Leeds Rhinos 6 Huddersfield Giants 38: Rhinos left battered while Giants snatch pole position

Given the length of time they had endured misery here – it was 1960 when Fartown succeeded in a Yorkshire Cup semi-final, the previous year when they last won in the league, and they had lost the last 26 games – you imagined it would take a Herculean effort.

In the end, Nathan Brown’s side simply swept past an increasingly mired Leeds Rhinos, whose meek defence continues to betray any image of coach Brian McDermott.

How he will welcome the return of his former Bradford Bulls ally Jamie Peacock in the next few weeks to add some much-needed steel and confidence to his drained side. The one time their defence did really come to the fore was when an ugly brawl erupted in the 48th minute involving all players and which saw Leeds prop Ryan Bailey and Huddersfield loose forward Luke O’Donnell both red-carded.

It was a decision which caused furious Giants’ coach Brown to blast referee Ben Thaler after the match as he felt O’Donnell had done no wrong.

The rugged Australian O’Donnell responded to the home fans’ taunts as he jogged off by beaming back a giant smile, cupping his ear and gleefully pointing back towards the scoreboard which said all that needed to be said.

The New South Wales star was selected on Wednesday for the Exiles match against England to be held at Headingley in June and O’Donnell’s villainous performance here last night was the best bit of PR the RFL could wish for as they look to build the inaugural fixture’s profile.

Huddersfield, meanwhile, fulfilled their principal aim of backing up last week’s win over Warrington by beating another leading club, usurping Castleford Tigers at the top of Super League in the process.

Former Wakefield Trinity second-row Dale Ferguson scored two tries while there was a notable performances from out-of-favour England prop Darrell Griffin and the usual slick touches from captain Kevin Brown, who both orchestrated their finer moves and irritated Leeds players with his niggles in equal measure.

Error-prone Rhinos missed that cohesiveness and looked like a side that has not only lost more than half its games this season but won just one of five home fixtures, drawing abuse aimed at McDermott from some sections of the Headingley crowd.

The harder they tried to make things happen, the worse the mistakes became. Just as England captain Peacock’s return is crucial, so is that of Danny McGuire who is similarly close to fitness after his own knee reconstruction.

The prolific stand-off will allow Kevin Sinfield to revert to loose forward, bolstering Leeds’s currently porous middle, while easing the creative pressure on their captain and full-back Brent Webb, but they have the hectic Easter period to contend with before they are back on the field and their hold on sixth spot is already loose.

The difference in the sides was illustrated early on when Leeds, who saw Australian centre Brett Delaney back from an injury suffered in round two, gained the first three penalties of the game but failed to make any pay with a series of poor attacking options.

Their potent visitors, meanwhile, delivered three tries from their first trio to help rack up a 20-0 interval lead, shrugging off the re-jig caused by an early injury to Australian winger Jamie Simpson.

Awful marker defence allowed Ferguson to snipe over for his first in the 20th minute, Brough kicking the first of his seven goals, and when Leeds defenders again failed to wrap up the robust Griffin in midfield he offloaded to allow Brown to weave his magic, sucking in Keith Senior as Scott Grix fed Jermaine McGillvary for his eighth try this year.

Brough added a 25th-minute penalty – he did not miss an attempt all night – and though Leeds won the short re-start, already knowing they had to do something to get a hold in the game, Webb’s over-adventurous pass went behind everyone into touch, summing up their evening.

Brown then off-loaded out of another tame three-man tackle to allow Ferguson the chance to swat aside Webb and ease over from 10 metres.

After the massive fight broke out, Leeds adjusted initially the better, edging back through Rob Burrow in the 53rd minute after Keith Senior’s marauding break, Sinfield converting.

However, Shaun Lunt picked up another off-load – this time off Lee Gilmour – to slip over soon after and they had Scott Grix sin-binned for pulling the leg of Webb after the tackle.

Webb himself was yellow-carded late on after he committed a professional foul on Brough after another misplaced Leeds pass put them in trouble, Luke Robinson profiting with another embarrassingly easy try out of dummy half, his fifth in as many games.

Brown then intercepted Burrow’s pass to send Lunt racing in for his second at the end.

A minute’s silence was held beforehand for Brian Shaw and Dennis Goodwin, two of the Leeds side that famously ended the club’s long wait for a Championship title in 1961 – one year after Huddersfield’s last triumph here.

Leeds Rhinos: Webb; Watkins, Delaney, Senior, Hall; Sinfield, Burrow; Leuluai, Buderus, Bailey, Jones-Buchanan, Clarkson, Kirke. Substitutes: McShane, Cross, Burgess, Hauraki.

Huddersfield Giants: Grix; McGillvary, Cudjoe, Lawrence, Simpson; Brown, Brough; Crabtree, Robinson, Griffin, Gilmour, Ferguson, O’Donnell. Substitutes: Lunt, Faiumu, Patrick, Horne.

Referee: B Thaler (Wakefield).