Super League round-up: Huddersfield, Hull and Widnes Vikings all win
Huddersfield Giants 28-20 Leeds Rhinos
Huddersfield held their nerve in a gripping derby to claim a 28-20 win over Leeds to climb off the foot of the First Utility Super League.
The lead changed hands six times in a frenetic match before the Giants could finally celebrate only a third win of the season.
The result plunged Salford to the foot of the table following their six-point deduction for a breach of the salary cap but they have the chance to send Leeds bottom if they beat Hull KR on Saturday.
The Rhinos, who received the League Leaders' Shield on their previous visit to the John Smith's Stadium, gave their all in the face of adversity, with no fewer than nine senior players watching from the sidelines.
But the Giants were good value for a win that will put them in good heart for when the two sides meet again in the sixth round of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup at the same venue next Friday.
Hull FC 28-26 Catalans Dragons
Lee Radford and Hull celebrated the coach's new three-year deal by ending Catalans Dragons' seven-game winning run, but only just.
Radford's extension was announced on the morning of this clash and his side continued the form that has led to it by running out 28-26 winners.
The Black and Whites are firmly cemented in the top four as a result and are one of three clubs, Catalans and Wigan the others, to sit two points behind Super League leaders Warrington.
Catalans, for whom Pat Richards became the Super League's fourth highest point scorer by advancing his tally to 2,242, refused to go away and fought to preserve their record, even in the face of a 15-6 penalty count, two team warnings and a sin binning.
Their effort was all the more admirable given the absence of key men Todd Carney and Dave Taylor and they will head home wondering how they lost.
Widnes Vikings 16-18 Wakefield Wildcats
Craig Hall grabbed a last-gasp try, converted by Liam Finn, as Wakefield snatched a dramatic 18-16 victory in an ill-tempered match at Widnes on Friday night.
The Vikings had looked set for their first win in six First Utility Super League games as they led 16-12 in the closing stages, but Hall touched down in the 78th minute and Finn slotted the kick to settle a contest which saw two players sent off and three sin-binned.
Wakefield hooker Scott Moore and Widnes scrum-half Aaron Heremaia were dismissed midway through the first half, with Vikings centre Patrick Ah Van having already been sin-binned and team-mates Lloyd White and Stefan Marsh following suit in the second period.
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