HUDDERSFIELD GIANTS 0 LEEDS RHINOS 26
JACOB KILBRIDE, Accu Stadium, Thursday
LEEDS RHINOS firmly kept the pressure on for a race for a top two finish thanks to a ruthless 26-0 shutout of Huddersfield Giants.
They say that champion teams know how to win ugly and while this was Leeds far from their thrilling best in attack, they were close to perfection in defence.
Huddersfield’s metres were restricted for the majority of the evening, particularly in the second-half when the Giants were barely able to threaten the Leeds tryline.
This was no fluke either. A second straight win to nil and a run of just two tries conceded in their last four matches should give Leeds immense confidence heading into a potential second-place shootout at Wigan in the final round of the regular season.
Despite numerous absentees in the forwards, the Rhinos fronted up in defence early on, restricting Huddersfield to several long-range deep kicks. It felt like a matter of time before they found the opening score – 11 minutes the answer to that question.
Harry Newman’s well-judged kick trapped George Flanagan deep in Giants territory before Brodie Croft expertly grubbered for Newman to finish a set later.
The missed conversion from Jake Connor – making his first appearance back at the Accu Stadium since his off-season switch – gained the loudest cheer from the home support after a dozen minutes.
There was a swagger about the Leeds attack that appeared to lead to an over-confidence as a Croft short ball put James McDonnell through a gap on his 30-metre line before the back-rower blew the opportunity with a loose kick ahead.
Leeds were almost made to pay when Joe Greenwood offloaded into the hands of the finishing Flanagan, though the pass was forward.
The spirited Huddersfield won a trio of goal-line drop-outs, though the Rhinos always felt relatively comfortable in defence. Aidan McGowan being sent into touch by Ned McCormack on the right flank was as close as the hosts came to troubling the scoresheet.
A couple of Connor penalty goals allowed Leeds to build a merited two-score lead at the break. The scrum-half was taken out chasing his own kick to earn the first of those penalties while Newman was on the receiving end of an off-the-ball challenge to win the second.
After the restart, Leeds showed better discipline to grind out field position but a couple of loose errors – a sloppy James Bentley offload and a wayward McCormack pass – prevented any increase to their lead.
With that said, even at 8-0, Huddersfield had a mountain to climb, barely able to reach the Leeds 20, let alone trouble the tryline.
Just after the hour, in rather fortunate circumstances, Leeds claimed their second try. After a move to the right, a Lachie Miller ball back inside hit the deck but Morgan Gannon reacted quickest to stroll through a wide gap.
Leeds saved their eye-catching best until late on. With four minutes to go, Miller shaped to pass before reverting for an inventive kick over the top and handing off for Croft to finish.
Mikolaj Oledzki wrapped up a comfortable night for Leeds, barging across from Jarrod O’Connor’s dummy-half pass in the dying seconds.
Without Connor, who left the field early after appearing to struggle with injury, Miller successfully took over the kicking duties for three conversions.
GAMESTAR: Morgan Gannon. An industrious display in defence and showed opportunism to bag the contest’s second try.
GAMEBREAKER: At 8-0, Huddersfield remained alive in the contest but Morgan Gannon’s somewhat fortuitous stride through the home defence from a misplaced Lachie Miller pass took the game beyond the Giants.
HIGHLIGHT REEL: Although we may have had to wait 76 minutes before Leeds produced some of their attacking best, Lachie Miller’s sumptuous kick-and-chase was delivered to perfection, beating the last defender before sending Brodie Croft over the whitewash.
ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Morgan Gannon (Leeds)
2 pts Lachie Miller (Leeds)
1 pt Harry Newman (Leeds)
GIANTS
29 George Flanagan
5 Sam Halsall
1 Jacob Gagai
3 Jake Bibby
24 Aidan McGowan
27 Kieran Rush
36 Oliver Russell
18 Tom Burgess
9 Zac Woolford
22 Tristan Powell
25 Jack Billington
17 Joe Greenwood
13 Harry Rushton
Subs
14 Ashton Golding
16 George King
18 Fenton Rogers
37 Marshall Land (not used)
18th man (not used)
33 Archie Sykes
Also in 21-man squad
32 Jacob Algar
Logan Blacker
Leo Ward
RHINOS
1 Lachlan Miller
5 Ryan Hall
3 Harry Newman
25 Ned McCormack
31 Chris Hankinson
6 Brodie Croft
18 Jake Connor
8 Mikolaj Oledzki
14 Jarrod O’Connor
17 Cooper Jenkins
16 Morgan Gannon
12 James McDonnell
28 Kallum Watkins
Subs (all used)
11 James Bentley
14 Jarrod O’Connor
15 Sam Lisone
29 Pressley Cassell
18th man (not used)
20 Jack Sinfield
Also in 21-man squad
23 Riley Lumb
24 Ben Littlewood
N/A Zak Lloyd
Tries: Newman (11), Gannon (60), Croft (76), Oledzki (80)
Goals: Connor (2/3), Miller (3/3)
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-4, 0-6, 0-8, 0-14, 0-20, 0-26
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Giants: Jack Billington; Rhinos: Morgan Gannon
Penalty count: 3-7
Half-time: 0-8
Referee: Tom Grant
Attendance: 4,315