Huddersfield Giants finally off the mark as Hull FC pay for red card

HUDDERSFIELD GIANTS 12 HULL FC 10
JOHN DAVIDSON, St James’ Park, Newcastle, Sunday

HUDDERSFIELD have finally broken their horror losing run and claimed their first victory of the season after a spiteful two-point win over Hull FC.

Liam Knight was red-carded and two other players were sin-binned in a fiery first half.

The Black and Whites battled for 40 minutes with a man less but the day belonged to the plucky Giants, who ended a bad stretch of nine defeats in a row.

Huddersfield started the match positively, building pressure early with Adam Clune forcing a goal-line drop-out.

But Luke Robinson’s men coughed up possession with an error, a recurring theme in 2025.

After ten minutes Hull looked to start opening their opponents up until Harvey Barron knocked-on and the ball was handed over.

It was an error-prone opening quarter, with few attacking chances for either side.

Huddersfield edged ahead after 17 minutes thanks to a George Flanagan penalty-goal.

Discipline was already proving to be a problem for Hull as they coughed up four penalties in the first 20 minutes.

It was costly as Leroy Cudjoe rolled back the years and scored a great try off the back of a blocking run through the middle.

Flanagan added the extras to give his team an early 8-0 lead.

A successful Captain’s Challenge gave Hull FC a chance to hit back right on their opponents’ try-line, and they took the opportunity with Herman Ese’ese diving over after John Asiata’s smart offload.

Aiden Sezer converted the try to reduce the margin to two points.

Tempers flared with three minutes left in the half when Asiata was levelled by Tom Burgess after he had passed the ball, with the prop sent to the sin bin.

Cade Cust nearly made them pay when he tried to cross, but desperate defence from Flanagan held him up, with the video referee confirming no try.

Anger erupted again and the whole teams had to be separated after Sam Eseh nailed Matty English with a huge shot to the head.

Eseh was shown a yellow card, but from the restart Knight was sent off for a terrible shoulder to the head.

It was a brain explosion from the Australian and gave the Giants the initiative, although Flanagan’s penalty sailed wide to retain a slender 8-6 lead at half-time.

After the break Huddersfield looked to move the ball and use their extra man.

Hull held on for 15 minutes but eventually the dam broke when Clune’s classy cut-out pass was taken by Jacob Gagai, who touched down in the corner.

Flanagan couldn’t convert but the Giants were six points ahead, albeit not for long as Davy Litten’s miracle offload put Lewis Martin over acrobatically on the wing.

Sezer’s conversion attempt was off, however, and that was as good as it got for the Black and Whites.

Huddersfield dug in enough and ground out the result they have craved for the past three months.

GAMESTAR: Zac Woolford worked himself to the bone to drive his side to victory.

GAMEBREAKER: Adam Clune’s cut-out pass to Jacob Gagai was sublime.

HIGHLIGHT REEL: Davy Litten’s offload for a Lewis Martin put-down was a thing of beauty.

ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Zac Woolford (Huddersfield)
2 pts Adam Clune (Huddersfield)
1 pt Jordan Rapana (Hull FC)

MATCHFACTS
GIANTS
29 George Flanagan
2 Adam Swift
5 Sam Halsall
23 Taane Milne
1 Jacob Gagai
27 Kieran Rush
7 Adam Clune
8 Oliver Wilson
9 Zac Woolford
17 Joe Greenwood
3 Jake Bibby
12 Sam Hewitt
21 Leroy Cudjoe
Subs (all used)
14 Ashton Golding
15 Matty English
30 Jack Bibby
10 Tom Burgess
18th man (not used)
25 Jack Billington
Also in 21-man squad
28 Connor Carr
– Darius Carter
– Leo Ward

 Tries: Cudjoe (26), Gagai (55)
Goals: Flanagan 2/4
Sin bin: Burgess (37) – late tackle

HULL FC
6 Will Pryce
2 Harvey Barron
1 Jordan Rapana
20 Davy Litten
22 Lewis Martin
14 Cade Cust
7 Aiden Sezer
8 Herman Ese’ese
9 Amir Bourouh
40 Liam Knight
3 Zak Hardaker
4 Ed Chamberlain
13 John Asiata
Subs (all used)
39 Sam Eseh
17 Jack Ashworth
16 Yusuf Aydin
5 Tom Briscoe
18th man (not used)
25 Denive Balmforth
Also in 21-man squad
23 Logan Moy
27 Matty Laidlaw
32 Will Kirby