SL Report: Huddersfield stun former coach Brown

Huddersfield stunned St Helens to give their former coach Nathan Brown a nightmare start to his rein at Langtree Park.

The Giants, now under Brown’s old number two Paul Anderson, bullied the hosts from the start, and never looked back after taking a third minute lead through Jermaine McGillvary.

Danny Brough‘s kicking game caused Saints all sorts of problems in the first half, and by 15 minutes they were 14-0 down. Brett Ferres‘ converted try followed by a Brough penalty.

Huddersfield continued to put their opponents under pressure and move the ball well, and Leroy Cudjoe‘s try on the half hour mark seemingly put the game beyond Saints even at that early stage.

Brough tagged a penalty over on the hooter, to send his team in 22-0 up at the break.

And Brough was instrumental in the first score of the second half, as Huddersfield carried on where they left off before the break, his long pass enabling Luke George to walk in for try number four.

Even on their compromised plays, Huddersfield were causing St Helens problems, and their fifth try came when a kick was hacked on, and as Saints failed to deal with it, Lance Hohaia‘s attempt to punch the ball dead resulted in it landing in front of Larne Patrick for him to touch down.

The pain wasn’t over for the shell-shocked home fans, hooker Shaun Lunt marking his first Super League appearance back in Giants colours by breaking through the line from a scrum for a try, and then Cudjoe got his second of the game with seven minutes left.

Saints at least avoided being nilled at home for the first time in Super League history, Mark Flanagan sparing their blushes with a late try.