Huddersfield miss chance to punish depleted Warriors

Huddersfield coach Rick Stone felt it was a missed opportunity after the Giants bounced back from their drubbing at Leigh by taking a point from Wigan as they battled to a 16-16 draw in the Betfred Super League.
Lee Gaskell.Lee Gaskell.
Lee Gaskell.

The Giants led 14-10 at the break with both teams crossing for two tries apiece, the first coming from nothing for Huddersfield with Lee Gaskell going over from a metre out after Jermaine McGillvary was hauled down following a 95-yard interception.

Morgan Escare and Gaskell then traded four pointers, before Tom Davies crossed on his debut to put Wigan within two points. Danny Brough then ensured the lead was four at the interval.

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The Warriors scored the only try of the second half through Anthony Gelling, but no one could produce that one piece of magic to clinch the win.

Stone said: “Wigan were there for the taking today with injuries and they weren’t at their best.

“We attacked a bit better. We challenged Wigan a bit more offensively.

“A point against the current champions you would definitely call that a pass mark. There was a good opportunity to take the full two points, we have got to learn to manage that better.”

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Stone was also quick to pour cold water on newspaper reports that Danny Brough – who contributed eight points against Wigan with four successful kicks – was playing his final game for the club following claims of a bust-up at Huddersfield.

Wigan head coach Shaun Wane admitted he was pleased with a point after losing two players to injury inside the opening 10 minutes.

The Warriors saw their 100 per cent winning start to the season come to an end but Wane was far from despondent about the result after seeing skipper Sean O’Loughlin (calf) and forward Jack Wells (ankle) limp off.

Wane said: “It doesn’t feel like a defeat. Credit to them, they came with a game plan and the game was played at the pace they wanted.

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“We were off, it was a flat game and we didn’t do much to get ourselves out of it.

“Coupled with the loss of personnel I am happy for the draw,” he added.

“We have been good this year so I’m not going to ride them too hard for this.”

Wigan: Escare, Davies, Gelling, Isa, Marshall, Williams, Leuluai, Nuuausala, Powell, Flower, J. Tomkins, Wells, O’Loughlin. Substitutes: Clubb, Tautai, Navarrete, Forsyth.

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Huddersfield: McIntosh, McGillvary, Cudjoe, Mellor, Murphy, Brough, Gaskell, Rapira, Leeming, Ikahihifo, Roberts, Ta’ai, Clough. Replacements: Hinchcliffe, Wakeman, Smith, Dickinson.

Referee: C Kendall (RFL).