Huddersfield 40-0 Widnes: The Giants whitewash the Vikings in seven-try victory
Last Updated: 08/07/17 8:26am
Huddersfield took another giant step towards Super League safety and confirmed Widnes' place in the Qualifiers with an emphatic 40-0 victory at the John Smith's Stadium.
Vikings coach Denis Betts was already resigned to finishing in the bottom four and his players appeared to lack the energy and fight of their opponents, who clearly had more to play for after defeat at Salford left them still precariously placed just above the danger zone.
The Giants still need one more win from their last two games of the regular season to clinch a top-eight spot but, on this form, they can already look forward to the Super 8s with confidence.
Widnes, on the other hand, will need to sharpen their act for the Qualifiers, although they will have the services of Rangi Chase, who signed a new two-year contract earlier in the day but missed Friday's game through suspension.
It was routine for Huddersfield from the moment Australian prop Shannon Wakeman took hooker Kruise Leeming's short pass to crash over for the first of their seven tries after only five minutes to put them on their way to their first double of the season.
The Giants produced a delightful handling move to work England winger Jermaine McGillvary over for his 14th try of the season five minutes later and they were scoring at a point a minute when loose forward Ryan Hinchcliffe took another smart pass from Leeming to cut a swathe through the heart of the Vikings defence for their third try.
The visitors, who lost the penalty count 15-7, looked a shambles in the opening quarter and Betts took the unusual step of withdrawing two of his more senior forwards in Hep Cahill and Chris Houston in a bid to shake them up.
They eventually managed to plug the holes in their leaky defence and began to show some dangerous touches on attack, with left winger Stefan Marsh twice put in scoring positions only for the final pass to go awry each time, while substitute front rower Greg Burke was held up over the line.
Huddersfield coach Rick Stone sent on replacement hooker Adam O'Brien in the second quarter to give the hard-working Leeming a breather and the former Bradford player made an immediate impact, dummying his way over for his side's fourth try.
On-loan half-back Martyn Ridyard, back in the side after shaking off a shoulder injury, converted all four tries as Huddersfield led 24-0 at the break and it was a similar tale in the second half, with the visitors rarely threatening to breach their opponents' line.
The Giants extended their lead on 50 minutes when Rankin, who is proving a useful replacement for injured full-back Jake Mamo, got winger Darnell McIntosh over for their fifth try.
Stone's men were in such total control that they appeared to lose focus as the game meandered to a predictable conclusion and there was no further score until the last 10 minutes Rankin got McGillvary over for his second try and second rower Ukuma Ta'ai ran at pace onto Leeming's pass to notch his side's final try, to which Ridyard added his sixth goal.
