Sickener for City as Reading steal it late
Pictures by Hull City
Hull City 1 - 2 Reading
Sky Bet Championship
Attendance: 15,997
By Sam Hawcroft, Hull City Correspondent
A dream homecoming was not to be for City’s new head coach Liam Rosenior after his new charges snatched defeat from the jaws of victory through an own goal in the 94th minute – and defeats don’t come much crueller than that.
Rosenior had been introduced on to the pitch moments before the annual Remembrance ceremony, the silent part of which was moderately well observed, but modern football crowds do seem to have lost the art of following the order of service.
The crowd burst into applause after the end of the Last Post – admittedly a fine rendering, unlike the unfortunate bugler whose rather stuttering efforts were televised to the nation at Torquay last week – and the playing of the Reveille and subsequent prayer reading was all but drowned out.
The home fans could perhaps been forgiven their exuberance, though, given the anticipation and positive vibes surrounding the new manager’s first home match – especially coming off the back of a fine win at Cardiff. Indeed, within the first 20 seconds after kick-off, a loud chorus of “His nanna’s from Hull” resounded from the North Stand, and Rosenior waved back in appreciation.
It was no airy gesture; there was genuine emotion in that wave. Rarely have football managers such strong connections with their clubs these days, but, as Rosenior told yesterday’s press conference, he passionately wants his side to represent the Hull values of “honesty”, “integrity” and “hard work”.
City made the best possible start, too. Just six minutes in, they won their first corner after a shot from Ryan Longman was deflected out. From Jean Michael Seri’s kick, Ryan Woods headed it back in, and the unmarked Tobias Figuereido’s powerful header was superbly saved by Dean Bouzanis, who leapt to his left to tip it over.
Take two. City had another go – and this time, Bouzanis was beaten.
Seri took the corner kick again, and it was met by Jacob Greaves, who planted a close-range header into the back of the net. It was his first goal at the MKM Stadium, and in front of those rapturous North Stand fans, too.
Reading were rocked, as the Tigers came at them again and again. After just 15 minutes, the North and East stands were chanting back and forth, which they usually tend to do when City are 3-0 up and coasting – but everything about this felt right. At this moment, it felt like this might be the day when we turned around our dreadful home record.
In the 23rd minute, there was very nearly a calamity for Reading when Bouzanis came well out of his area and misjudged his clearance, under challenge from Regan Slater. With a wide-open goal at his mercy, Slater should perhaps have tried a snapshot, but he was eventually forced wide and Bouzanis’s blushes were spared.
Had that gone in, who knows where things might have ended up – but Reading were beginning to gain a bit more of a foothold in the game, and just after the half-hour mark they pegged City back.
Nathan Baxter scrambled to put out a long-range effort by Junior Hoilett, and from the resulting corner, Yakou Meite bundled the ball in. Suddenly reality kicked in, and the atmosphere was far more muted.
Shortly after came another flashpoint, as Jeff Hendrick went in hard and high on Woods. He took some time to recover while the referee, surrounded by angry City players, eventually produced a card – which was yellow, to the clear dissatisfaction of the home fans, players and Rosenior, who was on the touchline shaking his head.
Reading could have been considered lucky to return for the second half with 11 men, then, but the Tigers stepped up a gear and enjoyed the greater share of the possession as they strove for the breakthrough.
In the 50th minute, a downwards header from Meite was safely collected by Baxter, as both teams were cancelling each other out to an extent. Greg Docherty, who was instrumental in midfield, played in Slater on the left-hand side of the area; he attempted a dramatic scissor kick, but it was blocked.
Rosenior made his first changes on the hour. Ozan Tufan, Lewie Coyle and Dogukan Sinik replaced Woods, Cyrus Christie and Dimitri Pelkas as the volume in the stadium increased. Three minutes later, a ball across goal from Ryan Longman very nearly found Slater, then a cross from Coyle on the right was well punched out by Bouzanis before the offside flag went up.
Bouzanis was nearly caught out again moments later when City regained possession and Greaves played in Longman. The keeper came out to meet him and was very nearly rounded, but it was scrambled out for a corner. As it was being taken, there came the first of a trio of penalty appeals by City, as Greaves appeared to be felled off the ball. Not given.
A dangerous cross from Greaves flashed across goal and didn’t connect with any City players, and Reading looked a little on the rails once more. The Tigers continued to hold the ball in midfield until Slater was fouled. Seri stood over the free kick as Reading made a couple more substitutes – including “soccer bad-boy Andy Carroll” (copyright all tabloids), who came on to a smattering of boos. For all the build-up, Seri’s kick was poor, but still the Tigers pressed.
A cross from Coyle was held by Bouzanis in the 73rd minute, shortly before Tufan was bundled over in the box and the South Stand fans were up in arms once more. Not given.
Slater put in a lung-busting run down the right a few minutes later, under challenge from Amadou Salif Mbengue. In truth Slater was second in the race, but when the referee gave a free kick against him, he made his feelings known.
With just 10 minutes to go, a Longman daisy-cutter was easily scooped up by Bouzanis, and a few minutes later Longman tested him again, flicking the ball into the arms of the keeper.
As City continued to press for the winner, roared on by the fans, there was yet another penalty shout, as Seri went down in the box under challenge. Not given, yet again, though it looked like minimal contact had been made - not that the South Stand fans would agree.
Just after four minutes of added time were announced, an unfortunate cannon off the referee zapped the momentum from another City attack, before Docherty was adjudged to have fouled Lucas Joao with seconds left on the clock.
And City’s set-piece defending yet again proved terminal as, under pressure from Carroll, Longman headed into his own net from the 30-yard free kick.
The small contingent of Reading fans in the North East corner erupted, some spilling out on to the pitch. It was a heartbreaking blow for City, who would have fully deserved the point, and a hugely disappointing way to go out before the four-week break for the World Cup. But, while many of us will be swilling beer and settling down to watch England, Rosenior’s hard work has only just begun. See you all in December…