Huddersfield Giants withstood a late fightback from St Helens at the John Smith Stadium to hold on to a 25-16 win.

The home side raced into an 18-0 lead through Aaron Murphy, Joe Wardle and Dale Ferguson, and had a number of tries disallowed as they looked to put the game to bed at half time.

But Jon Wilkin put the Saints on the board before half time to give his side a fighting chance in the second half.

Huddersfield’s lead was extended by man of the match Danny Brough who kicked a drop goal and Joe Wardle went over for his second try shortly after.

Saints comeback proved too little too late despite scores from Josh Jones and Jordan Turner but it gave the Giants fans a nervy finish as they managed their first double over St Helens in the Super League.

Huddersfield raced into the lead as Murphy opened the scoring when the home side made the most of an overlap on the left-hand side. Brough’s conversion was pulled wide leaving the Giants ahead on four points.

Wardle doubled the home side’s lead and scored the first of his two tries after receiving the benefit of the doubt from the video referee. The centre managed to touch down a loose ball forcing referee Richard Silverwood to send the decision to the video referee.

Eorl Crabtree thought he had a try of his own shortly after but the score was denied by the video referee. The Giants were instead given a penalty for a ball steal and Brough kicked the goal to put the Giants 12-0 ahead.

Brough created the opening for his side’s third try of the night after breaking down the left-hand side and playing in Ferguson who was left with the easiest of finishes. Brough converted giving his side an 18-0 lead.

Wilkin managed to ease the pressure on St Helens before the end of the first half with a try. The loose forward managed to squeeze through a gap and stretch to put the ball down over the line, giving his side a much-needed boost.

The home side almost restored their 18-point lead after Murphy looked to have scored, but the try was disallowed by the video referee after Ade Gardner was victim to a bad high tackle. Gardner required a lengthy amount of treatment on the pitch before being stretchered off.

Huddersfield almost scored with their first possession of the second half through Lunt. Saints’ kick-off was too deep giving the Giants a penalty on half way, and after working their way into the St Helens half Shaun Lunt’s dive at the line was too short as the hooker knocked-on.

The Giants were handed the ball back shortly after when Thompson knocked on, and after attempting to break through the Saints’ defence Brough decided to kick a drop-goal to give his side a 13 point lead.

After withstanding a number of attempts on their line the Giants went to the other end of the field to score. Josh Jones’ pass was forced out by strong defence and at the other end of the field Brough was the orchestrator as he ran across the Saints line before delaying a pass to Wardle who went through a huge gap to score.

For all their possession Saints were struggling to break through Huddersfield’s line until Jones managed to score on the left-hand side. The Saints played the ball around before creating space for Jones who managed to evade an attempted tackle by Leroy Cudjoe for the try. Gareth O’Brien missed the conversion attempt leaving Saints with 15 points to find with 12 minutes remaining.

The Saints closed the gap even further with their next attacking set through Turner. Luke Robinson gave away a penalty for holding Meli down giving the Saints field position. Roby ran at the line from 20 metres out and played Turner through a gap who sidestepped Scott Grix’s tackle to score between the posts.

Jones was close to going over for a second try but an offload from Tony Puletua was ruled as forward as Jones had the line at his mercy.

The Giants managed to hold on for the win, cementing their second place in the table on 24 points, leaving Saints in ninth place in the Super League, just outside the playoff positions, on 15 points.

Huddersfield: Grix, McGillbary, Cudjoe, Wardle, Murphy; Brough, Robinson; Crabtree, Lunt, Kopczak, Ferres, Ta’ai, Ferguson
Replacements: Lawrence, Patrick, Mullally, Dwyer

T: Murphy, Wardle 2, Ferguson
G: Brough 4/5
DG: Brough

St Helens: Wellens, Gardner, Percival, Jones, Meli; Turner, O’Brien; McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Hohaia, Puletua, Soliola, Manu, Wilkin
Replacements: Roby, Clough, Walmsley, Thompson

T: Wilkin, Jones, Turner
G: O’Brien 2/3

Half Time: 18-6
Full Time: 25-16

RLFANS Man of the Match: Danny Brough

Referee: Richard Silverwood