Giants find life tough going in big league

Huddersfield 8 Warrington

Warrington last night showed newly promoted Huddersfield what they already knew about the Super League – that points are going to be far more difficult to accumulate than they were last season.

With games against Wigan, Leeds and St Helens coming up, Huddersfield would have hoped to get something out of a match against one of the league's perennial strugglers, and they may have done if not for some lapses in discipline.

In a bright opening Warrington took the lead after eight minutes when Michael Wainwright and Ben Westwood both got unlikely passes away on the last tackle for the team's new Australian Brent Grose to score. Lee Briers landed the difficult conversion.

It would have been worse for Huddersfield soon after if Ben Cooper had not denied Graham Appo a try at the end of a 90-yard run by holding him up over the line. Warrington did claim another two points, however, from a Briers penalty after Darren Fleary went in high on Sid Domick.

Appo then went desperately close again, this time having a try disallowed for a double movement.

It was still end-to-end stuff with Hefin O'Hare having one ruled out for Huddersfield because of a forward pass. After so many near tries, the next point came from another Briers penalty when Steve McNamara was punished for stealing the ball.

Before half-time, however, Grose struck again when he picked off Stanley Gene's suicidal looping pass inside his own 20 to run in for a converted try that gave the Wolves a comfortable lead.

The second half saw the Welsh winger Grose finally get his reward when he latched on to Brandon Costin's kick for the Giants' first points.

A missed conversion and another penalty from Briers kept Warrington well clear and, when Fleary was sin-binned for going high and late on Briers, it seemed that the Wolves would pull away.

They squandered their one man advantage, however, when another immaculate kick from Costin sent Marcus St Hilaire over.

A late comeback from the Giants was now a possibility until Cooper got himself sin-binned for lying all over Appo and Briers kicked his sixth goal.

Huddersfield: Cooper, O'Hare, Callend, Bailey, St Hilaire, Gene, Costin, Slicker, Turner, Fleary, Gannon, O'Doherty, McNamara. Subs used: Whitaker, March, Colella, Crabtree.

Warrington: Appo, Smyth, Sibbt, Westwood, Grose, Briers, N Wood, Fozzard, Clarke, Hilton, Burns, Wainwright, Domic. Subs used: Noone, P Wood, Gleeson, Guisset.

Referee: R Smith (Castleford).