Rugby

The Huddersfield Giants consolidated their position at the top of the Stobart Super League with a hard-fought 20-6 victory over Bradford Bulls at a rain-drenched Odsal.

The Giants overcame both the abysmal conditions and being reduced to 12 men for 10 minutes in the second half to record their fourth straight league win and stay two points clear of Wigan Warriors.

The Bulls, who themselves had won four of their last six matches, battled hard but were eventually overpowered by the league leaders, for whom Danny Brough had an exceptional game.

The stand-off continually pegged Bradford back with a succession of fine positional kicks and finished with 12 of the Giants’ 20 points through a try and four well-taken goals.

In what was always likely to be a dour arm-wrestle in awful conditions, referee Thierry Alibert awarded an early penalty on the advice of his touchjudge, and Danny Addy stepped up to give Bulls a two-point lead from just to the right of the posts.

But the hosts’ advantage was shortlived and Huddersfield hit back when Brough shimmied into space from midfield and placed a perfectly-weighted kick for Jermaine McGillvary to race on to and score.

Brough failed with the touchline conversion but Larne Patrick went close to extending the league leaders’ lead after John Bateman spilled the slippery ball near his own line.

Having absorbed an increasing amount of pressure, the Bulls were finally allowed to clear their lines after the Giants conceded a penalty on the last tackle still deep in Bradford territory.

The Bulls took full advantage and, after winger-cum-fullback Sean Ainscough offloaded as he was tackled near the line, Michael Platt found himself with enough room to squeeze in at the corner.

Again the touchline conversion was wayward and Huddersfield responded swiftly with stand-in fullback Aaron Murphy setting prolific wingman Luke George free deep in his own half.

The Giants’ leading scorer then raced over 70 metres for his 13th try of the season.

Brough made it 12-6 when Bradford were penalised for holding down four minutes after the interval and the Giants then camped in the opposition's half of the ever-increasing quagmire.

Twice the home side were forced to restart from beneath their own posts before Brough took the opportunity to push his side further ahead with another penalty from 40 metres out.

Tempers flared in the mud just after the hour when a mass brawl broke out and the Giants were reduced to 12 men as Luke O’Donnell was sin-binned for his part in the melee.

But Huddersfield maintained their composure and kept their line in tact until they were restored to a full complement of 13.

Brough sealed the win with barely four minutes to play when charging over from a Luke Robinson pass and then converting his own try.