Super League play-offs: Catalan Dragons hold off Huddersfield Giants
Last Updated: 29/09/14 12:02pm
Catalan Dragons continued their impressive Super League play-off run with an 18-16 victory over Huddersfield in a tense tie at the John Smith's Stadium.
The French side followed up their win at Leeds last weekend to repeat their 2009 play-off win at Huddersfield and move to within 80 minutes of a maiden Grand Final.
The preliminary semi-final was played in semi-darkness for the opening 15 minutes after electrical trouble on one side of the ground wiped out half the floodlights.
Huddersfield, who have lost 11 of their 14 play-off ties, included partially-fit skipper Danny Brough, who was still nursing a ruptured testicle that forced him to sit out the two previous games but battled through the pain barrier to keep his side in the hunt right to the end.
Giants coach Paul Anderson shook up his side after their 57-4 hammering at Wigan and winger Jodie Broughton justified his recall in the opening moments by pulling off a try-saving tackle on his opposite number Michael Oldfield before opening the scoring at the other end.
Brough was wide with the conversion attempt and the Dragons hit back with two tries to storm into a 10-4 lead.
Oldfield counter-attacked after taking Brough's kick and centre Vincent Duport demonstrated subtlety to get his winger Daryl Millard over for the visitors' first try.
Second-rower Elliott Whitehead, justifying his selection in the Dream Team, came up with a break and deft pass to get centre Ben Pomeroy over the line, only for the try to be disallowed for a knock-on. But Whitehead had more reward moments later when he gave Oldfield a one-on-one opportunity which he took in fine style, stepping past Murphy and diving spectacularly for the line.
End to end
Bosc's touchline conversion opened up a six-point lead but the Giants drew level after 26 minutes when hooker Shaun Lunt got centre Joe Wardle into a gap and Murphy was in support for their second try, which was goaled by Brough.
As play flowed from end to end, Giants centre Leroy Cudjoe ought to have added another try when he reached Brough's pinpoint grubber kick but fumbled the ball over the line.
Huddersfield then thought they had regained the lead when Broughton went 90 metres after collecting a kick, but the try was chalked off for an obstruction and it was the Catalans who went back in front courtesy of Bosc's penalty.
Busy video referee Richard Silverwood disallowed a try by Dragons prop Louis Anderson, ruling he failed to ground Bosc's grubber kick, but he gave the green light to Huddersfield scrum-half Luke Robinson on the hour after he successfully chased Brough's stabbed kick on the last tackle, getting the touch just inches from the dead-ball line.
Brough's second goal made it 16-12 but it was all square eight minutes later when the home side failed to cope with Bosc's high kick and Whitehead palmed the ball on for Pomeroy to touch down.
Bosc then kept his composure to land the difficult conversion and the Dragons held on for a memorable victory.
