GIANTS SECURE SUPER LEAGUE STATUS

Huddersfield Giants 24-22 Catalans Dragons

Giants were the first team to strike on a nervy night at the John Smith’s Stadium.

Louis Senior finished off a great break from Giants and touched down in the corner after an offload from Paul Clough.

This was the perfect start for Giants who knew that a win would secure their Super League safety.

However, it didn’t take the visitors long to respond and despite a warning from Sam Tomkins just a minute previous, Catalans scored through Lewis Tierney.

The best efforts of the Giants defence wasn’t enough to fend off a relentless Catalans attack and Tierney received the ball just two metres out to score a simple try in the corner.

Both opening tries were converted superbly from the touchline by Jake Wardle and Sam Tomkins respectively.

In the battle of the left-wingers, it was Senior who scored the next try to restore the Giants lead.

A kick from Matt Frawley was fumbled by Robin Brochon and this mistake was pounced on by Senior to put his side 10-6 ahead.

Unfortunately for Giants, the resulting conversion was missed by Wardle and they were made to pay by the visitors.

Once again, Tierney exploited an overlap to score past a helpless Jermaine McGillvary and after a superb conversion from Tomkins, Giants were trailing 12-10.

This was turned into a four-point deficit just minutes from the hooter as Tomkins added another penalty.

On a night where Giants safety was in their own hands, half-time came with them relying on other results to go their way.

More misery was heaped onto Giants after Arthur Mourgue’s try just minutes into the second-half.

Tomkins, who had been a handful for Giants all game, coolly kicked a simple conversion, followed up by another penalty, to make the score 22-10 with thirty minutes left on the clock.

Senior completed a remarkable hat-trick in the 56^th minute after a great Giants break that saw the ball being thrown from left-to-right at breakneck speed.

Senior never looked in doubt to score as he reduced the Catalan lead to just eight points, Wardle missing a difficult conversion.

From the restart, Giants were a different side as Ukuma Ta’ai forced a penalty and despite the ball being thrown dead, the noise slowly began to rise at the John Smith’s Stadium.

Giants reacted by seeming to play with more aggression and a series of penalties and goal-line dropouts were forced by the home side.

Eventually, this turned into points by none other than Louis Senior again.

A loose ball was picked up by Senior as he ran almost seventy metres to score unchallenged underneath the posts.

Giants were soon ahead once again and this time it was Jermaine McGillvary who sent the Cowbell Army into raptures.

A fantastic 40-20 raised the decibel levels and Giants used this support to go 24-22 ahead with McGillvary finishing off his first chance of the game ruthlessly.

The game finished with the stadium cheering every tackle and every metre made by the Giants side and once the hooter sounded, jubilation erupted on the terraces.

As the team thanked the supporters for helping them through the season, Tina Turner and The Best was played over the speakers.

Maybe we saw the best performance from Louis Senior so far in his young career and if he was to ever replicate such form, he will surely be a star for years to come.