We left that a bit late. Today, Hull beat Huddersfield 1-2 at the John Smith’s Stadium in the East and West Yorkshire Deby. I am still flabbergasted (writing this on the coach) and in complete shock: I have never seen a match finish the way it did today. It was tedious after we went ahead in the first half and each minute was killing off the game. On the other hand, I have to admit, I do think Huddersfield deserved a point; they were more up to the mark; snappy and threatening in attack. We just parked the bus and did not commit any bodies forward. Nonetheless, we grafted out the win and our hard work holding them off paid dividends in the end.
This was my second away game of the week and I had high hopes heading into this match given that we beat Rotherham on Tuesday and Huddersfield were just sitting outside the bottom three. I feel slightly relieved that I opted to go to Preston on 2 March with this away form–three on the bounce–and hopefully we keep going.
Rosenior did not make any changes to the team that beat Rotherham on Tuesday night, save for Ozan Tufan coming in for Lewie Coyle. That meant we lined up as follows, in a 3-4-1-2 formation: Ryan Allsop in goal; Ryan Giles, Alfie Jones and Jacob Greaves as the back three; Regan Slater, Tyler Morton, Anass Zaroury and Jaden Philogene anchoring a dangerous middle; Fabio Carvalho below them and Billy Sharp and Ozan Tufan up-front.
From the off, we looked solid and much better than how we started against Rotherham: we were more controlled, calm and energetic. Thus, it took us just seven minutes to get off the mark; Philogene’s effort was parried away by Nicholls, their keeper, for a corner, which was swung in by Giles and fell nicely to Greaves, who scrambled it in. Great way to start a game as captain. But, this lively start to the game quickly came to a stop and became a typical Hull City performance.
The hosts were playing some nice football, but it was their final product that prevented them from scoring. They had an excellent chance to draw level moments after we went ahead; the ball went to Koroma after we gave the ball away (due to messing about at the back), but he curled wide from 20 yards out.
Then, disaster struck. Just as Rosenior said we have no injury problems, Tyler Morton was forced to come off after a second spell of treatment. Let’s hope it’s not too serious as he is a key player. Matty Jacobs came on for him, which allowed Slater to play his usual role as CM.
The floodgates opened up more for The Terriers towards the latter stages: Ben Wiles had an attempt, but was beaten away by Allsop and they got the ball into some dangerous positions, but failed to polish it off. Their best player Sorba Thomas was annoying and every time he ran down the flanks, he skipped past our players like they were not there; someone to have extra attention on in the second half. We didn’t look like coming forward and the half finished on a low.
The second half was not much better, either, and I won’t dwell on the earlier stages for long. Huddersfield were in complete control and we seemed happy to sit back and soak up the pressure, until they cracked. Alex Matos had the first chance for them, with his shot going through the legs of Jones, which was saved by Allsop; Rudoni’s cross from the wing failed to reach a man in blue and white and their best chance was when Thoman curled in a low shot from the left flank, which took a deflection and hit the far post. My face dropped when I heard the home fans cheer, only for it to be silent when it was cleared.
Our only best chance was when a neat and accurate ball over the top released Philogene, who got in front, beat his man and only had the keeper to beat, but he struck the post which saw the ball fizzle across the line and cleared by Nicholls.
The fourth official announced four minutes of extra time and I thought we had done it. However, Philogene’s miss proved to be costly when the Terries equalised in the 92nd minute after Rudoni’s left foot shot finally beat Allsop. That had to be the end, right? Wrong.
As the Huddersfield fans were in ecstasy and still charging towards us, we regained our lead in the 94th minute. Some brilliant and calm play allowed Omur (subbed on) to put the ball into the box, which was met by a diving header from Greaves, before hitting the back of the net. The away end went mental and was in absolute pandemonium. The referee eventually blew her whistle, but it did not stop our celebtrations, which went on for a good 10-15 minutes.
What a day and feeling to snatch those vital three points. This win keeps us in joint sixth with Coventry and Norwich and if we beat Southampton on Tuesday night, we could go fifth, if West Bromwich lose on the same night. Things are looking good for us, however, I do not want to get my hopes up just yet as Southampton are one of the most inform teams in the league.
We only have a few days rest until we are on the road again and I bloody hope we can keep our composure, not get carried away and fully gel as a team to get something from the game. If we do, it’s going to be a great end to the season.