Wolves 20

Giants 26

TALK about after the Lord Mayor's Show!

Warrington Wolves failed to come close to the heights of their performance against world champions Bradford Bulls five days earlier and paid the price against this season's much improved Giants on Sunday.

It was Warrington's sixth game in 24 days, or their third in nine days, and it must have played a part in their demise.

They did not help themselves at times because of some tame defending and the conceding of penalties, not to mention giving the ball away too easily, fading in the 'kick-chase' department and lacking in support play.

Twice Wolves coughed up possession on the first tackle after forcing Huddersfield mistakes, twice Wolves players were tackled into touch inside their own half and there was a kick that went straight into touch on the full. All were gifts.

On top of this Huddersfield achieved something that Bradford did not - they knocked Wolves out of their rhythm.

By slowing down the play-the-balls, getting into Warrington's faces in defence and making a nuisance of themselves 'off the ball', Wolves never managed to get the roll on that subjected Bradford to extreme pressure conditions at The Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Despite all of this, Wolves' spirited efforts during this punishing fixture schedule were rewarded as they built a 20-14 lead to take them to the 68th minute mark. And there was controversy over the advantage not being higher.

Ben Westwood palmed backwards in form Lee Briers' kick to Dean Gaskell who thought he had a stroll over for his second try of the half but referee Richard Silverwood ruled, after consulting his touch judge, that Westwood had knocked on.

Huddersfield had enough fuel in the tank to be able to dominate the final quarter and score two tries in the closing 12 minutes to complete a bounce back from their Challenge Cup semi-final mauling against St Helens at the same stadium seven days earlier.

Wolves also seem to have problems holding on to leads this season. Decent advantages against Huddersfield, Bradford, Salford, Wigan (league game), London and Wakefield were clawed back to varying extents and Wolves must learn to finish teams off.

It was no coincidence that Wolves' 8-0 lead against Huddersfield, thanks to Jon Clarke's try and the boot of Briers, changed when Huddersfield prop Eorl Crabtree made impact off the substitutes' bench.

The nephew of famous wrestler Big Daddy proved to be a handful to Wolves.

It was Crabtree's off-load that created Huddersfield's opening try for Julian Bailey and he scored the comeback equaliser in the 68th minute.

Match facts

Tetley's Super League, Round 5, May 2, 2004

Warrington Wolves 20

Huddersfield Giants 26

Wolves: Gary Hulse; Richard Varkulis, Brent Grose, Ben Westwood, Dean Gaskell; Lee Briers, Nathan Wood; Paul Wood, Jon Clarke, Danny Lima, Darren Burns, Mike Wainwright, Paul Noone. Subs used: Ian Sibbit, Jerome Guisset, Mark Hilton, Warren Stevens.

Giants: Paul Reilly; Hefin O'Hare, Julian Bailey, Brandon Costin, Stuart Donlan; Stanley Gene, Sean Penkywicz; Darren Fleary, Paul March, Jim Gannon, Stuart Jones, Ben Roarty, Chris Nero. Subs used: Paul Smith, Eorl Crabtree. Subs not used: Ben Cooper, Iain Morrison.

Referee: Richard Silverwood

Attendance: 8,792

Interesting note: French international Guisset's seventh try of the season against Huddersfield already matches his total number of tries for the previous two seasons.

Scoring: Briers penalty goal, 5mins, 2-0 Briers and Hulse combine for Clarke try, 16 mins, Briers converts, 8-0; March penalty, 22mins, 8-2; Bailey finishes off Gene break, 24mins, March odds extras, 8-8; Roarty slips out of Noone's tackle to cross, 27mins, March goals, 8-14; Guisset fires over from Briers delayed pass, 39mins, Briers goal, 14-14. Half-time. Gaskell catches Briers kick and scores, 48mins, Briers goal, 20-14. Crabtree blasts over from short range, 68mins, March goal, 20-20. Nero races in, 32mins, March goal, 20-26.

Penalties: Wolves 12 Giants 8

Scrums: Wolves 8 Giants 9

Warrington Guardian top men: Grose 3pts, P Wood 2pts, Wainwright 1pt. Ratings will be accumulated throughout the year.