Saturday 18 June 2016 09:59, UK
Caretaker coach Andy Kelly saluted Huddersfield's character after they ended an emotional week with a 31-30 victory at Salford.
Kelly, in temporary charge after the sacking of Paul Anderson, had to motivate his side after the tragic death of Academy player Ronan Costello following an injury in a junior match against Salford last week.
Kelly admitted: "It was the hardest week in sport I've ever had in my life. But this was a big collective effort and we came together.
"I tried to steer the first team away from the emotion this week but obviously they were very aware and emotion did play a part.
"The fans know the situation and when we were under the cosh they came out burning."
Huddersfield had to survive a rousing Salford late rally to seal their first win in four games.
Salford went ahead with an early Craig Kopczak try but Huddersfield led 16-12 at the break thanks to touchdowns from Jake Connor, Ukuma Ta'ai and Leroy Cudjoe, his 100th for the club.
Daniel Vidot went over for Salford's second try just before half-time.
Huddersfield looked set for a comfortable win when they led 31-18 thanks to tries from Eorl Crabtree and Joe Wardle with Danny Brough dropping what eventually proved to be a match-winning one pointer.
But Salford rallied with Josh Jones bagging his second try and Vidot completing his brace to set up a cliffhanging finale but the Giants held on.
Kelly added: "I'm hoping this win takes away some of the anxiety and apprehension.
"The players know their job but have failed to do it. Now we need consistency and can't sit back."
Kelly paid tribute to new Aussie forward Tom Symonds and added: "Tom landed here in a very turbulent week but had a great debut. Defensively he is very astute."
There were no complaints from Salford coach Ian Watson who said: "We didn't turn up and need to be bigger and better than that.
"We didn't really deserve to get back that close and the performance was way beyond what we set.
"We are not a group who caves in but the players are really disappointed with this result.
"We didn't start well and they grew a leg. They've had a tough week with a lot of distractions but if we play like that the top eight has definitely gone."
