Huddersfield muscle past sliding Salford to reach summit again

Huddersfield 52 Salford

Huddersfield went back to the top of Super League as their forwards proved far too strong for Salford. The pack accounted for the first seven of the Giants' nine tries, with Dale Ferguson and Shaun Lunt getting two apiece, as they consistently outmuscled the Reds near their try-line.

"There were six or seven tries scored close to the ruck and that was very disappointing," said Salford's caretaker-coach, Phil Veivers.

For Huddersfield, it was the perfect antidote to the defeat by Crusaders on Good Friday and to theories they could lose focus if the uncertainty about Nathan Brown's future continues. His assistant, Paul Anderson, praised the scoring contribution of the pack. "It's good for them, because they do a lot of the things people don't see," he said.

It completed a miserable Easter for Salford, with 112 points conceded in two humbling defeats. With a 60-point thrashing by Warrington in their last game, they had a point to prove and went some way to doing so by leading twice in the first half. Their first try came when Matty Smith and Daniel Holdsworth linked up for Adam Sidlow to muscle his way over. Holdsworth was also responsible for the second, darting past a static defence.

The Giants' two equalisers were uncannily similar, Luke O'Donnell and Lunt both exploiting loose defence. Kevin Brown and David Hodgson then enabled Jamie Cording to race away for his first try for the club. Next, Jermaine McGillvary won Danny Brough's high kick and kept the ball in play for Ferguson to continue his good try-scoring form since his signing from Wakefield.

Despite a morale-boosting try before half-time from Mark Henry, Salford's main failure continued to leak tries in the second half. Ferguson and Lunt got their second, followed by Darrell Griffin bludgeoning his way over, before Brown finally got the backs on the scoreboard.

Stefan Ratchford got a consolation effort before McGillvary took the Giants over the half-century.

Huddersfield Grix; McGillvary, Wardle, Lawrence, Hodgson; Brown, Brough; Raleigh, Lunt, Griffin, Ferguson, Cording, O'Donnell. Substitutes used Crabtree, Faiumu, Wood, Molloy

Salford Patten; Broughton, Ratchford, Gigson, Henry; Smith, Holdsworth; Cashmere, Godwin, Boyle, Adamson, Sidlow, Wild. Substitutes used Jewitt, Paleaaesina, Spencer, Sneyd.

Referee T Alibert (France).