Wolves hunt down Giants
Warrington went top of the Stobart Super League after coming out on top at Huddersfield in a contest that was as thrilling as it was fiery.
Last Updated: 18/02/12 7:11pm
Warrington went top of the Stobart Super League after coming out on top at Huddersfield in a contest that was as thrilling as it was fiery.
The Giants threatened to avenge their 47-0 play-off defeat by the Wolves when they led 12-4 after 21 minutes, but the visitors just about deserved to win after dominating the final quarter.
Warrington, who gave a debut to former Leigh prop Chris Hill in the absence of England international Garreth Carvell through illness, made the best possible start, with left winger Chris Riley scoring the first of his two tries inside the first minute, taking Ryan Atkins' pass to finish clinically at the corner.
But they experienced some disruption, losing loose forward Simon Grix with a knee injury and his replacement Ben Harrison within four minutes with an ankle knock, and Huddersfield stunned them with two tries in seven minutes.
Livewire hooker Luke Robinson twisted free of Michael Monaghan's attempted tackle to race clear and send scrum-half Danny Brough over and giant prop Eorl Crabtree then crashed over for a try on his 300th Giants appearance.
Brough converted both tries to make it 12-4 but Atkins and Richie Myler combined to get Riley over for his second.
The visitors drew level nine minutes before half-time when centre Chris Bridge scythed through a back-pedalling defence to finish off a period of prolonged pressure.
Lee Briers, who took over the goalkicking after Ben Westwood failed with his first two attempts, converted Bridge's try to edge his side into a 14-12 interval lead.
Penalties
The Giants paid a heavy price for conceding too many penalties after the break and they had Tommy Lee put on report on the stroke of half-time for a high tackle on Briers.
Huddersfield captain Kevin Brown was also placed on report early in the second half after appearing to lead with his elbow and referee Phil Bentham was forced to speak to both skippers in an effort to calm tempers.
But in amongst the mayhem and fisticuffs, play continued to flow from end to end, with the lead changing hands twice early in the second half.
Huddersfield second rower Jason Chan, who was denied a try in the first half after being unable to ground the ball over the line, made sure this time after taking a short pass from Lee on the burst to restore his side's lead.
The Giants could not hang onto their advantage, however, as the Wolves struck a purple patch.
Right winger Joel Monaghan plucked Ben Westwood's floated pass out of the air to touch down and substitute Matty Blythe was first to reach Briers' clever stabbed kick on the last tackle.
Briers added both conversions to make it 26-16 but Huddersfield gave themselves renewed hope when full-back Greg Eden forced his way over for his side's fourth try and Brough's third goal cut the deficit to just four points.
The Yorkshiremen had their chances to snatch victory but their hopes were finally dashed when Westwood had the ball ripped out of his grasp by Joe Wardle and Myler scooped up possession to race over for the decisive try, with Briers kicking his fourth goal from as many attempts.
