After Tuesday night there was a danger of euphoria, among us fans at least, resulting in over-expectations for today, another tough test away from home for some very tired players. We came up a little short at Preston last time we had three games in a week, two of which were away (after the home win over Blackburn and the draw at Derby), and the team had put in a big shift at Portman Road. Was it too much to expect a repeat performance, or will the team be brimming with confidence and not feel the tired legs?
In the event we got something in between. The tiredness undoubtedly showed and after a mixed first half (we had the better of the opening spell, them thereafter without actually matching the two early chances we had) once Hull had scored we did struggle. But this lot can dig deep and the equaliser in stoppage time was a reward for grit and perseverance. The character of this squad cannot be questioned. Hull will feel they let two points slip, but that’s their problem.
For the team it was really a case of how many neded a rest. And there were surprises, albeit the squad was unchanged from Tuesday. Ramsay, Jones and Gillesphey were retained as the central defence three, as was Bell as right-side wing-back; but Bree was on the bench and replaced by Apter – great for attacking threat but with a risk of being targeted at the other end. In midfield Coventry was moved to the bench and Knibbs came in, even though it seemed curious to have both him and Carey in from the start, while Rankin-Costello or Anderson might have been the more natural replacement for the excellent Coventry. And up front we would start with the two that came on in the second half against Ipswich, Leaburn and Campbell, instead of Olaofe and Kelman.
We came out of the blocks and Campbell had two glorious chances in the first three minutes, both the result of balls lofted to the far post and over the covering defender. The first he connected with well enough but their keeper pulled off a very good instinctive save; the second was more difficult and he chipped it over the bar. Hull seemed a little stung by that and it took them a while to get into their pattern. But when they did they – as so many against us – enjoyed the lion’s share of possession. Also like many against us in these circumstances, they failed to create a clear-cut chance.
There were moments of danger for us through the first half. But inevitably there was a late block, interception, or save from Kaminski. In fact it was us again with the best chance as Campbell nipped in between defenders to get to a long ball first but just failed to get a good enough contact to send it either side of their stranded keeper. The only other incident of note was a very poor challenge by a Hull player on Knibbs, who got to the loose ball first and nudged it forward only to be taken out. There may have been no real intent, but the replays showed the guy going in off the ground, studs showing. With VAR he might have been given more than a yellow.
At the break the stats showed Hull with 53% possession, them having seven attempts on goal, just two on target, against four and two for us. For us you felt that the changes, while understandable, had reduced our potency as we missed Coventry and with Carey playing deeper alongside Docherty we lacked his drive. Apter and Knibbs put in decent performances, but they looked a little rusty.
We’d barely taken our seats for the second half (in front of the TV for me) before Hull went ahead. Gillesphey turned away out of defence with the ball and was caught out by their press. The guy took it on into the box and shot beyond Kaminski. You just knew it was going to be a real uphill struggle after that – and Hull were content most of the time to get men behind the ball and look to hurt us on the break, which they had ample opportunity to do, especially in the closing stages.
We were making the mistakes. After Gillesphey’s Ramsay gave the ball away with a poor pass, followed by another Gillesphey error then one from Bell. They were all labouring. On 50 minutes Coventry and Bree replaced Knibbs and Apter and we reverted to the shape of Tuesday night. Only difference was we were one down and chasing the game.
We did have moments of opportunity, as did they. But as the clock ticked down we became increasingly desperate. On 69 minutes Jones brought on Berry and Kelman for Docherty and Gillesphey, switching to what seemed to be a 4-3-3. On 85 minutes it was Hernandez making his debut for Carey, and by now it was Jones up front and pretty much everything going long in the hope of something.
As we started five minutes of stoppage time we seemed to get that something, as their keeper flapped at a cross and it dropped for Berry. His goalbound shot was deflected over for a corner. No matter, that corner was very well delivered and just cleared the people at the near post, Berry providing that nous in the box by reading the situation and getting on the end of it, getting enough contact to divert it into an empty net.
Suddenly it was Jones back in defence and a desperate few minutes to hold on to what we now had. We managed that and the players not surprisingly almost celebrated a draw in front of the travelling fans, the Hull players trudging off shaking their heads. If they had played out the game there would have been no complaints from us, like Preston it seemed a game too far. As it turned out they can have no complaints either as we did what we needed to do: score. More composure and intent from them on the break towards the end and they might well have scored a second to seal the points. But they didn’t.
Now we have a week to rest up before Swansea, with a great deal of satisfaction over the seven points out of nine. Take another bow Jones and the squad.
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