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Another away day thumping for the Tigers, but for much of this game City competed equally with Swindon amid sleety conditions, only to be caught on the break late on as they pressed forward for a winner |
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On a foul winter’s day in Wiltshire we arrived at half-time fortunate on the balance of play to be level, and then, for a good twenty minutes or so, proceeded to dominate the game. But we didn’t score the goal our pressure merited and when woeful defending allowed Swindon a 2-1 lead, the points were gone. Three goals in the last three minutes – two for them, and then one for us – lent a misleading impression to the scoreline, but overall, though this was a game we might plausibly have gained reward from, the bottom line is that they took their chances more decisively than us and they defended more sturdily than us. That’s two bottom lines, then. Lining up under clouds the colour of mercury which were already showering cold rain on the minority of the travelling City support who had braved the open end in preference to the gaunt grandstand: Myhill The marauding Tigs almost added to our store of first-minute goals as a delightful passing move put Stuart Green in with a sight on goal before sleepy Swindon had realised what was afoot, but his shot was blocked. Shortly afterwards Myhill and Joseph confused each other and made a complete joint mess of a cross to the back post, but fortunately neither of the home side’s dangerous striking duo, Christian Roberts and Sam Parkin, were close by and the only Swine who was, Duke, shied away from the physical challenge. The game settled down. Rain turned to sleet, attention wandered, the slack-jawed, skinny-legged Swindon Robin mascot took a verbal pasting. It’s grim out West. On 20, to general surprise, the balance was shattered, and Swindon scored. Roberts zipped down the left, hurled a flashing cross towards the edge of the six-yard box where his partner Parkin, right in the middle of the goalmouth, stooped to head the ball past Myhill. He was completely unmarked and, not for the first time this season, the Cort/ Delaney partnership looked bedraggled and puzzled. We now had to take off Dawson, who was injured though I didn’t notice how. Junior went to left-back, Elliott was pulled back to the left-side of midfield, Keane went central and Walters came on to join Barmby up front. None of these readjustments can excuse more sloppy defending. Robinson slipped a pass into Parkin’s path and with Cort completely off the pace and out of position it was only Parkin’s poor direction that spared us. The ball rolled just beyond Myhill’s far post. Half-an-hour gone, we look a lot more likely to cave in horribly than to equalise. So we equalise. A neat move culminates in a superbly judged square ball from Barmby to freescorin’ Jonny Walters, who is unmarked with the goal in his sights. And he hesitates. The space is closed down, a defender is across to cover. Not a source of concern for our master marksman. He has a cunning plan. He belts a shot against the defender’s legs and watches in gleeful satisfaction as the ball spins wildly away from the despairing clutches of netman Evans to nestle in the far side-netting. Just as young Walters had planned it. 1-1, and that hadn’t looked likely. Joseph storms down the right – just foiled. Green pings in a fierce low shot – pouched by the alert Evans. But Swindon have the last shout before half-time as Jenkins plays in Parkin, who flicks a header wastefully wide of the goal when he really should have scored. During the interval a pantomime cow roams the pitch. I don’t know why. We make a pleasingly bright start to the second half, and begin to dominate possession. A vicious 25-yard shot from Joseph flies just over the bar courtesy of an Evans fingertip save. Then a powerful surge from Walters, holding off his man impressively, ends in a neat pass to Green and a blocked attempt on goal. Walters again, this time flicking on for Barmby to cushion a clever header back into the path of Cort on the edge of box who flails wildly at a tempting volley and sends the ball high into the snowclouds. The game’s lively. I couldn’t say any of our players are on top of their game but with Barmby and Green periodically flashing cleverly, Walters hurtling around with determination and Ashbee the usual mix of commitment and patchily-directed passing, we’re