Super League: Huddersfield 12-34 Warrington

Warrington closed in on second-placed Huddersfield at the top of Super League with a comfortable victory over a strangely out-of-sorts Giants side.

Huddersfield took the lead when Luke Robinson sent Jermaine McGillvary over.

But Warrington hit back strongly with tries by Mickey Higham, two by Trent Waterhouse, and Stefan Ratchford to lead 22-6 at half-time.

Kruise Leeming scored for the Giants in the second half, but Ryan Atkins further extended Warrington's lead.

Huddersfield, who were looking to keep the pressure on Wigan at the top of the overall standings, started well as they grabbed an early lead. Danny Brough's 40-20 kick gave them the advantage with Craig Kopczak putting McGillvary in for a converted try from the resulting scrum.

The Giants were their own worst enemies, though, as they gifted Warrington their opening try four minutes later when Jason Chan knocked on. Higham smuggled the ball over the line through a crowd of players from the resulting Warrington play.

Waterhouse's double came next, followed by another Giants blunder, a missed interception by the hapless Scott Grix that let in Ratchford for a simple score.

The game boiled over when Huddersfield centre Leroy Cudjoe was hauled into touch by three defenders as he went for a try. It sparked an ugly melee involving most players on the field.

Wolves were awarded a controversial penalty on the hooter, a decision which saw Giants star Brough sin-binned for possible dissent.

Ratchford helped put Warrington further ahead with the pass for Hodgson to go over in the right corner.

Teenage hooker Leeming then scored on his Huddersfield debut following an acrobatic offload from Luke Robinson.

But any chance of a revival for the home side was snuffed out when Wolves scored their sixth try of the afternoon through Atkins, with Hodgson converting to complete the scoring.

VIEWS FROM THE DRESSING ROOMS

Warrington coach Tony Smith:

"It was a very good performance, our best of the season. Huddersfield asked us a lot of questions and I thought we answered them pretty well.

"We were especially good in defence. We've had a few lesser scores against us, but I thought our commitment to defending the line today was outstanding.

"For Brett Hodgson to pass 1,000 points in Super League is a great achievement. Brett seems to keep turning the clock back and looks faster and even fitter than he did in his younger days."

Huddersfield Giants coach Paul Anderson:

"We failed to come up with the answers, and that's a rarity, though we can't dwell on it too much as we have a game on Saturday.

"For Kruise to score on his debut was a dream start for him - our plan was never to push him that far, but if there's one positive we can take from this game it's that Kruise is off his 'nudey'.

"But overall the scoreline was a fair reflection of the game."

SUNDAY'S TEAMS

Huddersfield: Grix, McGillvary, Cudjoe, Murphy, Dawson, Brough, Robinson, Patrick, Lunt, Kopczak, Chan, Ferguson, Lawrence.

Replacements: Crabtree, Ta'ai, Mullally, Leeming.

Warrington: Hodgson, C. Riley, Grix, Atkins, Williams, Ratchford, Myler, Hill, Higham, Wood, Waterhouse, Westwood, Cooper.

Replacements: Carvell, Currie, D. Bridge, G. Riley.

Referee: Ben Thaler (RFL)