Huddersfield 26 Warrington 20: Wild leaves it late to escape pursuing Wolves

Two late tries from Chris Nero and Stephen Wild brought Huddersfield their first Super League victory of the season and left Warrington waiting for theirs.

In a game that saved its best until last, it was the Giants who timed their winning run to perfection. They had just fallen behind to Chris Bridge's second try when they produced some outstanding rugby. Eorl Crabtree and Paul March kept the ball alive superbly, Chris Thorman formed the link and Nero plunged over for the score that put Huddersfield back in front.

It was one which infuriated the Warrington coach Paul Cullen, because Henry Fa'afili was apparently taken out of play by a collision with the Huddersfield water carrier Ben Cooper. "I've put in a complaint to the match commissioner, but it's not going to change the result," Cullen said.

The Huddersfield coach Jon Sharp preferred to concentrate on the "quality of the skill that led to the try" and there was as much to admire about their next.

Robbie Paul, a growing influence as the game went on, made the initial break and released Wild with a perfectly timed pass. The former Wigan player's pace was stunning as he outpaced Richie Barnett on a 60-metre sprint to the line.

Touchline conversions from Michael De Vere and Thorman gave Huddersfield a 10-point lead, enough to withstand Warrington's late rally and Fa'afili's try.

The Wolves, humiliated by Salford in their opening fixture, started as though determined to make amends, leading by 10 points after only eight minutes.

The outstanding Bridge scored first from Lee Briers' kick and then helped to send Barnett away for a debut try with his first touch.

The Giants did remarkably well to bounce back from that ominous opening. Thorman's kick for Albert Torrens got them on the scoreboard after 16 minutes and they were level before half-time when Thorman set up Nero for his first.

Huddersfield had to do plenty of defending in the second half against a Warrington team which, for all its improvement on last week's woeful effort, lacked sufficient cutting edge.

The Giants took the lead for the first time when the excellent Wild shrugged off tacklers to get his pass to Martin Aspinwall and, after Wayne McDonald and Ben Westwood were sent to the sin-bin, showed the determination and composure to finish the job.

Huddersfield: Reilly; Aspinwall, Evans, Torrens, De Vere; Thorman, Paul; McDonald, Drew, Jackson, Smith, Jones, Wild. Substitutes used: Crabtree, Nero, Snitch, March.

Warrington: Grose; Fa'afili, Martin Gleeson, Kohe-Love, Barnett; Briers, Bridge; Wood, Clarke, Westwood, Swann, Wainwright, Noone. Substitutes used: Sullivan, Mark Gleeson, Bracek, Lima.

Referee: I Smith (Oldham).

* Kirk Yeaman scored a hat-trick as Hull continued their promising start to the new season with a 40-14 win over Wakefield. The Black and Whites produced a fluent attacking performance to run in seven tries but their win owed as much to a superb defensive effort. Their talisman and captain Richard Swain was absent with a thigh injury but the team did not suffer with tries spread between Lee Radford, Motu Tony, Shaun Briscoe, Richard Horne and Yeaman.