Saints' rally wasn't enough as they went down 16-12 to Huddersfield on Friday night.
Tries from Ben Barba and Luke Thompson saw Justin Holbrook’s men almost erase a 16 point deficit – but the damage had been been done in the first half.
The Giants hit the front in the fifth minute when they shifted the ball left for Darnell McIntosh to dive in the corner.
Danny Brough landed the conversion off the touchline and then added another in the 11th minute when Alex Mellor took a simple pass to score.
Saints followed up with a set on Giants’ line, but they couldn’t take advantage – and the visitors duly turned that defence into attack.
Barba couldn’t take Brough’s high ball and within a blink of an eye McIntosh was over in the corner for his second.
It was a three try salvo that Saints couldn’t recover from – but they did come close.
LMS’ cooly put Jonny Lomax through a gap before the stand-off turned it inside to Barba who made no mistake from distance.
And Saints almost scored again shortly afterwards but Jonny Lomax slipped a micro-second before he would have realised Fages on his way to the sticks.
Next time Saints had the opportunity to score they did – and it came in the 57th minute.
Barba forced a drop out from a chip on the last – and won a penalty after he was dragged into touch.
Luke Thompson then powered over on the charge.
Saints could smell blood but they spurned four sets in a row to get back on level terms.
That defensive effort buoyed the Giants too, and it meant Saints needed a final flourish to try and level matters.
They couldn’t catch a break though and Huddersfield held on.
Match Summary:
Saints:
Tries: Barba, Thompson
Goals: Richardson (2 from 2)
Giants:
Tries: McIntosh (2), Mellor
Goals: Brough (2 from 3)
Penalties Awarded:
Saints: 7
Giants: 4
HT: 6-16
FT: 12-16
REF: S. Mikalauskas
ATT: 8,979
Teams:
Saints:
23. Ben Barba; 2. Tommy Makinson, 30. Matty Costello, 4. Mark Percival, 5. Adam Swift; 1. Jonny Lomax, 18. Danny Richardson; 10. Kyle Amor, 9. James Roby, 16. Luke Thompson, 15. Morgan Knowles, 11. Zeb Taia, 12. Jon Wilkin.
Subs: 6. Theo Fages, 13. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, 14. Luke Douglas, 20. Matty Lees.
Giants:
15. Jordan Rankin; 2. Jermaine McGillvary, 3. Leroy Cudjoe, 4. Jordan Turner, 23. Darnell McIntosh; 6. Lee Gaskell, 7. Danny Brough; 35. Suaia Matagi, 21. Adam O’Brien, 17. Ukuma Taíai, 22. Alex Mellor, 16. Oliver Roberts, 14. Dale Ferguson.
Subs: 13. Ryan Hinchcliffe, 18. Paul Clough, 25. Colton Roche, 27. Matty English.
S1: Saints v Giants
Match Gallery (Bernard Platt)
