Three yellow cards, one red card, an embattled hero lifting himself off a stretcher before making a match-winning contribution and a try scored two tackles after the half-time hooter all contributed to a breathless afternoon at Belle Vue.

Danny Brough, the Wakefield Wildcats and Scotland scrum half, proved a genuine braveheart when he re-emerged for action 20 minutes after being carried off in a neck brace having been involved in Kevin Brown's heavy challenge.

“I'm very disappointed with the approach the opponents took early on,” John Kear, the Wakefield coach, said. “The challenge on Danny was disgraceful. I'm sure the RFL will have a really good look at it and rightly so because I'm absolutely seething about it. It then escalated and if you come with that attitude then what else do you expect?”

Huddersfield Giants led 8-6 before Brough's re-introduction after Jamahl Lolesi opened the scoring and Jamie Rooney responded for the home team. Darrell Griffin and Danny Sculthorpe had also spent ten minutes in the sin-bin after an early mêlée but Brough instantly created a score for Scott Grix.

Rooney's second try sparked furious protests from Paul Anderson, Huddersfield's caretaker coach, when Steve Ganson, the referee, failed to stop play for half-time despite the hooter having sounded three times.

Kevin Henderson and Jason Demetriou put the game beyond the Giants and Luke Robinson's second-half dismissal for dissent, after Chris Thorman's earlier yellow card for the same offence, appeared to have killed off their chances only for Eorl Crabtree, John Skandalis and Griffin to set up a tense finale.