Super League: Huddersfield Giants 38-36 Warrington Wolves - Matt Dufty scores four tries as Wire comeback falls short
- Published
Matt Dufty has scored five tries in five Super League appearances
Betfred Super League |
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Huddersfield (32) 38 |
Tries: O'Brien, Jones, Lolohea, Cudjoe, Leutele, King, Pryce Goals: Pryce 5 |
Warrington (10) 36 |
Tries: Dufty 4, Lynch, Wardle, Williams Goals: Ratchford, Hayes 3 |
Matt Dufty scored four tries as Warrington fell just short of a great comeback win at Huddersfield.
Dufty crossed inside 30 seconds and Josh Lynch went over but in between scores the Giants grabbed six tries.
Adam O'Brien, Josh Jones, Tui Lolohea, Leroy Cudjoe, Ricky Leutele and Toby King made it 32-10 at the break.
Jake Wardle and George Williams tries and a second-half hat-trick for Dufty were not enough as Will Pryce's try proved to be the difference.
The Wire's seventh defeat from their past eight matches means they will end the season in 11th place - their lowest in the 27 seasons of Super League and their worst overall since 1989, when they also finished 11th.
Play-off bound Huddersfield will secure third spot if they beat Wakefield in their final game of the regular season on Friday.
It has been a chastening first season at Warrington for former Castleford Tigers coach Daryl Powell but he will have been buoyed by the fighting spirit his side showed to come within a missed kick of forcing golden-point extra-time.
Pryce's score made it 38-22 with just 15 minutes on the clock but Dufty, who joined in July from Canterbury, crossed for his third and fourth tries of the day either side of Williams going over from a Josh Thewlis interception.
Warrington end their season at Salford on Saturday.
Huddersfield coach Ian Watson:
"I thought we were awesome in the first half and attacked the game in the right way, but our mentality changed in the second half.
"We became very loose with the ball and we started playing more individually than anything else.
"It is a lesson for us. If we go into a play-off game and play like that for 40 minutes, we are going to get turned over.
"There were individuals who probably thought we had done the job. And they were happy with that but as a team and a club we can't be happy with that. We have got to be a ruthless team."
Warrington coach Daryl Powell:
"I have never finished this low in my coaching career. I am embarrassed by it. But there are bigger things at play.
"The team has not been good enough and I haven't been good enough clearly because of where we are.
"So I have to hold my hands up and take full accountability. But I think we are going somewhere.
"There is no way I came here expecting this to happen. But it has happened because of a lot of things I saw when I came in and needed to change.
"There is no doubt we will change this. It cannot be all about the people coming in. But it can be all about the culture of the club."
Huddersfield: Lolohea, Senior, Leutele, King, Cudjoe, Pryce, Russell, English, Jones, Hewitt, Hill, O'Brien, Trout.
Interchanges: Yates, Greenwood, Levi, Ashworth.
Warrington: Dufty, Lynch, Mata'utia, Wardle, Thewlis, Ratchford, Williams, Harrison, Walker, Bullock, Holroyd, Nicholson, Holmes.
Interchanges: Clark, Mulhern, Thomas, Hayes.
Referee: Marcus Griffiths.