Frustration as Tigers held by PNE

Pictures courtesy of Hull City

Hull City 0 - 0 Preston North End

Sky Bet Championship

MKM Stadium

Attendance: 17,776

By Sam Hawcroft, Hull City Correspondent

Hull City and Preston North End cancelled each other out in this goalless midtable clash that had its moments – but won’t be one to live long in the memory.

The match began in sombre fashion with a well-observed minute’s silence for the victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, and Turkish flags could be seen on all sides of the stadium as owner Acun Ilicali – who last week helped launch a live seven-hour TV fundraiser that raised a staggering £5 billion – looked on.

The Tigers started with promise, as barely 30 seconds from kick-off Dimitrios Pelkas broke free and raced into the area, but Preston keeper Freddie Woodman was alert and quickly came out to meet him.

In the eighth minute, a great ball from Ozan Tufan on the left found Pelkas in the area. He struggled to hold the ball up, before it fell back to Tufan. He attempted to curl a shot in but overhit it, and it went well over.

Preston, for their part, had won themselves a handful of corners in the early stages, but were looking exposed to the counter attack. In the 11th minute, City broke again, but Ryan Longman could only balloon his cross over.

In the 15th minute, another mistake by the Preston defence let in Pelkas, who raced past Jordan Storey and beat Woodman – the ball flashed across the goal, but Oscar Estupinian was just too far away to poke it in from close range.

The best chance, though, came for Preston in the 21st minute, after a clumsy touch by Alfie Jones allowed Liam Delap to unleash a powerful shot that went into the right-hand side netting.

A couple of minutes later, the North Stand broke out into an especially poignant chant of “Acun, give us a wave” – and he obliged, to warm applause from the fans.

On the half-hour City went on the counter attack again with Oscar playing in Pelkas, who in turn passed to Tufan, racing clear into the area on the left. Woodman came out, and got the ball – but Tufan went down in dramatic fashion as the North Stand clamoured for the penalty. Referee Sam Allison – making his officiating debut in the Championship game – said no, and booked Tufan for diving.

After Christie shot just wide from 25 yards, the North Stand was again in uproar, as Woodman looked to have taken a touch to it, but no corner was given and Allison was fast becoming the target of the fans’ ire.

On 39 minutes, after Preston gave the ball away yet again, Longman played in Oscar, but he could only drag his shot wide from inside the area. It was clearly going a yard beyond the post and Woodman should have left it – but he spilled it over the line, and from the corner Greg Docherty headed just wide of the left post from about 12 yards. It was fumble after fumble – from both sides, it must be said.

As the half drew to a close, Ben Woodburn put in a strong challenge on Tufan – but no yellow card was forthcoming, and Woodburn raised the hackles of the East Stand yet further as he took an age to get to his feet.

Right on the stroke of 45, City came so close as Docherty attempted to stab in a loose ball from six yards – just as a pitch invader stopped play for a few minutes. There was a huge cheer from both home and away fans as he was eventually wrestled by the stewards – and carried off with his trousers around his ankles.

A minute into the second half and the Tigers came even closer to taking the lead. From a corner by Pelkas, Jones got a foot to it – but so did Woodman, stabbing the ball instinctively back out. Pelkas then picked up the ball on the right, but shot straight at Woodman.

After this, City went off the boil a bit and let Preston come back into the game, and the Lilywhites enjoyed a period of considerable pressure for about 10-15 minutes.

In the 53rd minute, Tom Cannon, on the right, cut it back to substitute Troy Parrott. He was completely unmarked in the area, but he could only shoot wide – a big let-off for City. Preston came forward again and after a dicey few seconds in the Tigers’ six-yard area, Alvaro Fernandez tried to get the touch before Brad Potts skied it over. Suddenly the Preston fans in the North East corner were making themselves heard.

In the 63rd minute, a cross from Jacob Greaves looped dangerously near the goal, forcing Woodman to get his fingers to it – before a clash in the area led to a booking for Pelkas.

That was to be his last act, as he was taken off for Regan Slater, while Malcolm Ebiowei made his home debut, coming on for Longman.

Five minutes later, Tufan made a storming run down the left and into the area, forcing a save from Woodman.

Diaby was then booked for a bad challenge on Slater, injuring himself in the process. While he was still down, play carried on, and Oscar had a promising shooting opportunity – which he put into Row Z.

Benjamin Tetteh replaced Oscar in the 75th minute – just as the stadium erupted in applause for Tigers fan Susan Collingwood, who died last week, aged 75, after becoming seriously ill during the Turkey trip in November. It was accompanied by a tribute on the big screen – a lovely gesture from the club.

But the realisation was fast setting in that this had 0-0 written all over it, despite a few last-ditch attempts by both sides to break the deadlock.

Preston captain Alan Browne shot just over in the 78th minute, but it was City who finished the stronger despite dropping two home points.

You couldn’t have accused them of not going in search of the winner, but they were guilty of squandering their set-piece chances. During the five minutes of added time, urged on by a loud North Stand, Tufan could only find the first man from a free kick on the right about 25 yards out, and a fortuitous corner seconds later also came to nothing.

There were a few boos on the full-time whistle, though it was unclear as to whether these were directed at the players, or the referee. More than likely both – but the boo boys should acknowledge that this was another clean sheet which extended our unbeaten home run to six. Yes, we’re firmly midtable material and top six is increasingly a pipe dream. But look at how far Liam Rosenior has taken us in such a short time. Keep the faith!