Huddersfield claimed only their fourth win of the Betfred Super League season after overcoming Catalans Dragons 18-10 in an encounter that will not linger long in the memory. Get the full report and reaction.
Match stats: Catalan Dragons 10-18 Huddersfield
Catalan tries: Myler (4), Thornley (48)
Conversions: Walsh (5)
Huddersfield tries: Gaskell (12), Rapira (72), O'Brien (75)
Conversions/Penalties: Ridyard (39, 72, 76)
Match report
Huddersfield claimed only their fourth win of the Betfred Super League season after overcoming Catalans Dragons 18-10 in an encounter that will not linger long in the memory.
The second day of the Dacia Magic Weekend at St James' Park began with a whimper, but it was Huddersfield who prevailed as they handed Catalans a fifth consecutive defeat.
Trailing 10-6 following tries from Richie Myler and Iain Thornley with only eight minutes remaining, the Giants went ahead when Sam Rapira powered over before Adam O'Brien's score ensured there was no way back for Catalans.
It was a vital win for Rick Stone's men, for while they remain 10th in the standings they are now only a point behind the Dragons - defeat would have left them marooned in the bottom three.
Catalans led for much of the match but were denied three tries by the video referee and their inability to take the game by the scruff of the neck came back to haunt them.
They seized the upper hand with only four minutes gone when Julian Bousquet offloaded to Myler in space, and the scrum-half exchanged passes with Thornley before crossing the whitewash.
Bousquet thought he had his side's second try when he touched down after Jermaine McGillvary failed to collect Luke Walsh's high kick but the effort was chalked of by the video referee for offside.
Huddersfield made full use of the let-off by getting on the board on their next attack, with quick handling along the right allowing Lee Gaskell to exploit a gap in the Catalans defence for a try on his return from injury - although Martyn Ridyard missed the conversion.
The rest of the half was punctuated with several handling errors from both sides, while Huddersfield, in particular, seemed to be sorely missing the suspended Danny Brough's inventive kicking as they struggled for a way through.
Catalans had a second try chalked off after Vincent Duport put his foot into touch before dotting down on the left.
Huddersfield then ended a largely insipid first 40 minutes by levelling matters at 6-6 thanks to Ridyard's penalty, awarded after a high tackle on Alex Mellor.
But it was Mellor's ball steal on Alrix Da Costa that gave Catalans possession which led to their second try. The ball was worked along the left to Thornley, who ignored the support of winger Duport to barge over in the corner.
Walsh missed a difficult conversion but another bomb was spilled by Darnell McIntosh as Catalans went on the offensive again, leading to Greg Bird being held up over the line, with the Australian taking an elbow to the head that required him to wear a head bandage.
Undeterred, Bird then touched down from the superb Walsh's kick but Catalans were once more denied by the video referee due to interference from Myler on Huddersfield stand-off Gaskell.
Having weathered the onslaught from their opponents, Huddersfield then enjoyed a sustained period of pressure and their persistence was rewarded when Rapira barged his way through several defenders to score.
Ridyard put them ahead for the first time after 72 minutes by adding the extras and, seemingly galvanised, Huddersfield took the initiative when O'Brien burrowed his way over from dummy half on their next attack.
Match reaction
Huddersfield coach Rick Stone said: "That's massive for us, absolutely. In the context of the competition it was a pretty important game for us. Every game we play is really important at the moment.
"Catalans are probably tootling around similar to us. We weren't great, I think both teams weren't great. There were six or seven errors from both teams in the first half.
"In the end it was good to see the boys get a win. The game opened up a little bit for us right at the death and we were patient enough and hung in there and stayed close enough to give ourselves a chance, and that was important for us in the end.
"I've spoken to the boys about 'will versus skill' and sometimes the most skillful side wins the game and sometimes the team that wants to win wins the game a little bit more, and that was us today."
Laurent Frayssinous cut a disconsolate figure after Catalans succumbed to their fifth successive defeat.
In a terse press conference, the Catalans coach said: "It is very frustrating, it was an important game for us and we let the win past.
"We let the two points slip and that's disappointing. Our game management in the last 10 minutes was not good, it's as simple as that.
"Last week we were missing 12 players, this week we were missing eight players, and Ben Garcia hurt his calf again so I assume he'll miss a bit more. To turn the luck we need to have some good, fit players on the field."
