Hull 2-1 Crystal Palace

The Teams:

Hull City: Myhill, Ricketts, Turner,Pedersen (Doyle), Brown, Ashbee, , Marney, Hughes(Barmby), Windass (Fagan), Campbell, Folan
Not used: Duke, France

CRYSTAL PALACE:
Speroni, Butterfield, Hill, Hudson, Fonte, Derry (Scannel), Soares, Watson, Sinclair (Ifil), Morrison, Moses.

STATISTICS

Possession: HC 49%, CP 51%
Shots on target: HC 4, CP 1
Off target : HC 6, CP 7
Corners: HC 5, Cp 6
Fouls: HC 9, CP 12

THE MATCH

The maths was simple. Anything other than a home win and the Tigers would almost certainly have to try and achieve promotion via the Russian roulette of the play-offs. Standing in their way would be Crystal Palace, a potentially formidable opponent, arriving at the KC on the back of a 10 match unbeaten run, including recent victories away to Stoke and Watford. The Tigers were also looking to banish any lingering and potentially lethal fall-out from the defeat at Sheffield United.

The early stages provided concrete evidence as to why the Eagles had metamorphasised from a probable league 1 side under Peter Taylor, to a potential premier outfit under the leadership of Neil Warnock. They took the game to the hosts in the early stages and the pace of Scott Sinclair and the hot-property rookie Victor Moses was scaring the life out of the Tigers defence. Clever work down the right and subsequent cross by Moses in the second minute led to the rattling of the Tigers crossbar. Like in the previous home game against QPR, City looked as though the expectant pressure of another capacity crowd may weigh heavy on the shoulders, but they gradually got back into the game.

Phil Brown had chosen a bold 4-3-3 formation with Windass, Folan and Campbell all leading the line and it was a combination between the latter two, which led to the opening goal in the 15th minute. A long punt downfield by Myhill was nodded down by Folan into the path of Campbell, who composed himself before lashing a clinical drive to the left of the unsighted Speroni. Windass came close to making it 2-0 but his superb free kick dipped just over when it looked for all the world like bustling into the net.

Phil Brown was forced into making changes in the first half with Doyle replacing Pedersen for a very rare first team appearance and Fagan coming on for Windass who was livid after a robust challenge from Shaun Derry left him requiring stitches to the leg. Despite his limited opportunities, Doyle looked determined to make a name for himself and looked comfortable in both attack and defence.

Not for the first time this season City conceded a goal in the last ten minutes of the first half when Scott Sinclair was quickest to react on Wayne Brown’s failure to clear the ball in his own box, and poked the ball past a perplexed Myhill. 1-1 at half time was a fair reflection, and there was plenty of evidence as to why these two teams were in their respective positions.

City came out for the second half like a wounded animal, with plenty of added bite and aggression. City went on to dominate the entire half. Victor Moses who had looked a class act in the first half had become completely anonymous and Clinton Morrison resembled a basketball player rather than a prolific striker, such was the constant nature of his apparent handling skills. With the clock running down, Captain Marvel Ian Ashbee rose to crash in a towering header from a superb Marney corner to send 23,000 City fans into ecstasy and mute the sound of popping champagne corks in Staffordshire and the West Midlands. The final whistle blew to rapturous cheers and applause, with the dream of automatic promotion still very much alive.

HOW DID HULL CITY PLAY

It took them a while to get into their stride and they were evenly matched by a good Palace team in the first half. Moses, Sinclair and Morrison looked dangerous and our full backs were guilty of being flat-footed on occasion. The second half was City at their best. The palace danger from the first period had completely disappeared and there only ever looked like being one winner.

HOW DID CRYSTAL PALACE PLAY

After the first half they looked like being one of the best teams to feature at the KC this season. They were causing us problems and appeared to be a confident, well-drilled outfit. Strangely for a Neil Warnock side they came out and appeared to be quite subdued in the second half, which given the fact they had equalised late in the first half you would have thought it would have been the other way round. They certainly looked happy as the half went on to settle for a point, which may in the end prove costly if Wolves and Ipswich pip them to the final play-off spot on Sunday.


REFEREE

R Booth – 6

Not the worst, but inconsistent and missed an awful challenge on Windass. Allowed Morrison to get away with things that he was pulling Caleb Folan up for, and looked in danger of losing control of the match in the first half.

ATTENDANCE- 24,350
Biggest of the season which included a very healthy travelling contingent.

ATMOSPHERE
Ashbee’s late winner ensured a carnival feel and the happiest end to a regular season since the last promotion match against Swindon in 2005.

HULL MAN OF THE MATCH
Ashbee just shades it ahead of Campbell and Doyle as his spirit, battle and resilience are typical of the season the club has had.

CRYSTAL PALACE MAN OF THE MATCH
Victor Moses for his first half display. Will certainly be a star of the future if he can do that over 90 minutes.

RATINGS

Myhill – 6 – Caught napping a bit for the goal, but not too much to do.

Ricketts – 6 – Moses gave him a nightmare in the first half, battled back well in the second

Turner – 7- Solid at the back, not given too many problems by Morrison. Almost scored for the fifth home match in a row.

Brown – 7- at fault for the goal but prior to that got in the way of everything. A brave performance.

Pederson – 5 – Troubled by Sinclair and taken off early on, possibly a result of his recent injury.


Ashbee – 9- how people question this guy’s immeasurable contribution is beyond me and once again showed real leadership qualities and bravery by keeping us in the hunt. Deserves to be held in the same legendary status as the likes of Wagstaff, Chilton et all in the future. Let’s face it, he has steered us to our highest finish for 98 years. And has done a hell of a lot for this club in 6 years.

Marney – 7- Started the second half like a man possessed and a quality set piece led to the winner.

Hughes- 7- decent game linked up with the attack well in the first half

Windass – 6 – Was looking sharp until being cynically taken out of the game by Derry. Another quality free kick nearly put us out of sight before half time.

Campbell – 8 – Yet another quality performance from a player who has been a real class act this season. Goal came from nothing and some of his flicks and runs were sublime.

Folan – 7- another strong game, won a lot in the air, pace caused problems.

SUBS:
Doyle – 8 – Superb performance to say he has played so little football at this level. Looked confident in attack and defence and wasn’t intimidated by Sinclair.

Barmby – 7 – Looked sharp considering he has been out for so long.

Fagan – 6 – Decent second half performance

VERDICT:
Superb. The dream lives on, but no matter what happens next week and beyond it has been an unbelievable season. From finishing 21st with 49 points to 3rd in 12 months is a terrific achievement. Well done Phil, Paul, Ian and the lads. Palace played their part also in what was an entertaining game of football.