City reach nine consecutive wins as a depleted reserve side see off limited long ball merchants Stockport on their own patch.

As the City fans ambled towards the exits today I took a moment to look around me. People who I didn’t know where talking to me in cheery fashion, asking me if I’d heard the Luton score (I had, and cheered mightily for Barry Fry for the first and last time as his Posh side held the former league leaders to a draw) and expressing their delight over what they had just witnessed. There were a few familiar faces but many that were less familiar. Young dads and young sons. Teenagers and twenty somethings. Men and women. A genuine cross section of Hull society (in some cases) past and (overwhelmingly, I would guess) present. All there to see these wonderful Tigers dish out another mauling, this time to the division’s bottom side. This win put us top of the league and gave City their ninth consecutive win (four wins on the spin away from home). It is a position that, at present, is hard to see City toppled from between now and early May.

Stockport, on the other hand, is a club in evident decline. Their tidy stadium, two sides of which were given over the 1,500 or so Tigery followers out of a crowd of six and a half thousand, tells the tale of recent relative glory. Their playing staff tell the tale of withering collapse. Their new manager, witless long ball merchant Chris Turner, has introduced a brand of ugly football that wasn’t seen at the KC when Sammy McIlroy’s Stockport came to town in September. This aerial onslaught was dealt with imperiously by Delaney and Cort, the latter had as fine a game in black and amber as I have seen since he joined us in the summer. Their team comprised of eleven apparent strangers, bereft of any outward signs of team spirit and shorn of any real vigour for a relegation fight. On today’s showing Stockport are down and out.

On the other hand, we must remember that Hull City are just fantastic at the moment. These are the best days of my City supporting life without question, and the fact that City made six changes today yet still turned in a dominant, overpowering performance speaks volumes for the excellence and collective spirit of the squad of players that has been assembled. Today we lined up thus:

Myhill Joseph Cort Delaney Dawson Price Ashbee Lewis Edge Wilbraham Allsopp

The return of Joseph was a surprise given Angus’s splendid display against Huddersfield, but perhaps the lithe ex-Cam full back was still knackered after his exertions two days previous. On the left Edge was asked to play wide midfield with Dawson filling in defensively behind, which seemed the wrong way around to me. It did to Edge too, who spent most of the first half playing auxiliary left back, reverting to type after a promising attacking start. It was no surprise that Keane replaced Edge at half time, although the identity of our new left winger, fleet of foot trickmeister Junior Lewis, was received with equal incredulity as Edge’s inclusion. Lewis proceeded to turn in a decent second half performance on the left, carrying a threat going forward in his lolloping style while filling in expertly to defend when Stockport advanced. A useful containing ace to have up the Taylor sleeve when the need may next arise.

At the start of the game the need to defend seemed farthest from the Tigers’ thoughts as we took a mere eight minutes to earn the right to play rather than the usual 45 minutes’ worth of foreplay. Stockport looked quite fired up but woefully limited up front, where they carded the dangerous but scarcely willing Feeney (Bournemouth to Stockport is perhaps a summer transfer that he will come to regret) and the dreadful young bruiser Daly, fresh from a failed loan spell at Grimsby Town. It was City’s strikers that carried all the threat as Wilbraham – returning to his former club a second time this season after bagging an Edgeley brace on his loan spell at Oldham – rolled a shot inches wide after a defender mistimed a header and Allsopp bustled around with menacing intent. After nine minutes Price accepted a throw-in and advanced into the box only to be thwarted by a lunging last ditch tackle. The ball broke to Wilbraham on the right hand edge of the six yard box and his instinctive swipe trundled purposefully past a few defenders and their goalie before nestling into the far side netting. Young Aaron’s joy was very nearly unconfined as he celebrated his third goal at his former home this season, to which he has added only one goal at his new home so far. From Wilbraham there is more to come I fancy, Elliott’s elongated absence from the team has placed a new responsibility on our strikers to deliver, and in the last three halves of football Wilbraham has convinced me that he’s ready and able to meet the challenge.

City now annihilated Stockport for fifteen minutes and should have extended their lead. The Stockport programme may have reported 2004 as their “anus horriblis” but it was soon apparent that they are destined to get the bum’s rush a few times in 2005 as well. Much of City’s good work came down the right through Jason Price (pleasingly, right in front of at least half the City fans in attendance) and the Welsh wide wizard had a great chance to double the lead from a Wilbraham nod-down on 17, but he skied an uncontested but difficult twisting opportunity. Then Dawson’s through ball freed Wilbraham and Allsopp for a little one-two action before Allsopp underhit a low shot that keeper Cutler saved comfortably. With 24 on the clock a drubbing appeared to be on the cards for Stockport when their right midfielder Allen swung a hopefully long ball to the far side of City’s penalty area. This was space patrolled by Joseph, who clearly thought that he was not under any challenge from an opponent, and equally clearly (but mystifyingly) thought that Myhill was going to spring 15 yards from his line and claim a ball from Joseph’s toe end. As Joseph stood with the ball at his feet with his arms spread wide apart, the Stockport left back Adams nipped in and rammed a shot past Myhill’s left hand for 1-1. It was an utterly abject piece of defending by Joseph and his game never really picked up after that as Stockport sought out his wing for what attacking they could muster in the remainder of the day’s business. In a City performance that generally reeked of awesomeness, Joseph stank the place out in a rather different way.

