Huddersfield Giants turned on the style in the second half to seal a welcome 26-16 victory at the expense of engage Super League play-off hopefuls Harlequins RL.

The struggling Giants found themselves 10-8 behind at the break after a turgid opening 40 minutes but two tries shortly after the restart from Jamahl Lolesi and Stuart Jones gave them an advantage they did not surrender.

That the victory was achieved without a number of key players and against a Quins side who beat reigning champions Leeds in such exhilarating fashion last weekend made it all the more impressive.

The Giants – who remain without a coach following the sacking of Jon Sharp – showed no little character to grind out the points and caretaker coaches Paul Anderson and Keiron Purtill could certainly take heart by their side’s second-half performance.

Tom Hemingway, 21, emerged a hero for Huddersfield with seven goals after being drafted into the side at scrum-half because of injuries to captain Chris Thorman and Ryan Hudson and the suspension of Kevin Brown and Luke Robinson.

Hemingway opened the scoring in the third minute with an excellent penalty conversion from near the right touchline but Quins soon replied.

They hit back two minutes later when some slick handling saw the ball pass through five pairs of hands and culminated with Chad Randall sending Tony Clubb over the line.

Henry Paul could not convert and soon after Huddersfield regained the lead when Lolesi’s teasing grubber kick was grounded by Michael Lawrence.

Hemingway added the extras but the visitors hit back in the 23rd minute when replacement Karl Temata flew over the line from point-blank range after collecting a neat short offload from Randall.

Paul added the extras to hand Harlequins a 10-8 advantage but in truth there was precious little inspiration or creation on offer during the opening period.

That all changed after the restart, as Huddersfield grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck.

In the 44th minute, Hemingway added another penalty and then nine minutes later he helped orchestrate a fine move which also involved Lawrence and culminated in Lolesi advancing forward at pace from 20 metres out to cross the line.

Six minutes later the points were effectively sealed as Jones waltzed through another gaping hole in the Harlequins rearguard to claim Huddersfield’s third try.

Hemingway converted and maintained his 100 per cent record with the boot with his third penalty of the afternoon soon after.

Michael Worrincy engineered the space to squeeze over the line for the visitors with only minutes remaining and Paul added a routine conversion.

But it was not nearly enough for Brian McDermott’s men and Hemingway added another penalty to cap an outstanding personal display.