OC7 Home Latest

After a dreadful Tigers performance, Keith Dean returns from holiday and asks what all the fuss is about, we're just as poor as ever, aren't we?

A roll. We were on one. Apparently.

I add the note of scepticism because, you see, I've been away on hols for a few weeks. When I left, the disappointing start had stretched to six non-victorious games and just about every aspect of the team's performance was under question. I missed the draw with Leyton; the thrillingly brave effort against Leicester and the two wins against Cambridge and Carlisle. On my return I read how the defence has become a solid individual unit; how the team were scoring goals and pushing on looking for more and that Ryan Williams was indeed a true wizard of the wing tormenting full-backs with his incisive and direct running.

That's not quite how it seemed last night.

Lining up for, perhaps, out last night match at The Ark were,

Glennon
Regan Whittle Anderson Smith
Green Ashbee Keates Williams
Alexander Jevons

Our visitors, in a dapper deep blue kit, included MaccWillo in nets and MaccLightbourne (looking a whole lot slimmer than he ever did in a Tiger's shirt) up front. A quiet enough start but City did maintain a high proportion of the possession. Jevons and Alexander appeared willing runners onto long, deep balls to the corner flags but the midfield never supported in sufficient numbers. On ten, Jevons caught up with one on the right touchline and, with not a great deal of space to work in, turned the defender and put in an inviting cross to the near post. Alexander was lurking but Bransholme's No. 1 gathered it safely. That was, in fact, his second safe catch of a high cross and, all night, his kicking was accurate and long. An imposter surely? Green started to get into the game and seemed keen for the ball. Sometimes he would start it from deep bringing colleagues into play, and other times he'd look to get ahead of the strikers and keep the oppo on their toes. A proper midfielder, this lad. And, after a quarter of an hour, it was he who put us ahead. A well-timed, ghosting run down the inside right channel was spotted by Jevons and his precise, perfectly weighted pass beat the offside trap. Green took a couple of touches to get himself to the edge of the area and was able to stroke it past the onrushing MaccKeeper.

I started to believe.

For the next twenty minutes or so we looked OK. We kept the ball and tried similar moves to open up the Macc defence. It was patient and controlled, and we quite often put a string of passes together, but it lacked a killer touch or an explosive bit of pace to really shake them up. We tried feeding it out to Williams, we tried using Regan on the overlap and we tried high balls up to Alexander but the individual players simply didn't do enough to cause the away defence any serious problems. With the exception of a couple of goalmouth scrambles, the nearest we came to a second goal was a free-kick, about 25 yards out, which Smith hit low and hard around the wall. The initial strike was parried and then smothered before Alexander could take advantage. And then the final five minutes of the half were a bit of a scare. Firstly, a MaccStriker got on the end of a long ball beyond our central defenders and hared into the area. If he'd had shot early we'd have been in trouble but he took it on a tad further and the cover managed to get back close enough to force him nearer and nearer to the byeline so, in the end, his shot smacked into the side netting. But the real wake-up call was still to come. Justin did well to get any sort of defensive header onto a high punt whilst backpedalling and with MaccLightbourne right on his shoulder. But, for the second ball, we simply fannied around for what seemed like an age and no-one took the responsibility of getting rid. Two or three had the time to hoof it clear but hesitation and indecision resulted in Keates cushioning a header into an open space inside the area. Right into the path of MaccWelsh. To the sound of a huge sigh of relief, he showed us why he is the 39th best player at Macclesfield by pushing his shot wide of Glennon and the post from only 12 yards out.

The half time summing up around me made numerous comparisons to Saturday's win. We were a goal up but hadn't looked convincing. The opposition looked pretty average. So, that was it then, they were in for a second half pasting again.

Within five minutes of the restart I knew I had been the victim of an elaborate hoax.

True, we couldn't have done much about the equaliser. Forty yards out, and yes it was forty, the stocky defender MaccWelch (a totally different character to first half blunder boy) hit a screamer that Glennon would have seen late, and he did get a hand to it, but I'm guessing that the element of surpirse was what really caught him out. It came from nowhere. But the second goal ? Oh deary me. Whittle was tracking back to the edge of his area to clear up a forward hoof. Glennon started to come for it but stopped. Whittle hesitated. Glennon took another step forward and another back. Justin turned his body to enable him to thump it away but, in doing so, opened up the gap for MaccLightbourne to nip in, knock it past the flat-footed keeper and tap into an empty net from the edge of the six yard box. The defence as a solid individual unit ? I think not. And that wasn't even the end of it. They could have scored more as another three good chances were wasted. A passing move starting from their ring wing was worked across field and the final pass, along the edge of the area, found one of theirs in a lot of space but he blazed over as a last-gasp despairing tackle flew in. Another MaccLad then screwed a shot across the goal and wide of Glennon's left hand post after more simple passing had opened us up and then a left wing cross flew across the face of our goal needing just a touch to add to the humiliation. Our response ? Well it wasn't that convincing to be honest. The Dude replaced Jevons and played down the left touchline whilst Johnson came on for a wholly ineffective Williams and pushed forward wide on the right. With Alexander, they looked a lively and more urgent threat but only sporadically. We still struggled in midfield and were now a body short in that area. Dude's runs caused some panic in the Macc defence and brought about a number of corners. They were swung in and MaccWillo at last began to look like the lightweight flapper we recalled from days gone by. But we never ever got anyone in the right place to take advantage of his fubles or pick up the loose ball. Ashbee was the worst culprit when he failed to have a pop at goal from inside the area, instead choosing to turn and retreat and try to feed the ball out wide again. And we had had one golden opportunity to get back onto level terms with 15 mins or so remaining. Dudfield advanced down the left flank then checked back inside before swinging over a quality ball, with his right foot, angled into the area. Alexander had read it and got between and beyond their two central defenders and met the ball just five yards out. MaccWillo had remained stranded on his line, and now cowered, his kness knocking together, as foot met ball. And we watched in disbelief as the ball then, somehow, arced up and over the bar. Reality bit.

Just to finish off a grim evening the visitors increased their lead in the dying seconds. One of theirs ran into the area, inside left channel, and again should have hit it early but the extra touch allowed Anderson to make a perfectly timed sliding tackle. The MaccBoy stayed on his feet and was able to play a simple pass inside to MaccAskey who finished to Glennon's left.

So it was true then. You had all been lying to me. What had I witnessed ? Well, Green put us ahead early and then we go on to concede 3. I'd seen that at Exeter. The defence looked, at times, shambolic and seemed incapable of communicating with each other. I'd seen that at Hartlepool. And Ryan Williams was totally ineffective and was substituted well before the end. We'd be here all day if I started listing where I'd seen that before.

Next time I go on holiday, I'll make sure it's during the close season.

HULL CITY: Glennon, Regan, Whittle, Anderson, Smith, Green, Ashbee, Keates, Williams, Alexander, Jevons. Subs: Dudfield (for Jevons, 58), Johnson (for Williams, 58), Edwards, Musselwhite, Bradshaw

Goals: Green 16

Booked: Ashbee

Sent Off: None

MACCLESFIELD TOWN: Wilson, Tinson, Ridler, Welch, Hitchen, Whittaker, Priest, Welsh, Adams, Lightbourne, Tipton. Subs: Askey (for Lightbourne, 65), Robinson (for Tipton, 73), Munroe (for Welsh, 81), Martin, Hardy

Goals: Welch 47, Lightbourne 50, Askey 90

Booked: Askey, Priest, Welch

Sent Off: none

ATTENDANCE: 8,703