Saints stunned by Giants

St Helens suffered a big upset as they were stunned 28-26 by Huddersfield Giants at the Galpharm Stadium.

Saints had enjoyed a thumping 46-10 victory over fierce rivals Wigan on Good Friday, but it was a bad Easter Monday for Daniel Anderson's men as they threw away a 14-point lead to lose against the Giants.

Paul Wellens, Chris Flannery and Leon Pryce had given Saints a flying start with tries in the opening half hour, and James Roby added a fourth while Shaun Long kicked five goals.

Darrell Griffin twice crossed the whitewash for Huddersfield while Jamaal Lolesi and Paul Whatuira also went over, but it was Rod Jensen's try 15 minutes from time that made all the difference for the hosts.

Chris Thorman was able to complete his fourth successful kick and that two points proved to be enough for the struggling Giants to take a big scalp and earn just a third win of the season.

Fast start

Saints powered into a 14-0 lead after just 17 minutes, starting with full-back Wellens collecting and high kick from Long to score the opening try after seven minutes.

Second rower Chris Flannery went over after a half-break by Pryce and Long added his third kick of the game for a 14-0 advantage.

Huddersfield finally got on the board after 24 minutes when Griffin returned from a one-match ban to score the first of his two tries, and Lolesi followed him over four minutes later from a Stuart Jones pass to cut the gap.

Pryce scored a third Saints try just after the half hour after a precise Long grubber kick, but Huddersfield answered again when Whatuira went over on the stroke of half time.

The Giants went in front for the first time just after the restart, when Griffin scored his second try following a handling error by Saints.

Roby reply

Roby managed to force his way over the line from dummy half to put Saints back in front but Lolesi sent Jensen over for a fifth Huddersfield try on 64 minutes.

Thorman kicked the conversion for a two-point lead for the hosts and St Helens looked like a tired side as they tried to find a late reply.

The visitors did have a superb chance late on when Jensen missed Jon Wilkin's kick but Francis Meli fumbled the ball over the line for the second time in the match to miss out on another certain try.

While Huddersfield enjoyed a boosting victory after three straight defeats, Anderson must somehow rally his troops for the visit of the rampant Leeds Rhinos on Friday.