Tufan penalty gives Tigers deserved win against Watford

Pictures courtesy of Hull City

Hull City 1 - 0 Watford

Sky Bet Championship

MKM Stadium

Attendance: 20,666

By Sam Hawcroft, Hull City Correspondent

Ozan Tufan’s first-half penalty against his former club was the difference in this decidedly on-the-beach clash with a disjointed Watford whose faint hopes of making the play-offs have now been extinguished.

This year’s campaign already being well over for City, there was something of a “last match of the season” vibe in the air before kick-off, with more bangers from local DJ Eddie Richards and yet another 20,000-plus crowd swelled by thousands of youngsters from local grassroots football teams in the Upper West.

The huge “From Boothferry to Wembley” flag, which has so far this season been the preserve of the North Stand, was this time loaned to East Stand. As the fans set it on its way along the blocks in the direction of the South Stand, a chant of “we want our flag back” could clearly be heard from the home fans behind the goal…

A sixth-minute shot over the bar by Joao Pedro, after City had struggled to clear in their own box, was the only moment of note in an opening period of fairly aimless, foot-off-the-gas football as befits two teams with nothing to play for (hardly anything, anyway – Watford had the, er, outsidest of outside chances of sneaking into the play-offs ahead of this match).

The Tigers did enjoy a spell of pressure before a dramatically executed diving header by Callum Elder went wide in the 21st minute.

So far, so dull… but then City were gifted the lead in the 25th minute through some pretty woeful Watford defending.

Irish 19-year-old Harry Vaughan, making his home debut, raced into the box and found Regan Slater with a lovely backheel pass that completely outfoxed Ryan Andrews, who clumsily up-ended Slater.

It was a clear penalty, and Tufan dispatched it into the bottom-left corner – and, as his fellow players crowded around him in celebration, he seemed to make a point of running towards the West Stand, well away from the contingent of Watford fans in the North East corner.

Moments later, though, Pedro nearly levelled for the Hornets, but his chip over Darlow soared well above the crossbar.

Just after the half-hour, after a period of ping-pong in the Tigers box, the City keeper eventually pounced on the ball.

Five minutes later, the Tigers were enjoying their own bit of ping-pong at the opposite end, but, similarly, it came to nothing, before an 18-yard shot from Pedro drew a comfortable save from Darlow in the 40th minute.

The second half began in much the same fashion as the first, with very little urgency or anything in the way of clear chances for a good 10 or 15 minutes, though City were enjoying the majority of the pressure.

On the hour-mark, Lewie Coyle was booked for a foul on Pedro, who was advancing down the left – but from Imran Louza’s free kick, Pedro headed well over.

Two minutes later, several Watford players swarmed referee Oliver Langford, claiming that Jean Michael Seri had handled the ball in the area – but Langford waved away their appeals.

Langford was at the centre of things again shortly after, as scuffles broke out in the box just as Louza was about to take a corner.

From the kick, Vaughan was bundled over on the edge of the area, but City managed to launch a counterattack. It petered out, though, just before Liam Rosenior made his first changes of the afternoon – bringing on Greg Docherty and Malcolm Ebiowei for Adama Traore and Allahyar Sayyadmanesh.

Tackles both foul and fair were now beginning to fly in as the tempo began to rise a little, even if the spectacle was still somewhat lacking.

Louza then had a bit of a hissy fit, flailing his arms and almost doing a double pirouette, all because a throw-in didn’t go Watford’s way, which drew jeers (mainly from the kids) from the West Stand.

Dimitrios Pelkas and Xavier Simons replaced Tufan and Seri in the 76th minute, seconds before a free kick was floated into the Tigers box – but none of the Watford players could latch on to it.

Pedro then upended Vaughan on the left touchline, and Ebiowei raced over to defend him. As Pedro squared up to Ebiowei, he looked to have caught him in the face, and the City number 10 remained poleaxed on the turf for a few moments – before both were booked, the referee clearly deciding it was a case of six and two threes. It was all becoming a bit comically temperamental.

In the 83rd minute, Ismaila Sarr had probably Watford’s best chance yet to get back in it, as he attempted to chip Darlow from about 20 yards out – but the City keeper leapt up and got a hand to it to put it wide.

There was a standing ovation a few minutes later as the hugely impressive Vaughan was replaced by Ryan Woods.

In the middle of four minutes of injury time, Ken Sema’s row-Z-er was gleefully caught and tossed about by the fans in the North Stand, which sort of summed up the game, really.

So, this one won’t live long in the memory – but the fact it was watched by the third 20,000-plus crowd in a row is testament to the great work Acun Ilicali, Tan Kesler and co are continuing to do at the club. Just imagine what it will be like when we actually do have something to play for next season…