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Huddersfield deny St Helens again to hand Castleford the initiative Huddersfield deny St Helens again to hand Castleford the initiative
(35 minutes later)
St Helens were once more denied a chance to wrap up the League Leaders’ Shield after going down to a 17-16 defeat in a nail-biting Super League clash at Huddersfield. The St Helens coach, Nathan Brown, described it as “the best loss I’ve ever been involved in” after his 12-man team were narrowly defeated in a thrilling Super League clash at his old club Huddersfield.
Beaten 39-12 at home by Warrington a week ago, Saints were thwarted this time by coach Nathan Brown’s former club, who clinched a top-four finish thanks to Leroy Cudjoe’s drop goal 10 minutes from the end. Needing a point to wrap up the League Leaders’ Shield at the second attempt, Saints looked to have the trophy in the bag when they led 10-0 thanks to tries from Tom Makinson and James Roby but the game turned after 28 minutes when the prop Alex Walmsley was sent off for a high and late tackle on the Giants scrum-half Luke Robinson.
Friday night’s epic victory was celebrated by the sprinkling of Castleford fans among the 7,244 crowd at the John Smith’s Stadium, for the result means that the Tigers, watching on from their hotel in Perpignan, can now finish top of the league for the first time in their 88-year history. Huddersfield made use of their man advantage to go 16-10 in front courtesy of tries from Jake Connor, Shaun Lunt and Leroy Cudjoe and, although Saints struck back to level thanks to Lance Hohaia’s converted try, the Yorkshiremen claimed both points with Cudjoe’s drop goal 10 minutes from the end.
Castleford will achieve that feat if they beat Catalan Dragons in their final fixture of the regular season on Saturday evening. Brown said he did not have a clear view of Walmsley’s challenge on Robinson but had no doubt the dismissal influenced the outcome of the match. “If Alex’s first point of contact is with the head, then it’s deserved, if he hasn’t made contact with the head, then it’s not a good decision,” Brown said. “I couldn’t tell from where I was sat. But we all knew where that game was heading at that point. We were doing pretty well.
Saints had only themselves to blame for letting slip a 10-0 lead as they went on to play most of the match with 12 men following the dismissal of the prop Alex Walmsley for a high and late tackle on the Huddersfield scrum-half Luke Robinson. “The boys were super, to play nearly 60 minutes with 12 men. I don’t think anyone can be disappointed with what they did out there tonight. It’s certainly the best loss I’ve ever been involved with.”
Saints had looked the more cohesive unit in the opening quarter, with James Roby at the heart of their promising moves while Huddersfield relied largely on individual forays in the absence of their captain Danny Brough and Scott Grix, as well as Eorl Crabtree. The result was greeted with joy by the sprinkling of Castleford fans at the John Smith’s Stadium for their team will secure a top-table finish for the first time in their 88-year history if they beat Catalan Dragons in their last match of the regular season in Perpignan on Saturday evening.
It was Roby who made the first telling contribution, darting into space from dummy half, and his offload created the space for Jordan Turner, Willie Manu and Mark Percival to work leading try-scorer Tom Makinson over at the corner after 21 minutes. “Obviously we would have liked to have won and got the League Leaders Shield tonight but unfortunately it wasn’t to be,” Brown said. “What will happen tomorrow is going to happen but, if the guys keep bringing that commitment, I’m sure we will give ourselves some sort of chance of doing well.”
Roby then started and finished a sparkling move to score St Helens’ second try just three minutes later and Percival’s conversion made it 10-0. Already without Jon Wilkin, Jonny Lomax, Luke Walsh and Shannon McDonnell through injury, Saints had winger Matty Dawson carried off on a stretcher in the second half.
The League Leaders’ Shield looked to be on its way to Langtree Park at that stage but the visitors were reduced to 12 men four minutes later when Walmsley was shown the red card for his ugly challenge on Robinson. “He had some numbness in his shoulder so he needs to go and be checked out,” Brown said.
It was also a blow for the Giants as they lost another key playmaker but they rose to the challenge and got themselves back in the game before half-time. Huddersfield’s victory, which clinched a top-four finish, was secured without their captain, Danny Brough, as well as the full-back Scott Grix and the prop Eorl Crabtree, because of injury, and the coach, Paul Anderson, was delighted with his team’s efforts and especially those of 19-year-old stand-off Connor.
Substitute Ukuma Ta’ai charged to the line only to be held up on his back, but there was no stopping makeshift stand-off Jake Connor four minutes before the break when he got a touch to his own grubber kick for Huddersfield’s first try and his goal cut the gap to just four points. “I thought our attitude was outstanding,” Anderson said. “With the people we had missing, it was hard but our effort was good. I thought Saints were good as well, they kept coming with 12 men. I thought our composure to keep calm was pretty good and our kicking game and kick-chase was very good.
It was all square within 90 seconds of the restart when another barnstorming run from Ta’ai created the position for Shaun Lunt to dart over from dummy half, and Connor’s second goal edged the home side in front. “It’s hard to hand out individual praise but Jake Connor keeps doing the good stuff, He’s an immense talent, we’ve got a good player on our hands.”
The game was held up for a lengthy stoppage to allow St Helens’ former Huddersfield winger Matty Dawson to receive treatment on the field after taking a blow to the head before being carried off on a stretcher, but the momentum was clearly with the Yorkshiremen. Anderson expects to have all his injured men back for the first round of the play-offs next weekend.
The ever-dangerous Ta’ai took Lunt’s pass to reach the line, only to lose the ball trying to ground it, and it was no surprise when the Giants extended their lead, although the try came gift-wrapped by their visitors.
The Saints captain Paul Wellens dropped Mark Flanagan’s pass 40 metres out from his own line and Cudjoe picked up the loose ball and sprinted over for his side’s third try.
St Helens might have folded at that point but their response was immediate. Huddersfield were forced to scramble to halt a clean break down the middle by Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook but could not re-group in time to prevent Lance Hohaia going through a gap on the next play.
Percival’s second conversion levelled the scores and that set the scene for a pulsating final quarter.
Connor’s drop-goal attempt was charged down but Huddersfield regained the ball courtesy of the resulting drop-out and at the end of the next set of tackles, Cudjoe coolly slotted the ball between the posts for a one-pointer.
The home side were forced into some desperate defence as St Helens launched a series of attacks and Hohaia had a chance to snatch an all-important point with a drop-goal attempt, but his kick went wide and Turner, too, was off target with a similar effort a minute from the end.