HUDDERSFIELD GIANTS 24 LEIGH LEOPARDS 28
CALLUM WALKER, John Smith’s Stadium, Thursday
THEY say good things come in threes, and Huddersfield will have been glad to see the back of Ben McNamara, Lachlan Lam and David Armstrong after the trio ripped them apart for an hour to consolidate Leigh’s place inside the top four.
All three registered a try with Lam assisting twice and McNamara doing likewise once, and though the Giants attempted a late second-half comeback, the Leopards hung on in valiant fashion.
George Flanagan came back in for Huddersfield with Tristan Powell making his debut following his move from Australia. Jacob Gagai and Sam Hewitt dropped out.
Adrian Lam welcomed back fullback Armstrong as Bailey Hodgson dropped to the bench.
The Giants’ lack of confidence was evident and they were on the back foot early on as the Leopards peppered the hosts’ line.
And it was the visitors struck for the first points on 17 minutes, Isaac Liu taking an Edwin Ipape pass to stroll through untouched. McNamara converted for a 6-0 lead.
There was little to shout about from a Giants’ perspective and things got even worse for the home side as the half-hour approached when Umyla Hanley set Keanan Brand charging down the wing.
Brand superbly rounded Flanagan before offloading to the supporting McNamara for a scintillating score. McNamara converted his own try to make it 12-0.
Huddersfield refused to lie down, though, and a brilliant Adam Clune break threatened to breach the Leopards’ line but Tui Lolohea’s wastefully kicked possession away.
As it was, a touch of magic from Flanagan, with the number one scything through the line and stepping Armstrong, brought Huddersfield back to within six points at half-time.
That being said, the Leopards looked dangerous at the start of the second half as McNamara forced a drop-out. From the resulting set, Armstrong took advantage of an overlap to streak home with McNamara’s magnificent conversion sending Leigh into an 18-6 lead.
The writing was on the wall for the Giants and, following a tremendous Lam run, the halfback dotted down on the next tackle after McNamara utilised the short side. The latter sent the conversion wide for the only blot on his copybook with the visitors now 22-6 up.
After forcing another drop-out, the Leopards had their fifth on the hour, Frankie Halton taking a short Lam pass before Huddersfield’s Adam Swift hit back with a flying finish on 66 minutes. Flanagan converted to reduce the deficit to 16 at 28-12.
Despite the Giants piling on the pressure and Powell coming close to grounding a Lolohea grubber, the visitors were let off the hook as Flanagan lost possession.
But, there was no stepping Sam Halsall after he intercepted a stray Lam pass to canter 80 metres with five minutes to go and when Leroy Cudjoe pounced on Hodgson’s error at the back to cross, the cat really was put amongst the pigeons.
Leigh unsuccessfully used their captain’s challenge to dispute Cudjoe’s efforts as Flanagan converted both to make it 28-24.
The grandstand finish was set up, but the Leopards somehow held out with the Giants finding energy from somewhere.
GAMESTAR: Lachlan Lam controlled the game.
GAMEBREAKER: David Armstrong’s try just after half-time took the wind out of Huddersfield’s sails.
HIGHLIGHT REEL: George Flanagan’s try was a thing of beauty.
ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Lachlan Lam (Leigh)
2 pts Ben McNamara (Leigh)
1 pt David Armstrong (Leigh)
MATCHFACTS
GIANTS
29 George Flanagan
2 Adam Swift
3 Jake Bibby
23 Taane Milne
5 Sam Halsall
6 Tui Lolohea
7 Adam Clune
16 George King
9 Zac Woolford
22 Tristan Powell (D)
13 Harry Rushton
17 Joe Greenwood
21 Leroy Cudjoe
Subs (all used)
8 Oliver Wilson
10 Tom Burgess
14 Ashton Golding
27 Kieran Rush
18th man (not used)
18 Sam Hewitt
Also in the 21-man squad
1 Jacob Gagai
28 Connor Carr
30 Jack Bibby
Tries: Flanagan (35), Swift (66), Halsall (75), Cudjoe (77)
Goals: Flanagan 4/4
LEOPARDS
1 David Armstrong
2 Darnell McIntosh
3 Tesi Niu
4 Umyla Hanley
18 Keanan Brand
22 Ben McNamara
7 Lachlan Lam
32 Joe Ofahengaue
9 Edwin Ipape
10 Robbie Mulhern
11 Frankie Halton
8 Owen Trout
13 Isaac Liu
Subs (all used)
12 Jack Hughes
15 Alec Tuitavake
16 Matt Davis
24 Bailey Hodgson
18th man (not used)
17 Brad Dwyer
Also in 21-man squad
5 Josh Charnley
21 Andy Badrock
27 Jack Darbyshire
Tries: Liu (17), McNamara (27), Armstrong (44), Lam (52), Halton (58)
Goals: McNamara 4/5
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-12, 6-12; 6-18, 6-22, 6-28, 12-28, 18-28, 24-28
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Giants: George Flanagan; Leopards: Lachlan Lam
Penalty count: 3-3
Half-time: 6-12
Referee: Jack Smith
Attendance: 3,458
