Giants climb to the summit

Hodgson: Scored two tries

Huddersfield moved to the top of the engage Super League after ending Catalan Dragons' run of good form with a 28-20 win at the Shay.

Giants winger David Hodgson grabbed two tries and created another to condemn the Dragons to only a second defeat in 11 league matches.

It was not quite plane sailing for the hosts, however, as the Dragons fought back from 22-8 down to close to within two points before running out of steam at the end.

The result sets up a mouth-watering clash next Sunday between Huddersfield and defending champions Wigan, who are currently one point adrift with a game in hand.

After an intense spell of pressure, the hosts finally scored the opening try of the match in the 27th minute as Hodgson took an interception 95 metres before touching down.

Pace

The former Wigan player then again raced away down the wing before kicking inside to set-up replacement hooker David Faiumu for a second try.

Scott Grix took on goalkicking responsibilities in the absence of the injured Danny Brough and was unable to convert either score.

The Dragons cut the deficit in half just before the half-time interval as scrum-half Scott Dureau picked off an attempted kick through from Luke Robinson before out-running the Huddersfield defence for a breakaway try.

The Giants soon reasserted themselves in the second half as prop Darrell Griffin took Faiumu's short pass to cross the whitewash, with Grix succeeding with the conversion at the third attempt.

He then made it 16-4 with a penalty before Joe Wardle had a try brought back for a forward pass.

But Catalan brought themselves back into the match with a magnificent piece of finishing from Damien Blanch, who somehow managed to ground the ball in the corner as he was being bundled into touch.

Touch

Blanch went over in almost identical fashion shortly afterwards but this time the video referee saw that his foot had slid into touch.

The Giants looked to be out of sight on the hour when Robinson combined with David Fa'alogo to send Kevin Brown over for a fourth try and Grix kicked his third goal.

The Dragons were handed a further blow when Setaimata Sa was sin-binned but they shrugged off their numerical disadvantage to score two tries in four minutes.

Hooker Ian Henderson was the creator both times, first playing the pass that allowed Jason Baitieri to touch down and then providing a precise kick for Jean-Philippe Baile to score.

Dureau added both conversions to bring the Dragons to within two points but Hodgson eased Huddersfield's nerves by taking Leroy Cudjoe's pass to cross for a second try and Grix kicked his fourth goal.