Huddersfield Giants recorded a fourth straight win as they saw off Salford Red Devils 24-16 in front of their new coach Simon Woolford.
The Australian, formerly assistant coach at Newcastle Knights, would have been greatly encouraged as the Giants dug deep and moved above their opponents into the Betfred Super League top eight.
Salford made a bright start with an early try from centre Junior Sa’u, but Robert Lui was unable to add the conversion.
Four in a row #COYG pic.twitter.com/arGOgS0u8z
— Huddersfield Giants (@Giantsrl) May 25, 2018
Lui slotted a penalty to make it 6-0 but the Giants got off the mark when Jake Mamo put winger Darnell McIntosh over in the corner. Danny Brough, like Lui, missed the conversion but levelled from a later penalty.
Salford went into the break ahead as Niall Evalds stole in to ground Lui's kick, but Huddersfield took charge in the second half.
Daniel Smith powered over from close range and Brough's goal gave them the lead, then Jordan Turner crossed against his former club before Kruise Leeming added another try.
Sa’u grabbed his second try of the game late on for the Red Devils but the damage had been done.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SLWidWak?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SLWidWak</a> <br><br>Another big win for <a href="https://twitter.com/Giantsrl?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Giantsrl</a> to boost their hopes of making the Super 8s 💪 <a href="https://t.co/ncNS8oMSxW">pic.twitter.com/ncNS8oMSxW</a></p>— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) <a href="https://twitter.com/SuperLeague/status/1000118921104646146?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 25, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Huddersfield assistant coach Chris Thorman said: “It was doom and gloom at the club not that long ago but we are in a much better place now.
“If there’s any habit you want to get into it’s winning.
“I am excited that Simon was here to see that performance and we provided cause for him to be positive. He seems like a good fella and has an educated rugby brain. He’s passionate and he cares.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">📷 Simon Woolford has arrived at the John Smith’s Stadium! <a href="https://t.co/ZGCpidrqNG">pic.twitter.com/ZGCpidrqNG</a></p>— Huddersfield Giants (@Giantsrl) <a href="https://twitter.com/Giantsrl/status/1000038410323660800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 25, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Salford head coach coach Ian Watson said: "Our attitude in the first half was there and we looked pretty dominant.
“Second half I thought we were awful. It was chalk and cheese. It’s not good enough from us a group.
“You need to have some pride in your defence and dig in but the pressure is getting to us. We know how important it is to retain our Super League status.
“We’re not in a great situation but we need to adopt a siege mentality and work together.”
