Duffy’s delight as Lions slay Giants
COACH PAYS TRIBUTE TO MEDICAL STAFF AND PLAYERS AFTER CHALLENGE CUP WIN
JOHN Duffy paid huge tribute to his players and medical staff after his injury-riddled Swinton Lions became the second Championship side to knock Super League opposition out of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup this weekend.
Less than 24 hours after Hull KR beat Leigh, Duffy’s Championship strugglers, just a place above the relegation zone, came from behind three times to defeat Huddersfield Giants 28-24.
Duffy could argue that Swinton’s success was even more impressive than Hull KR’s, because of their injury issues.
He said: “We only had 15 fit players yesterday. It was a massive achievement for the club but everything goes on the players and the medical staff today – nothing to do with the coaching staff.
“I’d like to thank our medical staff for doing a great job over the last couple of weeks. They have turned it around for us and the boys really dug deep. We had three new faces – two young lads on loan from Wigan Warriors (Josh Woods and Caine Barnes), who I thought were outstanding, plus Liam Carberry (out of contract) who has not played for five or six months.
“We’ve not been able to train properly through sore bodies and having two games in four days last week. But we came up with a simple plan and stuck to it and ended up grinding out a good win.”
Aaron Murphy gave the Giants an ideal start with a converted try after only seven minutes but the Lions hit back through scores from Shaun Robinson and Rhodri Lloyd to lead 10-6.
Sam Wood and Darnell McIntosh then crossed to put the home side into a seemingly comfortable 18-10 advantage.
However, further Swinton tries from Michael Butt and Connor Dwyer, either side of the break, gave Swinton the first sniff of a shock victory. And despite Oliver Roberts helping restore Huddersfield’s advantage in the 66th minute, the lower league side refused to be denied.
Luke Waterworth grabbed the decisive try five minutes from time, which Chris Hankinson converted to add to Chris Atkin’s earlier three goals.
Izaac Farrell, one of three players making their competitive debut for the home side, successfully kicked four out of four goals for the Giants but it was not enough to prevent their cup exit.