Huddersfield 20-6 Warrington: Giants victorious over Wolves
By Press Association Sport
Last Updated: 09/02/18 9:11am
Huddersfield secured their first win of the season with a 20-6 victory over Warrington at the John Smith's Stadium.
After losing to Leeds last week, the Wolves' wait for a win under new coach Steve Price goes on.
Tom Lineham gave them an early lead but quickfire scores from Dale Ferguson and Darnell McIntosh put the Giants ahead, with Danny Brough and Bryson Goodwin trading penalties as the hosts led 14-6 in a tight first 40 minutes.
The scoreboard remained untouched until the 63-minute mark as Jordan Turner dived onto a Matthew Russell mistake for the sole score of the second half in a match affected by the adverse weather.
Warrington looked good early, as a Lee Gaskell kick ricocheted into the arms of Ben Currie before handing off to Goodwin, only to be halted by a great recovery tackle from Brough.
However, Warrington created a four-man overlap on the left edge where an inch-perfect chip from Ratchford was collected by a diving Lineham, whose momentum on the greasy surface slid him into the in-goal area for the first try of the match after five minutes.
The wet conditions limited both sides from passing the ball around, but Huddersfield managed to hit back nine minutes later when they worked their way to the Warrington line and a short pass from Brough found Ferguson who crossed.
Huddersfield soon extended their lead after a cross-field kick by Jordan Rankin was kept alive by Turner, before a grubber kick by Jake Mamo was not dealt with by two Warrington defenders allowing McIntosh to nip in.
Price's side were inches from reducing the gap as Declan Patton looked to lay on a replica of Lineham's first score with another weighted kick to the left edge, but the winger could not hold onto the ball with the line at his mercy.
Former Scotland captain Brough improved the Giants' advantage to 10 points with a routine penalty and the hosts thought they had crossed once more when Mamo sliced through the Warrington defence, but it was chalked off for obstruction before Goodwin reduced the deficit on the half-time hooter to 14-6.
The visitors began the second half on the front foot as they pinned Huddersfield in their own half with successive goal-line drop-outs and penalties but the home defence continued to hold firm.
A half-break from Goodwin led Warrington back into the Giants half but a stray pass from Kevin Brown found the touchline with two men free on the left wing, before another drop-out came to nothing as the second half remained scoreless until 63 minutes.
Warrington prop Michael Cooper was put on report for an alleged kick while in possession, and the hosts capitalised on the infringement when a short kick from Brough was pounced on by Turner after Russell failed to collect.
The Huddersfield half-back added the conversion from the touchline to improve their lead to 14 points with 17 minutes remaining and that was how it stayed.