Four sinbinnings characterised an ill-tempered encounter which saw Huddersfield slip to their fourth straight engage Super League defeat at Leeds on Sunday.

Jon Sharp's men remain the only side without a single point this season but they could hardly be accused of lacking fighting spirit.

Giants veteran Paul Reilly and centre Jamahl Lolesi were both shown the yellow card either side of the break, while Leeds full-back Brent Webb was also sinbinned twice.

The action taken by referee Ian Smith epitomised the niggling undercurrent which flowed throughout a hard-fought encounter in which Huddersfield could perhaps consider themselves unfortunate to again come away pointless.

Sharp's men were hammered 50-0 at Headingley in a pre-season encounter one month ago but they were up for it this time around.

That only four points separated the sides at the final whistle confirmed as much - and with a little luck the Giants could even have even pilfered the points at the death.

On a dreadful surface, Huddersfield skipper Chris Thorman got the visitors off the mark in the ninth minute with a penalty.

But Leeds, who were sentenced to defeat against Catalans Dragons in France last weekend, responded strongly.

A meticulous piece of dummy running from Matt Diskin took him to within inches of the line in the 11th minute and six minutes later Leeds claimed their first try after brilliant play from Rob Burrow.

The diminutive scrum-half, at 5ft 5in the smallest player in Super League, collected possession 20 metres out and darted through the slenderest of gaps in the visitors' rearguard.

His pace took him clear but, with the line beckoning, he unselfishly offloaded for Clinton Toopi to touch down in the right corner for the easiest of tries.

Skipper Kevin Sinfield failed to convert and, with the Giants clearly up for the fight, it came as little surprise when they claimed a try of their own in the 22nd minute.

An exquisite long offload from hooker Brad Drew found former Bradford favourite Robbie Paul and his short pass allowed giant prop Eorl Crabtree to burst clear and crash over the line.

Crabtree is the nephew of former wrestling legend Big Daddy and his fighting spirit came to the fore in an increasingly fractious opening half.

After Thorman converted Crabtree's try, Leeds regained the lead when Danny McGuire showed wonderful hands to collect Diskin's pass and send Jamie Jones-Buchanan over in the 26th minute.

Sinfield added the extras to put Leeds 10-8 ahead and then embarked on a strong run down the right flank before slipping in young winger Lee Smith in the corner.

The score proved the catalyst for an unseemly melee between both sets of players which resulted in Webb and Reilly being sent to the sinbin after a bout of fisticuffs.

Leeds were 14-8 in front at the break and then two minutes before the hour-mark they extended their lead after an indiscretion by Lolesi.

The centre's cynical high shot on Burrow saw him sent to the sinbin and Sinfield's penalty extended Leeds' advantage by another two points.

However, the Giants refused to surrender and, after Webb's dissent earned him another spell in the sinbin, Keith Mason sent Thorman over the in closing stages to reduce the deficit to four points.

Thorman missed the conversion but the Giants could not quite manage a precious late winning try.