Reality check for City as Lilywhites avenge opening day mauling
CLOSE: Tom Eaves is denied. Pictures: Hull City
Hull City 0 - 1 Preston North End
Sky Bet Championship
By Sam Hawcroft, Hull City correspondent
After a week in which excitement around Hull City reached fever pitch, following one of the best bits of transfer window business in recent memory, they were handed a reality check against Preston North End this afternoon.
The Lilywhites had had the edge for much of the game and, following their goal early in the second half, they shut up shop, and a Tigers equaliser never really looked on the cards.
New boys Allahyar Sayyadmandesh, Liam Walsh and Marcus Forss had all started on the bench, alongside former loan star Regan Slater. Ryan Longman had also been signed up on deadline day for what will surely prove a steal, in a deal understood to be around £700,000.
Entirely missing, though, was goalkeeper Nathan Baxter through illness. Matt Ingram returned to the starting 11, with 19-year-old keeper Harvey Cartwright on the bench.
Just two minutes in, City nearly had the ball in the net from a corner by George Honeyman. Daniel Iverson, in the Preston goal, pulled off a great save from Di’Shon Bernard’s deflected header, in front of the sizable and noisy away following in the North Stand.
Five minutes later a great pass from Honeyman to Tom Eaves, racing towards the left post, resulted in another corner, which Jacob Greaves rose to meet, but Preston managed to clear.
City had looked in control during the early stages, but the first real warning signs came in the 20th minute, after Preston were awarded a free kick about 25 yards out on the left. Sean McLoughlin cleared off the line from the resulting goalmouth scramble, and then the visitors kept up the pressure with a couple of corners in quick succession.
And they should have been 1-0 up in the 24th minute from the second of those corners, when a header from Patrick Bauer fell to Cameron Archer. City cleared as far as Andrew Hughes, whose header bounced off the underside of the bar. Ingram then saved the follow-up from Emil Riis Jakobsen.
The Tigers responded immediately, though, and in the 25th minute a great cross from Keane Lewis-Potter on the left found Eaves on the six-yard line. He hurled himself at the ball and looked nailed-on to score, but somehow Iversen managed to spread-eagle himself to keep out the big number nine – a magnificent point-blank stop.
In the 32nd minute, a long-range free kick from Honeyman found Bernard at the back post, but he headed wide. Five minutes later, a mistake in the area by McLoughlin set up Archer to shoot, but Ingram stuck out a leg to deny him. Seconds later, Archer hit the post with a low shot from 20 yards.
This was proving a much sterner test than Swansea the previous week, and a Preston goal looked far more likely as the minutes ticked towards half-time. City looked promising on the attack, but rather exposed at the back.
Shota Arveladze resisted any temptation to make immediate changes after the interval, as North End continued to pile on the pressure. In the 49th minute, Alan Browne beat Ingram with a superb strike – but it was chalked off by the referee for handball in the build-up.
The Tigers failed to heed the warning, though, and moments later the 1-0 lead was in no doubt after Greg Docherty fluffed a clearance that landed at the feet of Ben Whiteman. He lofted the ball to Archer, who made no mistake from about 12 yards. Justice, as far as the away contingent were concerned.
This was motivation enough for Arveladze to make the first change, as Marcus Forss replaced Longman in the 54th minute. Three minutes later, it was Eaves’s turn to have the ball in the net after being played in by Docherty, but the offside flag was raised. In the 58th minute, Alfie Jones returned from a lengthy injury lay-off, on for Bernard.
Preston were proving an increasingly tough nut to crack, though. In the 65th minute, a long-range free kick by Honeyman was easily collected by Iversen, but the game looked to be slipping from City’s grasp. Surely the third and final tactical move would be to bring on Allahyar? Not yet…
With half an hour left, City won a corner after a thundering 20-yard shot from Richie Smallwood was deflected over, but it came to nothing, and the Tigers were struggling to put together many attacking moves of note.
Allahyar, poised to make his debut at last, was forced to wait on the sidelines as a couple more corners came City’s way, but Preston stood firm. Then, at last, the Iranian striker was introduced in the 83rd minute, replacing Smallwood, as the City fans roared on a short-lived patch of late pressure.
About three minutes into the five of added time, City won yet another corner, temporarily halting the exit of hundreds of Tigers fans who had begun to stream out of the stadium, but it was not to be.
In the end, despite the East Stand all but selling out again and the attendance creeping up past 14,000, it was the North Stand that was bouncing, and after a brief foray into 18th place without kicking a ball, the Tigers return to the familiar territory of 19th once more.
This looks like being a make-or-break month as far as a top-half charge is concerned, with a pretty congested fixture list - but at least now City are blessed with options. Arveladze hasn’t done much tinkering with the starting 11 thus far… perhaps he will next time around.