A home win for the London Broncos would not only be their first points of the season but it would also lift them off the bottom of table and above the Castleford Tigers, but the Huddersfield Giants travelled south to the capital with other ideas as they needed to secure a win to keep them in touch with the league’s top sides.
No-one, bookies included, gave the home side a ‘snowball in hell’s chance’ of taking the points, the handicap on the Giants was twenty-six points for those who fancy a flutter.
But London will win a game at some point in 2024, and their fans hoped that this might be the one against a side just four places above them in the early season table.
There were promising signs for the Broncos early in the half as they had plenty of possession and position to attack the Giants line. On ten minutes Oli Leyland chased a grubber kick to the line and knocked on as he went to ground but as Kevin Naiqama had tackled Leyland without the ball the video referee awarded a penalty try. Leyland converted his own try from in front of the sticks for an unexpected 6-0 lead.
An awful mistake from Alex Walker as he slipped while trying to chase down a Tui Lolohea kick to the corner, the ball coming loose and becoming a simple grounding for Jake Bibby. Harvey Livett was well wide with his conversion attempt, the London lead cut to two points with twenty-four minutes on the clock.
Three minutes later the Giants hit the front as Esan Marsters ran the angle through the London defence after taking a delightful soft inside ball, the Huddersfield full-back grounding with ease. Livett hit the post with his conversion attempt the ball rebounding into the field. The visitors lead just two points.
Jacob Jones went close for London after picking up a Ilies Macani grubber, grounding just short of the line. There had been very little to choose between the two sides in the opening half hour.
Four minutes from the interval an acrobatic score from a flying Adam Swift try off a Lolohea miss out pass extended the Giants lead to six points, but Livett flashed his kick across the front of the posts.
Four minutes after the restart the Giants extended the lead when Adam Clune took the pass and stepped out of a couple of feeble tackles to dive over the line. Lolohea added the conversion from wide after taking over the kicking duties.
Lolohea added a fiftieth minute penalty from ten metres out pushed the lead to fourteen points, London now needing three scores to take the lead.
The game was over on the hour mark when a Lolohea pinpoint kick to the line was collected and grounded by Sam Halsall with Lolohea adding the conversion for an unassailable 26-6.
After an even opening half an hour, the quality of the Giants told as they managed to regain their composure and take the game to the Broncos, increasingly dominating the possession and position and denying the home side any options in attack. The Broncos go zero from seven at the start of Super League XXIX, but the Giants get a much needed win and move closer to the big group of sides at the top of the table.
London Broncos: Walker, Kershaw, Storey, Bassett, Macani, Leyland (T, G), Meadows, Kennedy, Davis, Stock, Lovell, Jones, Parata. Subs: Williams, Makin, Butler, Butterworth. 18th Man: Miloudi.
Huddersfield Giants: Marsters (T), Halsall (T), Bibby (T), Naiqama, Swift (T), Lolohea (3G), Clune (T), Yates, Deakin, Wilson, Murchie, Livett, Cudjoe. Subs: Golding, Greenwood, Ikahihifo, Rushton. 18th Man: Russell.
Half-Time: 6-12.
Full-Time: 6-26.
Score Progression: 4-0, 6-0, 6-4, 6-8, 6-12 : HT: 6-16, 6-18, 6-20, 6-24, 6-26 :FT.
Lead Exchanges: London - Huddersfield.
Referee: Tom Grant.
