Leeds twice blew a double-figure lead as Huddersfield hit back to claim a spectacular 30-24 Betfred Super League win at Headingley.
Adam Clune burst across the halfway line in the dying stages to put the seal on a dramatic win that piles the pressure on Leeds head coach Rohan Smith after the Rhinos’ fourth home loss in a row.
The hosts led 12-2 after a forgettable first half but spectacularly combusted after the break and handed the Giants the chance to build on last week’s brilliant Challenge Cup quarter-final win at Catalans Dragons.
Tries from Paul Momirovski and the returning David Fusitu’a had given the Rhinos a sizeable lead after a relatively serene first period in which Jake Connor kicked the Giants’ only points, and which offered no indication of the drama to follow.
It was a different story early in the second half as Leeds lost then duly retrieved their double-figure lead before the hour-mark.
Out of nowhere, Esan Marsters shrugged off three feeble challenges on the Leeds left to grab Huddersfield’s opener, then three minutes later, Adam Swift pummelled the same flank to set up a diving effort in the corner from Elliot Wallis to improbably haul Huddersfield level.
Only a poor night with the boot by Jake Connor – who would nail just one of his six conversions – prevented Huddersfield gaining a stranglehold and the Rhinos were quick to respond, Momirovski crossing for his second of night then Jarrod O’Connor charging through a flat-footed Giants rearguard to put them back in control.
Rhyse Martin’s fourth straight kick look Leeds 12 points clear but home hopes that they had learned their lesson were spectacularly disproved as more shocking defence allowed Swift to squirm over from dummy-half and keep his side in with a shout, eight adrift with 15 minutes remaining.
Incredibly within three minutes Huddersfield did it again as Swift was again allowed to make inroads before feeding Harvey Livett for his side’s fourth, cutting the Leeds lead to four.
Huddersfield were level in the 70th minute, Clune’s ball to the right was brilliantly touched on by Connor for Kevin Naiqama to surge over, but Connor’s problems with the boot continued as another missed kick left the game all-square at 24-24.
As Leeds collapsed, Miller was pushed almost 10 metres over his own try-line and his subsequent drop-out failed to go 10 metres, giving Connor the simplest of chances to send Huddersfield two points clear from in front of the posts.
Clune put the seal on a remarkable evening when Naiqama intercepted a pass from Cameron Smith and survived shouts for a knock-on as he juggled the ball out to his team-mate to finish the job.
Calabar High and Cedar Grove Academy crowned Rugby League U14 and U16 champions
Rugby League Jamaica concluded its U14 and U16 High School 13-a-side Championships on Friday, April 26, at Campion College. In U14 action, five-time defending champions Calabar High faced off against BB Coke High, whilst in U16, Calabar battled last year’s beaten finalist, Cedar Grove Academy, for top honours.
In the U14s, Calabar overcame a spirited BB Coke outfit 8-4, to grab their sixth consecutive hold on the trophy. Jahir Brown scored both tries for the winners, whilst Tyrell Scott got the consolidation try for BB Coke.
Cedar Grove then won their maiden U16 title with a clinical defensive display, holding off Calabar 14-2. Elvis Simms led the victors with eight points from two tries with support from Steven Constantine with a try while Nathan Brown kicked a goal for two points. Derone Plummer kicked a goal to give Calabar their only points.
Commenting on his team’s performance in both finals, Oshane Edie, head coach of Calabar said, “Our U14s are a new young group who just started playing, it’s a great result to get the win and bodes well for the future. Throughout the season Devontae Molar and Amore Anderson were good for us, their exceptional play along with their teammates gave us the victory. As for our U16s, they had a good season, but I think we were a bit overconfident in the finals and paid the price. Overall, the rugby league programme at Calabar remains strong and is looking good for the future.”
Cedar Grove’s winning coach Antonio Baker attributed victory to hard work stating, “Winning the U16 crown is a culmination of years of work that has finally paid off. We’ve been close on several occasions before, including past year, when we were beaten finalists, but this season our focus was spot on, and we are happy for the school.”
In other action on the day, Kingston College snatched 3rd place over Campion College 6-4. Armani Burnette with the try for the winners and Donnoy Harris kicking a goal. Meanwhile, Josah Bennett bagged Campion’s lone try.
In Girls action, BB Coke won the final 9-a-side tournament of the school year, Grove Academy 16-8 and 16-4 in a best of three clash.
-
Huddersfield boss Andre Breitenreiter refusing to give up fight for survival
Huddersfield manager Andre Breitenreiter insists his side have to continue believing they can beat the drop from the Championship, despite a 4-0 defeat at home to Swansea leaving them two points from safety with just two matches left to play.
