Huddersfield 16 Wakefield 18: Brough is enough for depleted Wakefield
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Your support makes all the difference.Wakefield overcame the absence of 12 first-teamers to edge out Huddersfield in a match full of adventure and error. A 45-metre penalty from Danny Brough proved the difference in the Wildcats' first win in this fixture for four years and moved them up to eighth place in the Super League.
It was an enterprising match from the start, with both teams throwing the ball around as though it was the last five minutes rather than the first. Wakefield got the first reward when long passes from Brough and Scott Grix – the latter one looking suspiciously forward – released Aaron Murphy on the left for a try.
As so often this season the penalty count proved a major factor, enabling Huddersfieldto apply steadily increasing pressure before Luke Robinson darted over from dummy-half for the seventh try of his first season with the Giants, the full-back Chris Thorman convertingto put them ahead.
A penalty and Thorman's kicking also figured prominentlyin the second Huddersfield try. Tevita Leo-Latu was punished for going high on Paul Jackson and from that possession Thorman kicked into the corner.Murphy was beaten by the bounce and Rod Jensen swooped for the score.
Back came Wakefield, though, through Jamie Rooney's runand Sam Obst's bouncing kick, with Tony Martin arriving to touch down.
The downside of both teams' desperation to keep the ball alive was that there were plenty of mistakes, and a double error from Jensen put Wakefield back in the game. He threw away possession after charging down the right wing and then let Brough's kick ricochet off him for Oliver Wilkes to score.
Martin's penalty gave Wakefield the lead, but Thorman soon cancelled it out with another successful penalty and put his side ahead with yet another as the referee, Phil Bentham, continued to have an important hand in proceedings. Two more penalties, the second from long range by Brough, restored Wakefield's slender lead, and they hung on throughout the final quarter of the game.
Brough's tactical kicking, with Thorman proving particularly uneasy under the high ball, kept Huddersfield pinned back for much of that final quarter, but Wakefield could not find the clinching score.
That left them vulnerable until the last second, but Huddersfield's last real chance disappeared when the stand-off Kevin Brown lost the ball while going for the line with five minutes left to play.
Huddersfield: Thorman; Lawrence, Elford, Whatuira, Jensen; Brown, Robinson; Mason, Gatis, Raleigh, Snitch, Crabtree, Lolesi. Substitutes used: Jackson, Griffin, Hudson, Kirmond.
Wakefield: Grix; Murphy, Martin, Atkins, Gleeson; Rooney, Brough; Bibey, Obst, Moore, Golden, MacGillivray, Sculthorpe. Substitutes used: Wilkes, Leo-Latu, Bibb, Pitts.
Referee: P Bentham (Warrington).
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