Anderson delighted at Giants response

Huddersfield coach Paul Anderson was delighted with his side's response to their first defeat of the season as they bounced back to destroy champions Leeds 32-8 on Friday night and stay top of Super League.

Anderson had called his players "embarrassing" following their 43-18 home defeat by Bradford only five days earlier but on Friday night he could not have been prouder of their efforts as they won at Headingley for the third year in a row.

"Obviously the result was pleasing but the real positive thing was that I asked for response from last week got it," he said.

Anderson added: "Our attitude was good. We came up with one error on our line that let them in for a try and the bloke responsible for that came up to me distraught because he thinks he's let everybody down."

Huddersfield's match-winner was skipper Danny Brough, who missed the defeat by the Bulls through illness and was this week left out of the England squad. He provided a timely reminder of his undoubted class to England and Leeds captain Kevin Sinfield by scoring one try and creating four others, including two for winger Aaron Murphy with pinpoint kicks.

Anderson refused to comment on Brough's exclusion from the England squad and insisted it was no one-man show.

"He's a good player and he controlled the game but the collective effort tonight was outstanding," he said. "I thought Matty Dawson outstanding to say he came in at the last minute and Dale Ferguson couldn't get in my team a month ago but he's come back and played 80 minutes."

Leeds were a pale shadow of the team which pushed Melbourne so close in the World Club Challenge on the same ground a fortnight earlier and coach Brian McDermott admits that match may have had a bearing on his side's below-par performance.

"It may have, although I'd like to think not," he said. "You can't get up every single week. But I thought we would be up for this game. We knew it was going to be a big game. Huddersfield have won here for the last three seasons and this fixture next year will be even bigger.

"They handled the conditions far better than we did and Danny Brough's kicking game was key. I thought we didn't play well but Huddersfield didn't let us play well. We weren't out-muscled but we were out-kicked and at crucial times out-played."