Huddersfield captain Chris Thorman kicked an injury-time drop goal to earn his side a dramatic victory in a thrilling derby at the Galpharm Stadium.

Bradford stand-off Iestyn Harris kept his nerve to land a 79th-minute penalty which levelled the scores but Thorman broke the visitors' hearts with his last-gasp one-pointer which earned the Giants only their second win in five matches.

There was time for a controversial ending when the hooter sounded as Bradford were preparing for a scrum and centre Paul Sykes was shown the red card after the final whistle for protesting too strongly to referee Steve Ganson.

Ganson had earlier sent four players - two from either side - to the sin bin and placed three Bradford men on report but the abiding memory of an entertaining match will be its frantic finish in front of a 10,786 crowd, which was boosted by around 2,000 children taking part in the Kirklees youth games before kick-off.

Huddersfield trailed 22-12 after an hour but staged a thrilling revival in which Australian winger Rod Jensen scored his second try of the match to give his side renewed hope.

The Giants lacked five first-team regulars through injury, including Great Britain full-back David Hodgson, whose home debut was put on hold by a shoulder problem, but they were competitive throughout.

Full-back Michael Platt gave the Bulls the perfect start when he jinked his way over for a solo try on four minutes but the home side went in front two minutes later when Jensen intercepted Harris' pass to scoot 40 metres for his first two for two months.

Bradford hooker Terry Newton supported a break by Ben Jeffries to score a try and then missed a sitter by spilling Simon Finnigan's pass with the Huddersfield line once more wide open.

The home side paid a heavy price for their indiscipline at St Helens a week ago and they were reduced to 11 men for a short spell after full-back Leroy Cudjoe and hooker Ryan Hudson were both sin-binned for professional fouls.

The Bulls made their numerical advantage tell when prop Andy Lynch forced his way over for a third try on 27 minutes and Harris' second goal made it 16-6 but prop Paul Jackson gave Huddersfield renewed hope when he supported a break by lively substitute Danny Kirmond to grab a try just before the interval.

It was just the tonic for the Giants, who dominated play in the second half.

Second rower Andy Raleigh looked a certain scorer until former team-mate Chris Nero, making his comeback for the Bulls from a fractured collarbone, pulled off a superb last-ditch tackle inches short of the line.

Winger James Evans, another ex-Huddersfield player, was sin-binned for delaying the subsequent play-the-ball but Bradford extended their lead, albeit against the run of play, when Finnigan made the most of a kind bounce from Jeffries' kick to score their fourth try.

Jeffries became the fourth player to be yellow-carded on 52 minutes for dissent and Thorman marked his return from an ankle injury with a 65th-minute try that set up the exciting finish.

Darrell Griffin was inches away from touching down Thorman's kick to the line but Huddersfield eventually found their way to the line when Stephen Wild and Paul Whatuira combined to get Jensen over.

Thorman added the goal and, after Harris looked to have snatched a draw, came up with the precious one-pointer to finally settle it.