Huddersfield Giants secured their first win of the 2025 campaign against 12-man Hull FC at Magic Weekend, defeating the ill-disciplined Black & Whites 12-10.
Hull found themselves 8-0 behind after a George Flanagan penalty and Leroy Cudjoe try before Herman Ese’ese responded, but all of the drama came late in the first-half when Tom Burgess and Sam Eseh were sin-binned, and Liam Knight was sent off.
Both sides traded a try each midway through the second-half, but Hull FC were unable to turn around the deficit and they suffered a third straight defeat.
Team News
John Cartwright made two changes from the squad that lined up against Wigan Warriors last weekend, with Jordan Rapana recovering from a minor groin injury to start in the centres, and Sam Eseh returning to the bench.
The pair replaced Matty Laidlaw and Denive Balmforth.
The Giants made several changes from the side that lost to Castleford Tigers at the John Smith’s Stadium in Round 10, with players swapping positions.
George Flanagan started at fullback, Kieran Rush featured in the halves and Jake Bibby was at second-row.
The Match
Huddersfield have the best record of any Super League side at Magic Weekend and, despite their winless start to the campaign, they started on the front foot, earning an early penalty and forcing a drop-out soon after.
The Giants offered little in attack and conceded a couple of penalties deep inside Hull territory, frustrating Luke Robinson, but the Black & Whites were slow out of the blocks themselves in a sloppy opening.
Aaron Moore penalised Hull for being offside coming off their own defensive line and George Flanagan put the Giants 2-0 in front with a shot at goal after 17 minutes.
The Black & Whites continued to blunder on the approach to half-time with Jordan Rapana fumbling Zak Hardaker’s pass and frustrations grew in the stands from the travelling supporters – 3,000 strong from East Yorkshire.
Largely, Hull’s sloppiness had gone unpunished in the first-half. But the Giants came off the bridle after 27 minutes when a short pass from Adam Clune sent Leroy Cudjoe in underneath the posts, with the veteran scoring the first try on day two of Magic Weekend.
A successful captain’s challenge saw Hull gifted possession deep in Huddersfield territory. After a couple of knocks on the front door, a flicked offload from John Asiata sent Ese’ese crashing over for his eighth try of the season and Hull’s first points of the afternoon.
Asiata was forced off the field for a head injury assessment not long after his spectacular try assist. The loose-forward was hit late by Tom Burgess, and the Giants prop was sent to the sin-bin for the offence.
Hull looked to have struck with immediate effect when Ese’ese and Cade Cust linked up with a tidy one-two play, but Flanagan managed to hold up Cust and the ball in-goal.
That proved to be a key moment on the run-up to half-time, because after the ball was turned over, the two sides came to blows when Sam Eseh caught a falling Matty English high. Eseh was sent to the sin-bin and Hull were reduced to twelve-men.
But the drama wasn’t over there. With the final play of the first-half, Liam Knight caught Sam Hewitt with a shoulder to the head and the Australian prop forward was sent-off.
Half-Time: Huddersfield Giants 8-6 Hull FC
There was some calm restored at the start of the second-half, but FC’s rear guard still had to have their wits about them with Huddersfield allowing the ball to sing on multiple occasions. Ten minutes in and John Cartwright will have been relatively pleased.
But after returning to their full allowance of twelve players, Hull made a couple of errors and invited plenty of unwanted pressure inside their own territory.
And the Black & Whites were duly punished when Clune’s sensational cutout pass allowed Gagai to stroll in at the right corner.
A short kick-off and a sublime athletic leap from Davy Litten gave Hull possession inside the Huddersfield half, and a tidy shift left saw Lewis Martin finish with a dive in the left corner. But Aidan Sezer couldn’t convert from the touchline and the Airlie Birds still had work to do as they trailed by two points.
Will Pryce spilled a high kick under pressure, and when Huddersfield shifted the ball left, former Hull winger Adam Swift sized up a move to score in the corner, but he was denied by a determined Cade Cust.
The Giants, with the numerical advantage, were still dominating the battle for territory and Hull were enjoying precious little ball in an attacking position as the match grew older.
Zac Woolford’s smart grubber was swept up by Cust but Huddersfield got plenty of bodies in the tackle to force a drop-out and make the task even harder for Hull with six minutes to go.
The Black & Whites did force a late opportunity and they appeared to have wandered down a blind alley on the last play, but a hopeful kick from Tom Briscoe bounced off Adam Swift and it was deemed a knock on – until a successful Captain’s Challenge the Giants had held in reserve smartly.
Full-Time: Huddersfield Giants 12-10 Hull FC
Squads & Scorers
Huddersfield: Flanagan, Gagai, Milne, Halsall, Swift, Rush, Clune, Wilson, Woolford, Greenwood, Hewitt, Jake Bibby, Cudjoe
Huddersfield Interchanges: Jack Bibby, Burgess, English, Golding
Huddersfield Tries: Cudjoe, Gagai
Huddersfield Goals: Flanagan (2/3)
Hull: Pryce, Barron, Rapana, Litten, Martin, Cust, Sezer, Ese’ese, Bourouh, Knight, Hardaker, Chamberlain, Asiata
Hull Interchanges: Ashworth, Aydin, Briscoe, Eseh
Hull Tries: Ese’ese, Martin
Hull Goals: Sezer (1/2)
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