Sunday 3 August 2014 18:48, UK
Huddersfield coach Paul Anderson hailed a 'near perfect' first half display after his side won 36-18 at Wakefield.
Former England hooker Shaun Lunt demonstrated his value to the visitors with an impressive return from a calf injury, scoring one try and setting up two others in his first match for two months.
The Giants looked a well-oiled machine from the kick-off, which Wakefield's Jarrod Sammut put straight into touch, and tries from Joe Wardle, Eorl Crabtree, Lunt, Craig Kopczak, Kruise Leeming and Jermaine McGillvary put the game beyond their hosts by the break, leading 32-0 by half-time.
Anderson - who was forced to make late changes after losing winger Jodie Broughton and prop Antonio Kaufusi with injuries sustained in training - said: "I thought for 40 minutes were were near perfect.
"But I've just told the players if we want to be serious Championship contenders, we have got to put together 80 minutes like the first 40.
"Overall it's a win and we've taken advantage of some of the results over the weekend. It keeps the pressure on the clubs above us.
"To come up with the performance we did, especially with the injuries we've had, will give us some good momentum for the last few weeks."
The Huddersfield coach also hailed Lunt's impact. "He's a good player and we miss him when he's not there," said Anderson. "Wigan miss (Michael) McIlorum and Saints miss (James) Roby but you have to get through it.
"It's the first time for a long time that we've had our first-choice one, seven, six and nine."
While Huddersfield's win keeps them in touch with St Helens and Leeds, who both suffered surprise defeats on Friday night, Wakefield's first home defeat under coach James Webster seriously damages their play-off hopes as they trail eighth-placed Widnes by four points with four games to play.
"They blew us away," admitted Webster. "They were bigger, faster, stronger and put us under lots of pressure.
"It's no secret that our Achilles heel over the last three years has been when we can't handle a big, fast, strong team and we couldn't today.
"Physicality is a big part of rugby league and we were caught short again today. Huddersfield are a massive team and it took us 40 minutes to adapt to it today.
"I thought they were near perfect in the first half and, when you're playing tough and strong you deserve the breaks.
"When we started to compete physically we got some penalties and all of a sudden we had some field position but it took us 31 minutes to have a set on their line."
