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Huddersfield Giants made amends for their heavy loss to Wigan as they came from behind to beat reigning Super League champions St Helens.

Adam O'Brien put the Giants ahead but Luke Thompson and Morgan Knowles sent Saints into a 10-6 lead at the break.

In a tense second half, Jake Wardle scored Huddersfield's second try as they edged into a two-point advantage.

Saints tried to force a late try as Tommy Makinson tried to play Theo Fages through but he could not connect.

The victory means Huddersfield move above Saints into fourth place in the Super League table and have now won four of their five matches this season.

Meanwhile, St Helens slip to a second league defeat this season and their first regular season Super League home loss since August 2018.

Saints were without full-back Lachlan Coote despite him being named in their 21-man pre-match squad as he continues to work up to a return from a knee injury after a month out.

They faced off against a Huddersfield side who travelled to the Totally Wicked Stadium off the back of their heavy 42-10 defeat by Wigan last time around.

However, despite a first-half resurgence from Saints, Wardle's try gifted Huddersfield a memorable victory against a St Helens side who are still finding their feet under new boss Kristian Woolf.

St Helens boss Kristian Woolf:

"It was a very frustrating night. I thought we were a little bit off in a lot of aspects tonight.

"We were on top for really long periods but we kept throwing opportunities away.

"I was disappointed with us right across the board. We didn't work together as well as we needed to as a team.

"We had enough opportunities to win the game. It wasn't a pretty game and allowed to be very, very slow. But we have got to adjust to that and find a way."

Huddersfield Giants coach Simon Woolford:

"I couldn't be prouder. I've been around rugby league a long time as a player and a coach and wins don't come much better than that.

"It takes a massive effort to do that. There were a lot of things that went against us but we found a way. There were a lot of things to like about us tonight.

"We learned some lessons last week but to come away with a win like that, under those circumstances, is worth more to me than two points. It was important that we proved last week [losing against Wigan] was an aberration - we let ourselves down.

"Tonight was a really good night for us. We were hit by adversity but we just kept turning up. We had to defend our bums off right to the end. We just kept finding a way to keep them out."

St Helens: Welsby, Grace, Knowles, Naiqama, Makinson, Lomax, Fages, Walmsley, Roby, Thompson, Taia, Peyroux, McCarthy-Scarsbrook.

Replacements: Lees, Amor, Paulo, Costello.

Huddersfield: McIntosh, Wood, J. Wardle, Turner, McGillvary, Gaskell, Sezer, Lawrence, Edwards, J. Wardle, Gavet, O'Brien, Clough.

Replacements: Holmes, Wilson, Murphy, Ta'ai.

Referee: G Hewer.