Wakefield 17-16 Huddersfield: Danny Brough comes back to haunt former club with late drop goal

Danny Brough kicked a drop goal as Wakefield inflicted defeat on Huddersfield

Veteran half-back Danny Brough came back to haunt former club Huddersfield as his late drop goal gave Wakefield a hard-earned 17-16 victory.

The ex-Giants captain made the surprise switch to Belle Vue in the off-season and his former employers must have been left rueing their decision to release him at the end of a tough battle. Brough may have delivered the knockout blow but Wakefield's true hero was David Fifita, whose two late tries dragged the hosts back from the brink of defeat.

Trinity had taken an early lead through Reece Lyne but tries from Jermaine McGillvary - the 200th of his career and 150th in Super League - and Darnell McIntosh gave the Giants a deserved 10-4 half-time advantage.

McIntosh thought he had given Huddersfield a third straight win with 10 minutes to go, only for Fifita and Brough to consolidate Trinity's position in the top five.

Fifita and Pauli Pauli helped Wakefield win the early arm wrestle, but Huddersfield stood firm on their own line and appeared to have weathered the storm.

That was until Brough decided to run the ball on the last tackle and was vindicated when Lyne took his pass to slide over out wide.

Huddersfield heads did not drop as they may have earlier in the year and - after winning a contentious penalty near halfway - they were right back in it when McIntosh's long pass gave McGillvary a walk-in try.

Young half-back Oliver Russell missed the conversion but he made no mistake from a penalty after Fifita's late hit on Matt Frawley to edge the Giants ahead.

Wakefield became increasingly frustrated - both on the field and in the stands as referee Scott Mikalauskas came under fire - and their mood worsened as McIntosh dummied his way through Trinity's left edge to score.

McGillvary looked destined to send Huddersfield into half-time with a commanding lead only to drop the ball with the line at his mercy. The interval came at a good time for Wakefield but they continued to struggle after the restart in the face of strong Giants defence.

Trinity thought they had broken through as Matty Ashurst raced clear only for Mikalauskas to call him back for a forward pass.

Huddersfield's forwards were more than matching their Trinity counterparts and it appeared as if they would hold out for the win when Fifita was somehow denied from close range.

But with open space in front of him he is almost impossible to stop, as he proved with 16 minutes to go when he took Brough's drop-off 30 metres out before stepping McIntosh to cap a superb try.

Having worked so hard to get back into the game, Wakefield were quickly chasing it again after McIntosh touched down Russell's kick under the posts.

But the script had already been written. Brough drew Trinity level after the inspired Fifita had powered his way over and then sent a one-pointer through the posts following an error by Innes Senior close to his own line.