Leeds defeat Huddersfield
19 Apr 2019
Leeds Rhinos moved off the bottom of the Betfred Super League table with a 38-18 victory over Huddersfield Giants.
The Rhinos produced a sensational first-half performance to lead 30-0 at the break.
Tui Lolohea finished off a break from Brad Dwyer before the latter's grubber kick was touched down by James Donaldson.
Liam Sutcliffe kicked a penalty, Dwyer went in under the posts, Richie Myler got on the end of a kick and Tom Briscoe, earlier sin-binned, scored following a fine move.
The Giants responded in the second half, with Akuila Uate, Adam O'Brien and Darnell McIntosh going over, but Ash Handley made the game safe late on for the Rhinos, who lost Konrad Hurrell to injury.
Leeds head coach David Furner said: “It was a good result today and well deserved.
“I just gave our squad a massive rap because it was a really good first half. It was 30-0 but it was more the resilience we showed with losing two players to the sin-bin (Briscoe and Nathaniel Peteru) and another to injury (Hurrell).
“A month ago, I’m not sure we would have seen that one out, so there was some adversity to overcome there which was pleasing for me as a coach.
“I want this team to keep improving and we’ve got to focus on the next game, which is Wakefield.??
Huddersfield head coach Simon Woolford said: “It was embarrassing and some guys weren’t prepared to roll their sleeves up.
“We’re not in a position to just turn up and think it’s just going to happen.
“It’s a tough lesson to learn and there were too many passengers in the first half. It’s disappointing in so many ways.
“The warm-up was poor and Leeds came out like a team that wanted to win. We came out with a team who hoped to win.
“I know Leeds were bottom, but they’re still a fair side. For some reason, some guys just didn’t come to the races.??
