Champions Saints just too good for Giants
9-1 Waited with in last pair, good headway out wide chasing leaders, led travelling well before 2 out, almost joined when hit last, ridden and strongly pressed run-in, headed last strides, 2nd of 8, hd behind Rockadenn at Taunton 2m hcp hdl (2) hvy in Feb.
33-1 Prominent, front pair went clear 2nd, went 2nd 4 out, led before 3 out, headed 2 out, no extra inside final 150 yards, 6th of 15, 13l behind Thyme Hill at Aintree 3m 1f hdl G1 (1) gs. 100-1 Chased leaders, went 2nd before 7th until 2 out, weakened quickly between last 2, 8th of 15, 28l behind Flooring Porter at Cheltenham 3m hdl G1 (1) gs in Mar.
80-1 Held up towards rear, hampered 6th, headway after 4 out, every chance 3 out, led 2 out, soon headed, held last, stayed on same pace, 5th of 15, 11l behind Thyme Hill at Aintree 3m 1f hdl G1 (1) gs. 28-1 Towards rear, switched right before 2 out, stayed on flat, never nearer, 7th of 15, 14l behind Thyme Hill at Aintree 3m 1f hdl G1 (1) gs. 4-1 Virtually made all, big jump last under pressure, tired on the run-in and faced strong challenge, just held on, gamely, won at Carlisle 3m 1f hcp hdl (2) sft in Dec beating Ask Dillon by hd, 7 ran.
(14) D Skelton 7 11-12 (D)... Bridget Andrews
(49) E Lavelle 7 11-11 (BF, D) ................ T Bellamy
(35) N Henderson 7 11-10 (BF, D) ....... N De Boinville
(8) D Skelton 8 11-7 (BF, D) .............. H Skelton
(19) P Nicholls 7 11-5 .............................. L Williams (3)
(42) V Williams 6 11-4 (CD) .............................. C Deutsch
(15) N Henderson 8 11-2 (D) ................ J Bowen (42)NGifford611-0(BF,C) ............... NFHoulihan(5)
(19)NGifford810-10 .................... JMDavies
(12) G L Moore 8 10-5 ................. Joshua Moore BETTING: 3 Farinet, 7-2 Killer Clown, 5 Not That Fuisse, 7 Belargus, 8 Falco Blitz, 10 Fairway Freddy, 12 Ashutor, 14 Iconic Muddle, 20 Others.
13-2 Stumbled badly 1st, chased leader until 5th, remained handy, went 2nd again at 13th, led before 3 out, pushed along and joined next, headed last, rallied gamely to lead again inside final 150 yards, won at Sandown 2m 4f (1) sft in Mar beating Up The Straight by 7l, 9 ran.
4-1fav Chased leaders, hung left run-in, driven and went 2nd 100 yards out, 2nd of 14, 1l behind Umbrigado at Newbury 2m 4f hcp chs G3 (1) gd in
Mar. 15-8fav Held up in rear, closed from 12th, jumped right and hit 2 out, jumped right last, stayed on, went 2nd towards finish, 2nd of 6, nk behind Nietzsche at Ayr 2m 4f lstd hcp chs (1) gd. 11-4fav Hampered 1st, held up in mid-division, closer at 9th, fell 12th, in a race won by Farinet at Sandown 2m 4f (1) sft in Mar, 9 ran. 3-1fav Jumped left, tracked leading pair on inside until went left and lost place 6th, rallied on outside 11th, close 3rd 4 out, 2nd before next, led and went left 3 out, went left again next, headed between last 2, weakened before the last, 4th of 9, 18l behind Domaine De L’Isle at Kempton 2m 4f hcp chs 0-140 (3) gd in Mar.
GIANTS ST HELENS 10 18
HUDDERSFIELD Giants are still looking for their first Super League win of the season - but showed they are heading in the right direction with a battling display against champions St Helens.
Saints notched their fourth victory in a row this season thanks to tries from Theo Fages, Mark Percival and Jonny Lomax.
But, having gone in at half-time 12-0 down, Ian Watson’s men outscored the visitors in the second half at the John Smith’s Stadium.
Lee Gaskell started at full-back for Giants as part of a rejig in the backline that saw Sam Wood moved to centre along with Chris McQueen, as Jake Wardle and Leroy Cudjoe were unavailable through injury.
St Helens made a change in their own backline, with winger Tommy Makinson sidelined by a foot complaint and Kevin Naiqama starting in his place on the right flank, while Jack Welsby was in the centres alongside the returning Percival.
Saints took the lead after just four minutes through half-back Fages.
Lachlan Coote’s bomb was taken in the air by Welsby and his brilliant one-handed offload was snapped up by Fages to score. Coote added the extras.
The Giants went close to fashioning a response soon after, but several errors let them down.
St Helens had all the field position in the opening stages, but the home team’s defence kept them at bay.
In the 29th minute, play was stopped when Huddersfield hooker Adam O’Brien needed treatment for a head knock, with James Cunningham
returning to take his place. In the next set Saints went close to scoring from Fages’ grubber kick, but Matty English was on hand to clear the danger.
With nine minutes left in the half, Kyle Amor was held up over the line after he burrowed over from Fages’ pass. St Helens continued their push for a second try, but Huddersfield’s line remained firm.
In the 36th minute, a smart kick from Percival forced a goal-line drop-out and the pressure finally paid off when the centre exploited an overlap on the right in the next set to cross untouched. Coote nailed the conversion.
The Giants started the second half brightly when Jack Cogger landed a 40-20. Soon after, McQueen dived over from Aidan Sezer’s pass to put Huddersfield on the scoreboard and back in the contest.
Sezer missed the conversion, however, leaving Saints 12-4 ahead.
Attacking opportunities were rare, with defence dominating the match, but in the 62nd minute a smart dummy-half run from substitute Lewis Dodd set up Lomax for a try.
Coote added the extras to give the visitors to an 18-4 lead.
Jermaine McGillvary then gave the Giants hope when he scored with nine minutes left on the clock, touching down off Cogger’s pass to make it 18-8. Sezer slotted his kick from the sideline to cut the buffer to 10 points.
Huddersfield battled hard in the final stages but it was not enough, as St Helens held off a late charge from the home side to maintain their unbeaten record and remain top of the table.