Huddersfield Giants 50 Bradford Bulls 16: Potter furious after Bradford gift win to Giants

The win moved the Giants to the Engage Super League summit but Potter was livid at the way his side capitulated.

The Odsal chief said: “We started poorly, and it didn’t get any better. We didn’t see the ball for the first nine sets.

“By the time we did see the ball, we were 18-0 down and had a mountain to climb.

“Last week I thought we played okay, but I wasn’t doing cartwheels about it because Wakefield aren’t Huddersfield. You can’t afford to give away the sort of start we made because Huddersfield have got some really good players.

“There was no lack of effort. It was our execution that was the problem. To give Huddersfield so much possession was suicide.

“The good thing is we have another game coming up soon and it won’t be difficult to get the players motivated.”

Shell-shocked Bulls never recovered from gifting Jermaine McGillvary the first of his two tries after just 72 seconds when two Bradford players collided while attempting to reach a pass.

Leroy Kudjoe pounced and sent McGillvary away into the corner.

Kudjoe added a second try five minutes later while McGillvary’s kick through on 10 minutes left David Fa’alogo in for an easy score.

Bradford’s miserable start continued on 15 minutes when Bryn Hargreaves failed to execute a simple rollback after he had been tackled in midfield to gift the Giants a scrum down. The home side then piled on the misery after that with three more tries before the break to lead 30-6 at half-time.

Scott Grix rode two tackles and evaded three defenders on the line to register a fine solo effort, and Larne Patrick and Graeme Horne polished off slick moves.

McGillvary’s second try came on 44 minutes and the scoring pace did not even slow when Huddersfield’s influential Luke O’Donnell was sin-binned four minutes later for a foul on Brett Kearney.

Danny Brough, who converted six of Huddersfield’s nine tries, added a penalty on 52 minutes.

Dale Ferguson, on his home debut, romped into the corner on 63 minutes and then Horne added his second try soon after to help bring up the half century.

Horne’s touchdown sparked a mass exit of Bradford fans, who missed a late resurgence.

Marc Herbert and Gareth Raynor both went over late on, with Patrick Ah Van converting Raynor’s score to continue his impressive kicking record this season. He has now scored 18 from 22 attempts after also landing a conversion in the first half when Shaun Ainscough went over.

Delighted Giants coach Nathan Brown singled out the influence of Brough as a key part of Huddersfield’s success.

He said of the former Wakefield scrum-half: “Danny has a really good kicking game, and that is maybe one of the things that England were missing last season.

“If he can keep up his current level of play and we maintain our consistency, there’s a good chance we’ll be able to reap some rewards come the end of the season.”

He added: “Our discipline was good for long periods of the game. We did a lot of good things.”

Huddersfield Giants: Grix, McGillvary, Cudjoe, Lawrence, Simpson, Brown, Brough, Crabtree, Faiumu, Mason, Fa’alogo, Horne, O’Donnell. Substitutes: Patrick, Lunt, Cording, Ferguson.

Bradford Bulls: Sykes, Ainscough, Platt, Ah Van, Raynor, Kearney, Herbert, Lynch, Diskin, Hargreaves, Olbison, Whitehead, Elima. Substitutes: Scruton, Sibbit, Kopczak, O’Brien.

Referee: J Child (Dewsbury).