Heartbreaking. We deserved something from that game and if our playoff hopes were not already crushed, they are now–we have sunk to 10th. Annoyingly, Coventry, Norwich and Preston all dropped three points, so if we won or took a point, with a game in hand too, we would be back in the game. Oh well, next season it is, which is probably best as if we did go up, we would come back down again.
I made the hour trip down the M62 to Elland Road, along with 2,900+ Hull fans hoping for a response to that appalling performance against Stoke on Good Friday. The highlight of the day was having the opportunity to go to this fantastic ground and witness their ‘famous atmosphere’ (that only came when they were winning), which, to be honest, was quite flat. On the contrary, our fans were fantastic and took over until the 88th minute. We were so close to being rewarded for our support, but, yet again, it wasn’t to be.
Rosenior made three changes to the starting eleven: Zaroury, Ohio and McLoughlin were replaced by Ozan Tufan, Tyler Morton and Omur. That meant we lined up as follows, in a 4-4-2 formation: Ryan Allsop in goal; Lewie Coyle, Alfie Jones, Ryan Giles and Regan Slater as the back four; Tyler Morton, Seri, Omur and Philogene anchoring the middle and Tufan and Carvalho leading the flock.
Par for the course, the hosts came out the better side, with lightning quick attacks and some beautiful football, which was Premier League quality; it did not take them long to take the lead. In the 9th minute, Rutter’s deep run scattered our defence and he threaded it to Summerville, whose shot was parried by Allsop, but only to the back post where a charging Byram bundled it in. A sloppy goal to concede and some confusion and mis-communication from our players; however, we responded brilliantly.
We took control of the game and had a fair share of possession, but we did not do much with it and never really tested Meslier. It was lovely football to watch: pressing Leeds and winning our deuls; forcing mistakes; stringing together passes and getting ourselves out of dangerous positions. Alas, eventually, Leeds won the ball back and had one attack, which they should have stuck in the back of the net; in the 24th minute, Dan James broke on the left flank and drove to the box, before rolling the ball across to Bamford in the box, who somehow, put it over the bar.
Then, they were made to pay for this miss as we drew level in the 34th minute. Philogene’s strike on the corner of the box was blocked and came out to an onrushing Morton, who took it to the dead ball line, before putting it across into the box, which was neatly buried by Carvalho. Absolute ecstasy in the away end and suddenly the tides turned.
We were the better side in the first period and held out the first half without too much trouble from Leeds, who were not up to their usual standards.
In the second half, it was us who came out of the stops quicker creating two opportunities to take the lead in the early stages. In the 50th minute, Carvalho turned in the middle of the park and played the ball to Philogene, who saw the goal open up for him, and he curled the ball towards the right post, which went wide. Moments later, in the 60th minute, Omur had a similar opportunity at the other side of the pitch, after Morton picked up the ball and passed it to Omur, but he curled his shot just wide of the post.
We continued to hold the ball and prevented Leeds from going forward. There was more energy and eagerness within the team in this game and it was great to see us put up a fight with a team near the top of the league. Philogene had another chance towards the latter stages, but his strike from outside of the box just grazed the bar.
Towards the end of the half, we were forced into making two changes: Coyle and Giles, who both picked up an injury, were replaced by Cyrus Christie and Matty Jacobs. Leeds also made some substitutions and this completely changed the flow of the game, in the hosts favour.
In the 87th minute, Leeds broke on the attack and released Summerville, who drove all the way towards the dead ball line before being taken out by Slater; the referee instantly pointed to the spot, which, after an argument between Piroe and Summerville, the latter converted to put them in the lead again.
Fortunately, the fourth official held up his board with seven minutes of added time and the pitch quickly became a battlefield. We were the team to put on the gas and pour forward. A great breakaway allowed us to get the ball into the box, which was cleared behind for a corner in the 95th minute. Allsop came up for the corner, which was bold and the wrong decision, and we could have equalised, after the ball fell to Zaroury on the edge of the box, whose shot was blocked and it was cleared out to Dan James. He saw Allsop off his line and from the halfway line, he rifled the shot into the back of the net.
Yes, it was a defeat, but we made it really difficult for The Whites and all of their goals could have been prevented. That is now six games without a win, however, if we play like that for the rest of our games, it will be a positive end to a brilliant season. We have Cardiff away on Saturday, which, regrettably, I am going to, and hopefully we can put things right.