Barron sparks Hull FC late show to win at Giants

Betfred Super League

Huddersfield (10) 10

Gagai’s attempts, Flanagan’s

Hull FC (4) 11

Hull FC won the game’s dramatic comeback against the Huddersfield Giants thanks to Harvey Barron’s 90-metre interception try.

The 21-year-old put an end to a risky Giants attack by grabbing Tui Lolohea’s pass and running to the other end, with Aidan Sezer converting and adding a drop-goal to win.

After Lewis Martin had given the Black and Whites an early lead, Jacob Gagai and Adam Swift scored tries to give the home side a lead at half-time that made it seem like they were on the verge of their first Super League title.

Giants appeared to be on top of their lead, but Hull resisted, attacked well, and struck in the final fifteen minutes to extend their lead.

Both teams needed a victory, with Huddersfield losing both of their opening games of the season and Hull having been brought back to life by their home defeat by champions Wigan Warriors last week.

Sezer, the try’s architect, was drawn first by the visitors. With a 40-20 lead, the former Wests Tigers scrum half’s floated pass finding Martin on the left found him as Hull hardpressed his team.

When he rolled over the line in a tackle, he appeared to lose control, only for video referee Aaron Moore to decide that Martin had retained fingertip control. Referee Tom Grant declared “no try” on the field.

The Giants responded in some style despite the home fans’ disapproval of the outcome. Before sending the ball to Gagai, who had just signed from South Sydney, Hewitt quickly accelerated through a gap in the Hull defense and drew the cover.

After that, Giants took advantage of the situation when Lolohea’s sharp pass over the top found Swift and gave him an acrobatic finish in the corner against his former club.

As Huddersfield attempted to show their superiority to Sezer, Oliver Wilson fumbled the ball over the line after his questionable tackle had caused the match to end in a draw due to two Lolohea errors.

The Tonga international had started the match, but Barron was waiting for him as he attempted to convert from his first-half loop pass to Swift, making the conversion simple for Sezer.

Luke Robinson, the coach of the Huddersfield Giants, told BBC Radio Leeds:

“We won the game pretty much in every way possible. We controlled where we turned the ball over, and for the majority of the first half, we were very good with the ball.

Instead of winning, it seems like we have lost it. We never appeared to be threatened defensively, so they didn’t appear to be scoring.

If I’m being honest, I don’t even know how they did that first try. The ref made a somewhat shady choice. I don’t know if there was any downward pressure involved, but my guess was that he was simply scraping it.

I’m a record breaker, I say. They did themselves proud of the defensive effort, but we were a little bit stupid in game management as well.

John Cartwright, the coach of Hull FC, told BBC Radio Humberside:

To come from behind was pleasing because I knew it would be difficult to come and play against a determined side that likely smelled a win themselves, and the way they did it was probably the most enjoyable.

“The two wingers (Lewis Martin and Harvey Barron) are doing a fantastic job for us,” said Barron. They consistently improve their work rate and, defensively, they consistently improve.

We started out in good positions for the first 20 minutes, but some high tackles and errors caused them to regain control, the crowd rallied behind them, some wise decisions were made, and we had to work really hard.

Changes: Golding, Rogers, Billington, Burgess.

Moy, Martin, Rapana, Briscoe, Barron, Cust, Sezer, Ese ‘ese, Bourouh, Aydin, Chamberlain, Lane, Asiata, and Martin are Hull FC players.

Interchanges: Salabio, Balmforth, Fash, and Ashworth