If Wigan Warriors' important 23-22 victory over Leeds Rhinos on Friday was the outstanding game of the season, yesterday's error-fest was arguably the worst. The one redeeming quality was an exciting finish and a winning dropped goal by Chris Thorman, in the fourth minute of stoppage time, that ensured Huddersfield Giants the local bragging rights.

That it took Huddersfield so long to secure only their sixth league win of the year emphasised the tryscoring opportunities they frittered against a woefully lethargic Bradford Bulls side.

When it looked as if the Giants might be their own worst enemies, they discovered some continuity for Rod Jensen to claim his second try in the 79th minute. Thorman's conversion made it 24-22, but the home team immediately conceded a penalty from the restart, which Iestyn Harris kicked for an apparent share of the spoils. However, Huddersfield worked their way upfield for Thorman, whose 65th-minute try had given his team hope, to land the clinching one-pointer.

There was still time for Paul Sykes, the Bradford centre, to receive a red card for dissent, which followed Steve Ganson, the referee, dealing out four yellow cards. Pandemonium ensued as Sykes was sent off before the last scrum could form, but if the Bulls had got half as worked up during the preceding 80 minutes of the match, they would probably have won.

Bradford, just about clinging to a top-six spot, are ten points adrift of St Helens, who seized the league leadership for the first time from Leeds after Saturday's 54-0 demolition of Harlequins. The signs of a team drifting at the Galpharm Stadium since last month's dismissal of Jon Sharp as coach and no sign yet of a successor were not helped by a startling lack of composure for long periods; they were fortunate, too, that Bradford lost their heads at the end.

Michael Platt easily stepped through the Huddersfield cover for the opening try before Jensen intercepted Harris's pass on halfway. Terry Newton restored Bradford's advantage, which they supplemented when the Giants had Leroy Cudjoe and Ryan Hudson in the sin-bin for illegally preventing possible tries. Andy Lynch poached a try, but Paul Jackson's reply kept Huddersfield in the hunt. Bradford lost James Evans and Ben Jeffries for ten-minute spells after the break but mistakenly assumed that they had the match sealed with Simon Finnigan's 51st-minute try.

Catalans Dragons remain a point behind the league leaders after recording their seventh away win of the season in a 30-18 defeat of Hull, while bottom-placed Castleford Tigers achieved only their fourth win, 18-10 against Hull Kingston Rovers.

Scorers: Huddersfield Giants: Tries: Jensen 2, Jackson, Thorman. Goals: Thorman 4. Dropped goal: Thorman. Bradford Bulls: Tries: Platt, Newton, Lynch, Finnigan. Goals: Harris 4.

Huddersfield Giants: L Cudjoe; R Jensen, M Lawrence, P Whatuira, S Elford; K Brown, C Thorman; K Mason, S Jones, A Raleigh, S Wild, J Lolesi, S Snitch. Interchange: D Griffin, P Jackson, D Kirmond, R Hudson.

Bradford Bulls: M Platt; J Evans, P Sykes, C Nero, S Tadulala; I Harris, B Jeffries; J Vagana, T Newton, A Lynch, D Solomona, J Langley, S Burgess. Interchange: D Halley, W Godwin, S Finnigan, C Feather.

Referee: S Ganson.