Terriers tame 10-man Tigers after Eaves sees red

Pictures by Hull City

Hull City 0 - 1 Huddersfield Town

Sky Bet Championship

By Sam Hawcroft, Hull City correspondent

Another home loss to another side knocking on the door of the Premier League – but this eventful encounter couldn’t have been more different from the 3-1 pasting at the hands of Luton a couple of weeks ago.

After a second yellow card for Tom Eaves right on half-time forced the Tigers to play the rest of the game with 10 men, it looked as though they might – just might – hold on for a 0-0 draw that would have felt like a victory, despite Huddersfield throwing everything including the kitchen sink at them for almost the full 45 minutes. Alas, it was not to be.

From the off it was clear that City were playing with far more purpose and drive than had been the case in previous recent home matches; in the early stages they were winning their fair share of midfield battles, and Keane Lewis-Potter was looking lively down the left.

In the seventh minute Lewis-Potter fired wide across the face of goal, and moments later he won a free kick on the edge of the D, which he took himself – and forced a brilliant save from Lee Nicholls, who had to leap to his left and whack it away with both hands to stop it finding the top-right corner.

Huddersfield gradually grew into the game, though, and in the 17th minute Honeyman conceded a free kick midway in the City half. Sorba Thomas lofted it straight into the arms of Matt Ingram, who’d had, thus far, not much to do. A minute later, Alfie Jones’s attempt was blocked after good link-up play by Potter and Brandon Fleming.

The first heart-in-mouth moment for the Tigers came in the 20th minute as a good Terriers move involving Lewis O’Brien, Harry Toffolo and Josh Koroma saw Duane Holmes shoot from close range, but Ingram made a great stop to deny him. The Terriers were just beginning to get the upper hand in this patch of play, but, that said, they still couldn’t find a way through despite three consecutive corners after the 25th minute.

In the 33rd minute, Fleming drilled a great cross across the face of goal, and Eaves, at the back post, stuck out one of those long legs of his – but it wasn’t quite long enough to connect with the ball; had it done so, it would have been a certain goal.

A few minutes later there was a bit of handbags between Fleming and Thomas, which earned them both a booking, and the Tigers a free kick from just beyond the halfway line. This sparked the fans in E3 to life, as a crescendo of “We are ‘Ull” rang around the stadium. Richie Smallwood and Holmes then tangled on the byline from the resulting attack, which similarly enlivened the visiting fans right in front of them.

Just before the clock ticked to the 45, Jacob Greaves nodded the ball across the goal from the right, and, to City’s relief, it went a yard or so wide of the far post. However, as he appeared to nod the ball on to his own arm, the Terriers appealed passionately for handball - but the referee waved them away and just gave the corner.

Then came calamity for City. Eaves, already on a yellow card from an earlier late challenge on Levi Colwill, lunged in late again on O’Brien and the referee had no hesitation in issuing the second. Eaves headed disconsolately down the tunnel, moments before the half-time whistle would send his team-mates to follow him. From the resulting free kick, Ollie Turton headed narrowly wide.

With the Tigers’ aerial threat taking an early bath, was it surely just a matter of time before Huddersfield would regain the upper hand and take the lead? The early signs were positive, from a Town point of view, as Koroma had an 18-yard effort saved just two minutes in – but the disadvantage only served to steel the Tigers’ resolve.

Regrouped into a 5-3-1, with Lewis-Potter moved up top, they kept out wave after wave of Terriers attacks. Both Toffolo and Rhodes had shots blocked as the ball was routinely pinged around the six-yard area - but the biggest moment of the half so far was a low drive from Koroma that drew a superb save from Ingram diving to his left.

Again, the E3 Tigers got behind their men, and the large contingent of Hudderfield fans in the North Stand did likewise – the noise was often deafening, not something that’s been written about a Hull City home match for quite some time.

Then, to add to this heady mix, on came ex-Tiger Fraizer Campbell as the hour mark approached – something else for both sets of fans to chant about (but, it has to be said, those booing him from the East Stand need to give their heads a major wobble).

Moments later, referee Jeremy Simpson gave a free kick right on the edge of the area after Koroma was brought down by Smallwood. Most people, including Hull City themselves on Twitter, had thought it was a nailed-on penalty. Rhodes stepped up to take it, but it rebounded off City’s wall and it was scrambled away.

City really were riding their luck here. They were making only the briefest of forays upfield, as Huddersfield were practically camped in their half, and Ingram was called into action time and time again, stopping shots from O’Brien and Jonathan Russell, before Rhodes put a powerful header just wide of the near post in the 74th minute.

But the Tigers’ brave resistance finally broke in the 79th minute. Ingram had pulled off yet another diving save to keep out a header from Danel Sinani after a free kick, but Toffolo was there to poke in the rebound from about a yard out.

City had to throw caution to the wind, and they did give it a good go in the last few minutes. A cross from Lewis-Potter on the right fizzed agonizingly across goal with no one able to connect with it.

At the other end, O’Brien powered a 20-yard shot past a diving Ingram – quite rightly awarded man of the match – as the four minutes of injury time ticked down.

And, seconds before the full-time whistle blew, there was just time for one last moment of anguish, as substitute Allahyar Sayyadmanesh had an open goal at his mercy, but headed into the ground and wide of the target.