The remaining 20 minutes were even as Stockport were buoyed by our generosity and City were a little alarmed to find that they were pegged back to parity after such total domination. One of a hundred high balls was launched at Daly on the edge of City’s box and for some reason Myhill elected to advance and punch away. His connection was weak if not absent, and his clattering of Daly was perhaps fortunate not to be punished by a penalty. Stockport created two half chances that were both steered wide, one falling to Goodwin who scuffed his shot horribly, the other falling to Feeney after an ill-advised back header by Delaney. City also made a few chances, Allsopp heading weakly wide after Wilbraham seemed to be fouled deep in Stockport’s box and Price drawing a low save from Cutler with a daisy cutter. At half time the teams went in equal and the oft-seen City second half onslaught was keenly anticipated.

It came. Within a minute Price was set free deep in Stockport’s box only to see his shot blocked for a corner by a last-ditch tackle. The corner was swung in and, err, a penalty was given. It’s hard to see why, but given the force of his complaint, which yielded a yellow card, I guess that goalie Cutler was the culprit. After a long delay Keane strode up and stroked a meaty shot to Cutler’s left, but at a saveable height. Which is to say, that the keeper saved it. Both teams were now going for it and the gaolscorer Adams nearly doubled his haul when he brushed past a weak Joseph challenge and cracked a shot that beat Myhill but struck the far post before bouncing at the feet of a grateful Cort.

This alarm bell, as has happened so often this season, roused the Tigers into life. A Dawson corner was headed goalwards by Cort that was cleared off the line to Wilbraham, who thumped a snapshot narrowly over. Then on the hour, the move of the match. It started on halfway with Joseph, a sweet interchange of passes between Price, Ashbee and Keane saw the ball move swiftly and excitingly to the left where Dawson lurked. His deep cross was sumptuous, an invitation to attack the ball with a header that Price couldn’t refuse. His looping header drifted over Cutler and snuggled down warmly into the side netting as City restored their lead.

Soon news came of Peterborough’s equaliser to secure City’s place at the top of the table if they could keep ahead in this game. Thankfully Stockport did little to threaten the Tigers’ lead and soon went 3-1 down as a straight race between Allsopp and centre back Raynes saw Raynes attempt a stooping header back to the keeper that only served to play Allsopp one-on-one with the ball at his feet. While one might have doubted that the Allsopp of September would have completed this gilt-edged chance, the Allsopp of January is back to his imperious best as he took a touch before thumping a shot past the advancing Cutler from 20 yards out. Immediately the home side had a corner that Hardiker headed goalwards but at Myhill’s feet and the danger was cleared. That pretty much concluded matters for the home side as they introduced the once-useful but now –evidently-useless Barlow into a three man attack that posed little threat to City’s goal – well, less than “little” actually, apart from a brief raid down the left wing that saw Barlow hit a shot so high and wide that it sailed over the open stand and into the streets behind the goal. Woeful.

City had futher chances to score a fourth goal that would have taken them top even if Luton had scraped a one goal win at London Road. Facey’s muscular frame was introduced to the fray, and the Stockport back four wilted visibly as their hard work for the day was rewarded by the sight of Delroy’s piston-like thighs and calves rampaging towards them. Lewis tricked his way into space on the left side of Stockport’s box before rolling the ball back to Keane whose low shot was well saved by the keeper. Then Dawson exploited the same gap down Stockport’s right to pillage his way into the box before a tackle blocked the left back’s shot. Keane had a further attempt from 40 yards that was tipped over the bar by a panicky Cutler. In the 90th minute Wiseman came on for Price, who had put on a performance to be proud of, and in injury time the young Hullensian sprinted past the left side of their defence and swung a sumptuous cross the far post that just evaded the lunging Facey.

So that’s nine wins on the spin and top of the league. What a barnstormingly brilliant run of form this has been, capped today by what could be described as largely a reserve side, shorn as it was by the combined talents of Elliott, Barmby, Green, France and (in the most part) Facey. I have to say that I’ve loved every minute of these last nine games and hope this form continues long into the New Year. If this isn’t a promotion team that I’m watching every week, then I’d be very, very surprised. I think we won’t be back at Stockport for a while – it’s Elland Road, Bramall Lane and The Hawthorns for us next season, I fancy.

HULL CITY (4-4-2): Myhill; Joseph, Cort, Delaney, Dawson; Price, Lewis, Ashbee, Edge; Wilbraham, Allsopp.  Subs: Keane (for Edge, 45), Facey (for Allsopp, 85), Wiseman (for Price, 90), Duke, Green.

Goals: Wilbraham 10; Price 61; Allsopp 65

Booked: None

Sent Off: None

STOCKPORT COUNTY: Cutler, Griffin, Williams, Raynes, Hardiker, Goodwin, Lambert, Allen, Adams, Daly, Feeney.  Subs: Barlow (for Griffin, 69), Bridge-Wilkinson (for Lambert, 78), Jackman (for Adams, 78), Spencer, Le Fondre.

Goals: Adams 24

Booked: Cutler

Sent Off: None

REFEREE: C Oliver

ATTENDANCE: 6,670