Hull City drew 1-1 to Coventry City under the lights of the MKM Stadium and both of the goals were scored by us. The first half was a damp squib and we displayed another poor performance, despite being two points from the bottom. This was our game in hand and if we won, it would have seen us go five points above the drop. But, we managed to scrape the point and as the light at the end of the tunnel is near, it is still squeaky bum time.
Some believed this game could have been a free hit, however, if we did that then we would have to work harder at the end of the season; we do not play well under pressure, so that would have been problematic. No, we had to perform well in this match and secure safety as quickly as possible. Two of our upcoming matches (Derby and Portsmouth) are going to be difficult to earn points as they are in the same position as us.
Nonetheless, Selles made two changes to the starting eleven he fielded against Watford last Tuesday night, replacing Jones and Crooks with Palmer and Egan. That meant in a 4-2-3-1 formation, we lined up as follows: Pandur, in goal; Coyle, Egan, Hughes and McLoughlin as the back four; Alzate and Slater below them; Gelhardt, Palmer and Lincoln as the attacking three; with Pedro leading the line.
The first period was dull and tedious as we looked like a side who have played the night before, even though they have had six days to rest and regroup from the defeat at Watford. There was no urgency or desire to win the game. Yes, Coventry, who are in excellent form, were a solid side, but they were not completely dominating. Both sides had an even amount of possession (they had 53% to our 47%), but we did not make anything, firing three shots in 45 minutes.
We should have been punished for our lack of energy early on. Ellie Simms easily got in behind from a threaded ball and his poorly-executed lob was headed down by Wright, but it was parried away by the Croatian keeper. Then, a similar opportunity came his way when the ball was cutback by Sakamoto to Wright in the middle of the box, however, his effort was saved by Pandur–if it weren’t for him, we would be in the relegation zone, given the amount of stops he has made.
Funnily enough, we had the best opportunity of the half in the 38th minute from a mistake at the back from Coventry. We turned over the possession after Sheaf lost the ball to Coyle, who passed it to Lincoln to begin the counterattack. He played in Slater on the overlap, who fired a low ball into the box, which was met by Palmer who, with an open side of the net, walloped it into the crowd of players at the right-hand post. The blocked attempt came back out to him, but his tame effort was cleared for a corner.
The Sky Blues went ahead in the 46th minute–we continue this trend of conceding early in the second period. The visitors made a dangerous attack, passing the ball to the left for it to be crossed into the box. We tried to kick it out, but it hit a man in white, taking the power off the clearance and allowing it to land into the path of Grimes whose effort took a big deflection off Hughes and trickled into the net.
We made some alterations to the squad: Kamara, Amrabat and Jones came on for Palmer, Egan and Lincoln. It took us until the 82nd minute to make a response and it was worth the wait. The two men who were subbed on in the 58th minute contributed to the goal. Amrabat held the ball brilliantly on the left wing and switched the play to Kamara on the right. His touch was incredible and, despite the tight angle, he found the back of the net with the help from a slight deflection off Collins, their keeper.
It ended up being an entertaining game towards the latter stages, but neither side had enough left in the tank to take all three points and the game ended in a draw, which could be a vital point if it goes down to the wire.
Sitting in 20th, we have Swansea away on Good Friday and then we host Preston on Easter Monday, two games we have a chance of picking up some more points as they are both nearly safe. Let’s hope we don’t bottle it.
