Wildcats claim Giant win

George gave Wakefield a dream start

Huddersfield missed the chance to replace Warrington at the top of the Super League table after crashing to a shock 13-10 defeat at Wakefield.

The Wildcats belied their lowly league position with a spirited performance at the Rapid Solicitors Stadium, and were indebted to the left boot of home debutant Gareth Moore, who kicked nine of his side's points.

A try from former Giant Luke George set the home side on their way, Moore kicking the conversion and adding two penalties to put the Wildcats 10-0 in front at the break.

Another penalty from Moore extended their lead and although Shaun Lunt crossed the line, Moore's drop-goal settled matters to give Wakefield their first win in four matches, despite Joe Wardle's try setting up a nervy finale.

Fumble

Coach John Kear decided to shake up his team following Wakefield's 34-12 defeat to Salford last week and made six changes, the most notable of which saw Motu Tony finally make his debut after he missed the first half of the season due to a broken hand and compassionate leave.

Huddersfield gave a start to young scrum-half Kyle Wood, who came in for the injured Danny Brough in one of six changes to their line-up.

Damp conditions meant the ball was always likely to be difficult to grip and George took advantage of a fumble from Lee Gilmour to crash over in the left corner after just three minutes.

Moore added the extras and the stand-off put the Wildcats further in front with a penalty following a high challenge on Frankie Mariano.

More handling errors in crucial positions undermined the Giants' attempts to get on the scoreboard and when Wood was penalised for holding down, Moore added another penalty to put the hosts 10-0 in front.

Huddersfield enjoyed a dominant spell of possession towards the end of the first half but they could not find their way through a Wakefield defence that had shipped 76 points in their last two matches, against Catalan Dragons and Salford.

Nervy

Despite the visitors making a bright start to the game, with Leroy Cudjoe just fingertips away from grounding Wood's high kick, their error count showed no signs of abating and the boot of Moore once again made them pay after Luke Robinson was penalised.

The Giants finally got on the scoreboard when Lunt dived through a gap from dummy half to touch down and with Cudjoe adding the extras, the deficit was cut to six points.

But Moore's 20-yard drop-goal left Huddersfield needing more than one converted score but Wardle's try set up a nervy finale.

Kevin Brown's grubber kick was neatly flicked on by Jermaine McGillvary and into the path of the centre, who crossed unchallenged.

Despite Huddersfield frantically searching for a match-winning score, the Wildcats held firm to hand the Giants their first defeat in four outings.