position for themselves.

Huddersfield Giants: Grix; McGillvary, Wardle, Lawrence, Cudjoe; Brown, Brough; Crabtree, Robinson, Griffin, Gilmour, Ferguson, Kirmond. Substitutes: Lunt, Faiumu, Patrick, Cording.

St Helens: Wellens; Gardner, Shenton, Meli, Foster; Wilkin, Ashe; Graham, Roby, Perry, Soliola, Ashurst, Magennis. Substitutes: McCarthy-Scrasbrook, Makinson, Hale.

Referee: T Alibert (Toulouse).