having the better of it. But we don’t score. The pattern changes. It’s level now. And Swindon do score. It’s a rank, rotten, awful goal too. A corner is hoofed to the back post where – criminally – we allow it to drop to the turf. There’s a melee, but Swindon legs and bodies fly in with more conviction and the ball is bundled over the line. It all happened at the far end and several curtains of sleet and wind separated me from the details of culpritry but, my oh my, it wasn’t pretty. We’ve still got quarter of an hour within which to rescue a point and it’s not a forlorn hope. Alsop replaces Keane and shortly afterwards a corner lands squarely on the underperforming Aussie’s forehead. He smacks the ball goalwards but it’s straight at Evans who is able to clutch the ball safely above his head. A yard either side, and the effort would have flown into the net. And if my grandmother had had a penis, then she’d’ve been my grandfather. Alssop was at the heart of the contest again a couple of minutes later when a sliding tackle robbed him and delivered the ball directly back to Evans. We howled for a back-pass and might have been granted a free-kick in a home game. But not in the chill sleet at Swindon. Time’s ebbing away, we’re forced to commit men forward and we’re ripe to be hit on the break. And a sweeping move duly allows Parkin time to tee the ball up on to his left boot and curve a fine finish past the exposed Myhill. On the day I thought strength, ball control and passing placed Roberts a shade ahead of Parkin as a player, but Parkin took both his goals very well and they are obviously a pair capable of performing a Division higher than this. Our manager’s summer striker shopping list appears to have featured Parkin, Steve Brooker of Port Vale and Stockport’s Aaron Wilbraham. I think I am right to say that between them this trio has bagged five goals now this season in Hull City matches. None for us. A minute later another quick break slices gaping wounds in our defence and a low cross is smacked into the net from close range. 4-1. Bit harsh. Then, to conclude, a comedy moment as ungainly centre-back O’Hanlon simply falls over in the box to leave the ball unattended and Elliott steps up gratefully to slam a low shot underneath Evans. 4-2. The weather was utterly miserable and the pitch had got very wet, with the ball on occasion failing to run truly. In the circumstances it was a decent game and the players generally did well to avoid howlers of the type which afflicted O’Hanlon right at the end. Mistakes made by our defence could not be blamed on the conditions. Junior’s “self-nutmeg” – in which, under no pressure, he controlled the ball with his right foot and somehow contrived to slip it between his legs and out for a Swindon throw off his left ankle – was plainly the product of conscientious training ground preparation. But the goal that decided this game was Swindon’s second and where we went wrong there was in failing to stick a bloody great boot through a loose ball in the six-yard box and sending it into Row Z. “Doing a Whittle”, I believe it is called, though people other than the saintly Justin are allowed to do it too. Ah well. Looking at the fixture list at the start of the season, a handful of away games stood out for me as “ones I don’t fancy much, we’ll probably get beat there”. Unglamorous teams, tough to play on their own patch. There was Port Vale, and we lost there. Bristol City, the same. And now Swindon. Another defeat. It’s March before the next one that has me wrinkling my nose in distaste crops up – Tranmere. Plenty of time between now and then to pile up the points needed to get us firmly into the top 6, and maybe even the top 2. We’re plenty able to do it, but even though we are and will surely remain a goalscoring side we can and must defend more resolutely than we did at the County Ground yesterday. |
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HULL CITY (4-4-2): Myhill; Joseph, Cort, Delaney, Dawson; Green, Ashbee, Lewis, Keane; Barmby, Elliott. Subs: Walters (for Dawson, 22), Allsopp (for Keane, 77), Hinds, Brock, France. Goals: Walters 36; Elliott 90 Booked: None Sent Off: None
SWINDON TOWN: Evans, Jenkins, O'Hanlon, Heywood, Ifil, Duke, Igoe, Robinson, Howard, Parkin, Roberts. Subs: Book, Fallon, Garrard, Smith, Reeves Goals: Parkin 22, 87; O'Hanlon 74; Roberts 90 Booked: None Sent Off: None
REFEREE: M Dean ATTENDANCE: 6,348 |
Last revised: November 21, 2004