WARRINGTON Wolves suffered a first defeat to Huddersfield Giants since 2011 and a second successive Super League loss for the first time this season.

A piece of Jamie Ellis skill put Huddersfield ahead at The Halliwell Jones Stadium, while Danny Brough’s drop goal increased their lead and Aaron Murphy’s try added to it soon after the break.

Gareth O’Brien and Kevin Penny tries reduced the deficit with 15 minutes remaining, but Murphy’s second from a Brough grubber put the game beyond Warrington.

Then when Daryl Clark threw a loose pass into Jermaine McGillvary’s path the winger sprinted clear to seal the win for the visitors.

Eorl Crabtree added his name to the scoresheet late on.

It took Giants six minutes to break the deadlock in front of their travelling fans, with Ellis showing great vision to grubber through a gap and dive on his own kick.

Craig Huby had been held up close to the Warrington line after Ryan Atkins’ knock on in an attempted interception saw possession stay with the visitors.

Luke Robinson found Ellis from dummy half, and his inventiveness did the rest. Danny Brough converted.

Wolves, having pinned the visitors deep in their own half with a high ball, thought they had hit back six minutes later when slick hands from Gareth O’Brien and Ashton Sims sent Atkins driving towards the line, but he was held up.

Paul Anderson’s Giants side were looking dangerous with each attack, but Matty Russell did well to reach an Ellis chip into the corner with Jermaine McGillvary in full flight.

At the other end Wolves pinned McGillvary behind his own try line from a tricky Daryl Clark grubber, but the hosts’ quick offloads were not always finding others in primrose and blue.

But, with a bit of Bennie Westwood magic, they managed to break the line and sustain a first period of prolonged pressure on the visitors 22 minutes in.

Another loose Sims offload reached Kevin Penny, who wriggled his way towards the line for Clark to feed Westwood from the play-the-ball but his attempts to scramble over the line fell narrowly short.

Neither side was giving up much ground, but Brough showcased his impressive kicking game with 10 minutes of the half remaining, picking out McGillvary with a diagonal left-footed reverse ball.

Ellis nearly picked out the same man with a grubber moments later, but a scampering Russell was able to see it into touch.

Wolves continued to make errors in the first half, with Ben Currie dropping a ball in the tackle and a Westwood forward pass brining another move to an end.

From there the Giants chose to edge further ahead, with Brough adding a drop goal before the hooter.

Wolves’ first chance to get their name on the scoresheet in the second half came courtesy of a smart charge down by Joe Philbin, but the Wolves youngster was unable to keep it in play – instead hacking wildly into touch with a kick.

And with less than five minutes of the half played it the was the visitors who increased their lead.

Brough’s kick took an awkward bounce, flooring full back Stefan Ratchford with a change in trajectory and Murphy collected for a free run at the line. Brough converted.

But Wolves’ reply was immediate, getting their first points on the board 47 minutes in after Chris Bridge hit a gap and gave a super offload for O’Brien.

The half back was almost on his way down as he received it, but managed to roll over the line before adding the extras to reduce the deficit.

Micky Higham was held up soon after as Wolves looked to have the momentum, and another Philbin charge down fell agonisingly out of Warrington’s reach.

Wolves’ efforts to break a resolute Huddersfield defence continued, with Monaghan jumping highest to help the a cross-field O’Brien kick into James Laithwaite’s path but he was held on the last tackle.

Then Ratchford broke the line from deep in his own half and tried to lose the attentions of Giants’ full back Scott Grix, but the former Salford man could not find a supporting runner.

But from that attack Tony Smith’s side were able to keep the set alive and when the ball travelled right to Bridge, he trusted in the run of Monaghan outside him.

The Wolves skipper was too far from the line to make a dive for it himself, but a slick offload handed Penny an easy touch down in the corner with 15 minutes remaining. One O’Brien could not convert.

But for all Wolves’ pressure, they were undone by another perfect kick from a Huddersfield half.

Brough’s options looked to be limited when a pass was thrown behind him, but Giants’ number six was able to run at the Warrington line before threading a pin-point grubber into the path of onrushing Murphy.

Brough was unable to convert from wide out.

With six minutes remaining O’Brien’s high kick caused havoc in the Huddersfield in-goal area, but even the half back himself couldn’t have predicted it would come back off a post and rebound out of Monaghan’s grasp for a Giants ball.

But the visitors put the result beyond doubt when Clark picked up from half back and threw a long pass into McGillvary’s path and the winger darted in unopposed from just inside Wolves’ half. Brough converted.

Crabtree then forced his way over the line late on.