Huddersfield 22-18 Wakefield. Giants fight back for third straight Super League win
The Giants conceded two tries to Trinity in first four minutes after having scrum-half Oliver Russell sin-binned, but they rallied superbly, with England winger Jermaine McGillvary scoring two of his side's five tries as they ran in 22 points without reply
Last Updated: 08/08/21 8:42pm
Huddersfield overcame a calamitous start to make it three successive Super League wins, coming from 18-0 down to beat Wakefield 22-18 in an extraordinary contest at the John Smith's Stadium.
The Giants conceded two tries in the first four minutes after having scrum-half Oliver Russell sin-binned, and they played the last hour without him after he was taken off with a head knock.
But they rallied superbly, with England winger Jermaine McGillvary scoring two of his side's five tries as they ran in 22 points without reply, and their margin of victory would have been greater but for four missed conversions.
Wakefield coach Chris Chester will be livid at the way his side stopped playing as they slipped to a fifth successive defeat to remain second from bottom of the table.
Trinity were without Mason Lino for the first time since he arrived at the club but were boosted by the return of exciting winger Tom Johnstone for his first game for six weeks, while loose forward Joe Westerman was back after a month's absence.
Huddersfield could hardly have made a worst start, with Wakefield forward Kelepi Tanginoa charging down Russell's attempted clearance kick and, although he got back to prevent centre Reece Lyne touching down, he held on for too long in the tackle and was shown a yellow card for the professional foul.
Trinity were quick to take advantage of the extra man as Lyne crossed wide out for the opening try and scrum-half Ryan Hampshire supported a break from deep inside his own half by full-back Max Jowitt to score a second.
With Hampshire converting both tries, Wakefield were 12-0 up inside four minutes and it got even better for them when skipper Jacob Miller put Westerman through a gap for a third try.
Huddersfield's problems began to pile up as they lost Russell and centre Leroy Cudjoe for head injury assessments within a minute of each other, but they fought their way back into the game with two tries before half-time.
Left winger Louis Senior, who was directly up against his twin brother Innes, went over on the overlap on 18 minutes while substitute Sam Wood was gifted a try when Innes Senior attempted a reckless pass on his own line.
Teenage stand-off Will Pryce, who was left to shoulder the majority of the Giants' playmaking duties in the absence of Russell, converted Wood's try to make it 18-10 at the break.
Cudjoe was able to return for the second half and he provided the pass that got McGillvary over for his first try eight minutes into the second half.
Twelve minutes later Wood was the supplier as the England man scored his second to tie the scores at 18-18 but both were too far out for Pryce to convert.
The goal-kicks mattered little, however, as Huddersfield maintained the momentum and went in front for the first time in the 69th minute when centre Jake Wardle touched down Wood's perfectly judged grubber kick for the all-important try.
