George takes Giant strides

A hat-trick of tries from Luke George helped Huddersfield clinch a thrilling 17-16 victory over St Helens at the Galpharm Stadium.

The winger grabbed his second treble of the season before Danny Brough provided the match-winning moment, sending over a drop goal with 12 minutes to play that ended up proving the difference between the sides.

St Helens, who had led 12-4 at half-time, scored their third try through Ade Gardner seven minutes from the end to close the gap to a point but Jonny Lomax failed with the touchline conversion.

The defeat means Saints have now taken just one point from their last three matches, while hooker James Roby was forced off with a knee injury.

Brave attempt

Roby, generally thought to be indestructible, fell into a heap following a tackle from Huddersfield winger Jermaine McGillvary 27 minutes into the match. He bravely attempted to play on but was forced to hobble off soon after.

By that stage George had already opened his account for the afternoon, taking Luke Robinson's pass to finish decisively at the corner.

It took Saints some time to find their rhythm but Lee Gaskell finally got them on the scoreboard in the 28th minute, jinking his way through the Giants defence for a try that Lomax converted to make it 6-4.

The game was still finely balanced when Huddersfield centre Leroy Cudjoe misjudged the pace of Lomax's grubber kick on the last tackle, believing the ball was going to run dead before anyone could claim it.

But Lomax refused to give it up as a lost cause, the Saints scrum-half diving on his own kick for a crucial score, giving the visitors an eight-point lead at the interval.

The gap was down to just two five minutes into the second half, however, when Kevin Brown and Michael Lawrence combined to get George over for his second try, Brough landing the conversion from the touchline.

Crucial try

Brough missed a chance to level the scores midway through the second half when he put a penalty wide but he more than made amends when he set up what proved to be the crucial try.

The former Wakefield scrum-half collected Gaskell's kick five metres from his own line before setting off on a glorious 50-metre run. Scott Grix was on hand to provide support to his team-mate just when he required it, the full-back taking the ball on before setting up George.

Brough's conversion was this time successful after the ball amazingly rebounded off both uprights as well as the crossbar.

Another successful kick, this time a one-pointer, from the same player put Huddersfield five points clear, though Saints weren't done just yet.

Winger Gardner squeezed over at the corner to give Royce Simmons' side renewed hope but, with the chance to move his team back in front in the closing stages, Lomax's conversion attempt went well wide of the uprights.