Second-half goals from Jamal Lowe, Ronald, Jerry Yates and Liam Walsh condemned the Terriers to a fifth loss in their last 10 outings – a run which includes just one win.
Huddersfield’s penultimate game of the season sees them welcome Birmingham – the team currently directly above them in the league table – to the John Smith’s Stadium in what is likely to be a decisive encounter in the battle against relegation.
And Breitenreiter is refusing to give up hope that they can retain their Championship status.
“We have to stay in the league, but it’s a hard fight,” he said.
“We need the people around the team, we need one group on the pitch, and when it’s not like this, you’ll never have a chance to stay in the league.
“Teams will go down when they’re not together. This is the truth in every country.
“So we have to stay together and yes there’s frustration – that’s totally clear today – but it’s done from Monday and then we have to prepare and to think positive.
“It’s hard maybe to say, but we have to believe that it’s possible.
“We have to come to the stadium next week and to give everything for the three points, because then we’d be one point above Birmingham.”
Although the four goals came from the 73rd minute onwards, Breitenreiter was disappointed with his team’s performance from the outset as they failed to register a shot on target all game.
“We didn’t start the game good and we knew about the quality and ball possession of Swansea, their identity,” the German added.
“But the distances from the defenders to the strikers were not very good – it was a bit too big.
“We didn’t press as a team, individual players didn’t execute the plan we’d discussed before.
“We weren’t near to 100 per cent as a group – we have to speak honest about this – and it wasn’t good enough.”
Swansea boss Luke Williams was thrilled with his side’s display as they made it three wins on the bounce without conceding a goal.
“I think it was a very tough game because Huddersfield have such clear motivation for the game, and I thought they approached it really well,” he said.
“And I’ve worked with at least three of the players in the squad and I know they have a lot of quality.
“But I think when we made the breakthrough, of course, they have to try to get back on terms and then it leaves more space at the back of the pitch.
“That’s the moment that you have to try to capitalise and I think we’ve been guilty at times of scoring and then trying to protect the lead.
“We had this probably earlier on in the season. We had a big problem with conceding a goal not long after we’d scored the first one, so we’ve improved from that and today we were ruthless.”
Lowe, Yates and Walsh all scored from the bench, something which was particularly pleasing for Williams.
“Everyone’s there fighting for everything, and then you make changes and those guys affect the game in a really positive way,” he added.
“When you get that as the head coach, you’re very fortunate.”
Huddersfield on the brink of relegation after Swansea thrashing
Huddersfield remain in the Championship relegation zone with just two games left to play after suffering an extremely damaging 4-0 defeat at home to in-form Swansea.
Second-half goals from Jamal Lowe, Ronald, Jerry Yates and Liam Walsh secured a third consecutive win for the Swans, and leaves the Terriers in the bottom three.
Their penultimate game of the season sees them welcome Birmingham – the team directly above them in the league table – to the John Smith’s Stadium in what is likely to be a decisive encounter in the battle against the drop.
Swansea manager Luke Williams named an unchanged side from the recent home wins over Stoke and Rotherham.
And they came closest to opening the scoring in a fairly uneventful first-half, with Jay Fulton’s low driven shot in the 28th minute well saved by Lee Nicholls and put behind for a corner that came to nothing.
There was also a brilliant chance for team-mate Liam Cullen just before half-time, but he sent a free header wide from Josh Tymon’s cross.
Huddersfield, who were also unchanged from the team that started the 1-1 draw away at Bristol City last time out, registered a couple of attempts before the break but Josh Koroma and Jack Rudoni were able to hit the target.
Cullen again threatened to put the visitors ahead early in the second-half as his left-footed shot from the edge of the box clipped the right-hand post.
Down at the other end, Delano Burgzorg pounced on a loose back-pass from Ben Cabango and rounded onrushing goalkeeper Carl Rushworth, but his shot was blocked and Swansea managed to avert the danger.
Both sides made three substitutions shortly after the hour mark in an attempt to find the breakthrough.
And Huddersfield should have gone ahead in the 69th minute, when Koroma blazed his effort over the crossbar after the ball fell kindly for him inside the area.
It proved to be a very costly miss as four minutes later, Swansea substitute Lowe – who had been on the pitch for less than 10 minutes – found the bottom corner from the left of the box after latching onto Jamie Paterson’s pass.
The hosts thought they had equalised in the 80th minute as substitute Danny Ward’s effort hit the inside of the right-hand post and the ball flew straight back across the line and out for a goal kick.
They were punished again for their profligacy in the closing stages, with Brazilian Ronald finishing into an empty net after Tymon drove forward and laid it on for him perfectly.
Extra gloss was added by substitutes Yates and Walsh in stoppage time, with the former tapping in from close range and the latter looping a shot from distance beyond the reach of Nicholls.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
