Fourth home draw in a row for City as Pilgrims cling on

Pictures courtesy of Hull City

Hull City 1 - 1 Plymouth Argyle

Sky Bet Championship

MKM Stadium

Attendance: 20,312

By Sam Hawcroft, Hull City Correspondent

The Tigers were held at home for the fourth time in a row, but Plymouth Argyle had their keeper to thank for keeping them in it during a dramatic final few minutes. 

City had started fairly slowly and steadily against an organised Plymouth side who looked like they’d come for the win – and, let’s face it, when the round trip is nearly 700 miles, you don’t want to leave empty-handed if you can help it.

There was just the one change to the starting 11, with Sean McLoughlin replacing the suspended Jacob Greaves – and it was a notable day for the Coyle family, as Rocco started on the bench alongside his older brother Lewie, who would also make his 100th league appearance for City.

As ever, Jaden Philogene showed his class early on, advancing into the box on the right, outfoxing his marker and putting in a dangerous cross that evaded Regan Slater lurking in the middle.

This week’s choice of inflatable in the North Stand was a sheep, which bounced around the fans as Philogene, played in by Adama Traoré, shot just over from the right-hand corner of the box in the 14th minute, in what was City’s best chance so far.

The atmosphere, though, was decidedly flatter than the previous two encounters under the lights, and, while the Tigers were dominating possession, they weren’t troubling Plymouth’s keeper over-much.

Then the visitors stunned the 20,000-plus home crowd when they took the lead with their first real attack of note.

Ryan Allsop could only parry Bali Mumba’s initial effort into the path of Adam Randell, who made no mistake with a tap-in just a few yards out on the right.

The Plymouth fans rubbed it in by gleefully mocking that most triggering of Tigers chants. “You’re getting mauled by the Argyle…” You almost had to laugh. Almost. 

Any lingering smiles on City fans’ faces were nearly wiped off minutes later, though, as Plymouth went agonisingly close to doubling their lead.

In the 27th minute, Jean Michael Seri (who, on occasion, is wont to faff around a bit too close to the goalmouth for comfort), failed to clear and only managed to hit it straight at Finn Azaz, but the ball rebounded straight into the arms of Allsop.

Moments later, it really should have been 2-0 as City again failed to clear. With Allsop beaten, a shot from Azaz cannoned off the post and then seemed to take an eternity to roll across the face of the goal before being cleared.

There was a smattering of boos from some disgruntled fans – whom Liam Rosenior would later take aim at in his post-match press conference – and perhaps a few more people than usual began heading on to the concourse early for their half-time pie and pint.

However, those people would have missed the equaliser, which was all the doing of Philogene.

A clearance from MacAuley Gillesphey hit Philogene and ballooned in the opposite direction, and the Argyle defender gave chase, but Philogene got to it first. After a combination of trickery and a fortunate bounce, he deftly squared it to Slater, who tapped in from eight yards. He could hardly have asked for an easier chance to bag his first goal in front of the home fans.

The noise lifted after half-time as City stepped up their attacking efforts. A deflected shot from Slater produced a corner – before a 25-yard effort from Traoré fizzed a yard or so over.

Birthday boy Cyrus Christie then put in a great run down the right and played in Philogene in the centre of the box, but he put a couple too many touches on the ball instead of pulling the trigger, and the chance was lost.

From a short corner, the ball fell to Traore about 20 yards out on the left and he struck another shot that went just over.

In the 56th minute, as the Tigers once again began to dominate possession, Plymouth gave up the ball in the middle of their own half. Aaron Connolly latched on to it, but shot inches wide.

On the hour mark, Rosenior made his first changes, as Liam Delap and Scott Twine replaced Traoré and Slater.

Argyle had their moments, though, and at 1-1 there was always the worry that another slip-up could lose the match.

After a foul by Morton, a 30-yard free kick was deflected out for a corner, and another followed as their fans – an impressive following given the distance they’d travelled – urged them on. Morgan Whittaker had a couple of efforts blocked, and in the 70th minute Allsop clawed at a 12-yard shot from Randell, forcing the Tigers to defend another corner.

Moments later at the other end, Philogene shot high and wide into the South Stand fans.

In the 78th minute, a diving midfield header from Morton found Seri, whose cute touch was picked up by Twine. He played in Philogene, but he could only shoot straight at the keeper.

Delap then saw a shot deflected over, moments before he made a charging run into the area and was blocked – but the referee emphatically waved away the penalty appeal.

Two minutes from time, Philogene won another corner, but Hazard came up well to collect, and on the stroke of the 90, a shot from Morton was tipped over by the big Argyle keeper.

From the resulting corner, Plymouth could only clear it as far as Twine, who fired it back into the box. Alfie Jones practically fell on the ball all of two yards out… but Hazard was there to put his body in front of it as the City defender punched the turf in frustration.

In the 93rd minute, another shot from Philogene was tipped over by Hazard as Plymouth were hanging on by a thread… but hang on they did.

Rosenior has urged fans to look at the performance, and not necessarily the result – and you can’t argue that City didn’t throw the kitchen sink at Argyle towards the end – but was it all a bit too little, too late?