HUDDERSFIELD GIANTS 48 BARROW RAIDERS 6
Laund Hill, Sunday

HUDDERSFIELD cemented their place as the ‘best of the rest’ in Super League, finishing in fifth place after a largely dominant display.

Much of the damage was done in the first half as five tries in the opening 33 minutes ultimately proved too much for Barrow to recover from.

The hosts opened the scoring after seven minutes when they took full advantage of a Raiders knock-on to send in Amelia Brown. Sam Hulme kicked the first of her six goals.

Brown struck again when more strong running down the middle enabled her to go in between the sticks.

There was a brief Barrow response when Beth Lindsay fooled the Giants defence and went over from dummy-half, with Nicole Stewart’s conversion further cutting the lead.

But soon after that, Huddersfield started to pull away and another handling error by Barrow allowed them to work the ball downfield again, with Abigail Liu on the end of the play to go over from close range.

With the half-hour mark approaching, Lois Naidole fooled the Barrow defence with a neat dummy to go over.

Minutes later former England international Kelsey Gentles marked her Huddersfield debut with a try after spotting a gap in the Barrow defence.

Hulme, who had been on target with all the other conversion attempts, this time hit a post, so it was 28-6 at the turn.

The second half was a closer affair, and the final score might have reflected that had Huddersfield not crossed for four tries in twelve minutes.

After a spell of dominance from Barrow, Brown completed her hat-trick, to end the season on 18 Super League tries, before Mollie Iceton, Hulme and Charlotte Shaw all crossed in quick succession.

GIANTS: 1 Amelia Brown, 11 Madison Clegg, 2 Tilly Davies, 4 Fran Copley, 5 Mollie Iceton, 16 Becky Grady, 7 Sam Hulme, 14 Gracie Hobbs, 9 Megan Preston, 10 Jess Harrap, 20 Amy Bennett, 3 Lois Naidole, 13 Bethan Oates. Subs (all used): 28 Lauren Exley, 31 Kelsey Gentles, 17 Abigail Liu, 15 Charlotte Shaw

Tries: Brown (7, 14, 51), Liu (25), Naidole (28), Gentles (33), Iceton (54), Hulme (59), Shaw (63); Goals: Hulme 6/9

RAIDERS: 16 Charlotte Todhunter, 18 Fran Harley, 11 Emily Stirzaker, 4 Claire Hutchinson, 23 Blossom Howell, 6 Kerrie-Ann Smith, 28 Imogen Smilie, 14 Mia Dobson, 9 Beth Lindsay, 10 Jodie Morley, 3 Maddie Neale, 12 Leah Clough, 13 Nicole Stewart. Subs (all used): 15 Leah Cottier, 22 Jodie Crawford, 25 Amy Carruthers, 26 Megan Mayhew-Beach

Tries: Lindsay (18); Goals: Stewart 1/1

SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 12-0, 12-6, 18-6, 24-6, 28-6; 32-6, 38-6, 42-6, 48-6

Half-time: 28-6