Wing David Hodgson grabbed a hat-trick of tries as Huddersfield Giants sank Crusaders RL in Wrexham.



The result kept the Giants in a commanding top-half place after 12 matches of their Engage Super League campaign.



Huddersfield skipper Brett Hodgson, who has rejected a new contract with the club, was missing from the squad, with Leroy Cudjoe switching from the wing to full-back.



The visitors also included Michael Lawrence at centre plus David Faiumu at loose-forward.



The Crusaders soon found themselves behind after two sucker-punches in the opening seven minutes. First, stand-off Kevin Brown surged through the midfield to score the first Huddersfield try near the posts.



The Giants then caught the Crusaders napping again with a neat chip to the corner which went straight past the defence and gave wing Hodgson the easiest of scoring touchdowns. Scrum-half Danny Brough converted both to give the Giants a 12-0 lead.



But the Crusaders, who were looking to pressurise ninth-placed Leeds Rhinos, fought back through the forwards and turned the screw on the Giants’ line.



Only some decent defence kept them out but, when second rower Weller Hauraki saw a gap in the defensive line-up, he exploited the chance to go in under the posts.



The Giants galvanised themselves, tightened up their line and reproduced the pressure they exerted at the start of the match. With it came points either side of half-time as the gap grew again in their favour to 24-6.



Cudjoe took a scoring pass from hooker Graeme Horne to post the third Huddersfield touchdown of the match and, on 46 minutes, second row Lee Gilmour raced past the home defence to set up replacement Scott Grix with the scoring pass.



The Crusaders created opportunities but a combination of stout Huddersfield cover and inability to take the passes caused knock-ons.



Eventually, however, they grabbed a second try when a kick-through to the corner saw centre Luke Dyer outpace the visiting cover to get the score.



But that was all the Crusaders could manage as Huddersfield upped the pace and cruised to victory.



Replacement Brad Drew was on hand to grab their fifth try of the match when he took the ball from a charge upfield to score unopposed by the posts.



And then Hodgson sealed his hat-trick with two tries in the final eight minutes, both of them simple corner run-ins, with the Crusaders looking tired from their efforts.