A remarkable first half sees West Ham blitz into a two goal lead before a Jimmy Bullard inspired performance leads the Tigers to a 3-2 lead at half time.  But in the second half Bernard Mendy is dismissed and the Tigers take a point from a 3-3 draw.

Report by Ed Bacon.

Well, what fun.

Here's Hull City, scoring 3 goals at home in the Premier League for the first time ever, playing swashbuckling stuff with spirit and verve in front of a loud capacity crowd in a KC stadium bathed in the floodlights of an autumn Saturday. Classic entertainment, showcasing so much that is good about England's top division, and indeed the beautiful game itself.

But we still got just the one point and defended at times like a team that had cluelessly sold two key defenders in the last few months and not bothered to replace them.

Phil Brown almost stuck with the players who'd beaten Stoke at home a fortnight ago, unchanged but for Dean Marney in place of the injured Olofinjana.

Duke
Mendy Zayatte Gardner Dawson
Garcia Bullard Marney Hunt
Altidore Fagan

And we make a lively start. Jimmy Bullard was built up so much in his long injury absence that you couldn't help worrying that he'd not be as good as hoped once he finally got back to fitness. Stop that worrying now. Bullard transforms City with his energy and skill. He's here, he's there, he's everywhere, lifting previously lacklustre colleague, giving us options. A snip at £5 million if he can keep this up. So I was thinking as City played the ball about in the first few minutes. Altidore wins a header, Fagan buzzes around the Hammers' penalty area, Jimmy pulls strings.

Then on 5 minutes, West Ham, attacking the South Stand, get a corner. It's floated in to one of theirs who, scarcely troubled by any City players, heads it directly into the goal with some ease. The impressive contingent of Londoners at the other end of the ground sing their bubbles song. City fans are bemused, our bubble of brief optimism burst.

0-1

The City players though are made of sterner stuff, and once more they go at West Ham. Fagan's hassling wins a throw, quickly to Garcia, playing against his old club, and from his cross we get a corner. Hunt's corner is cleared, Bullard shoots, it's cleared. Altidore shoots, wide. A minute later, Bullard again has a go, this time from distance, but again it's wide.

On 10 minutes, West Ham attack, sending a hopeful punt towards our box, where young Collison, unhindered by any defensive attention, is able to head the ball over Duke from just inside the penalty area.

0-2

So that's it then. When do City ever come back from 2 down to get anything out of a game? And if we defend like that against a smart team like West Ham, how many more will we ship in? What sort of excuse for a defence is this anyway? Mendy at right back, a man who can't tackle and has the positional sense of the Beagle 2 Mars rover.

And do we actually have any central defenders? Twice in the first ten minutes, their players are allowed to head goals effectively unchallenged in the penalty area.

And in goal we have Matt Duke, instead of a fit again Bo Myhill, relegated to the bench. Why? To my mind neither of these two are truly premier league class, but Myhill's certainly the better keeper. Should any top-flight keeper be beaten by a header from the edge of the penalty area?

You might get the picture. After 10 minutes, things weren't looking good. Phil Brown must have been wondering whether he should clear his desk at half time, or wait until Monday.

To City's credit, we keep plugging away though. On 12 minutes, we get a freekick about 30 yards out, just to the left of centre. Bullard lines it up and blasts it into the face of a West Ham player who only has himself to blame, as he'd dashed forward out of the wall. With City in possession, and their man flat out on the grass, referee Clattenburg stops the game. Two minutes later, with their man not dead, we continue as the Hammers sportingly boot an uncontested drop ball back deep into our half.

In terms of the performance, we're not getting battered, and the game is pretty even. West Ham get a corner which Mendy heads clear. Then Marney tries to hit a crossfield ball to Bullard down our right, but it's too heavy and rolls out for a throw.

Then on 26, City get a free-kick. Again, about 30 yards out, just left of centre. Again Bullard to take. Again he hits it into one of theirs. From where it loops goalwards, takes another deflection (just in case West Ham's England keeper Green has managed to follow the first one) and ends up in the back of the net.

1-2

And all of a sudden things are looking better. And so begins one of the most remarkable and enjoyable City-watching 20 minutes I've seen for some time.

On the half hour, we attack at pace through Marney, in the clear and central. Inexplicably a shout of `shoot' arises from the crowd. This is Marney for goodness sake. Yet to score a premier league goal for City. He shoots wide.

Again we keep on pressing. Altidore's bustling display is almost rewarded as he tries to force his way between two West Ham defenders in the penalty area, but he's forced out. Then from another Hunt corner, cleared at the near post, the irrepressible James Bullard shoots over the bar.

West Ham are a fragile team, and it seems clear that were we to equalise, they could well fold.

On 40 minutes a piece of remarkable skill as Bullard, deep on our left, strikes a crossfield ball of such precision that it lands exactly on the spot where Mendy is, on the run with a defender next to him. And Mendy took it so well it was as if he'd patted it down onto his feet with his hand. But our Frenchman is no Thierry Henry, and he did it all legally. Mind you, Henry probably wouldn't have then struck the weak cross/shot that Bernard essayed.

With every attack though, the confidence increases, the volume is ratcheted up. On 43 minutes, City win a free kick to the right of the penalty area, again about 30 yards out. Hunt whips it low into the box, where Zayatte meets it and shoots superbly into the net from about 8 yards out.

2-2

Who'd believe it?

And still we come forward. Straight from the kick off we get possession, the ball is played to Fagan, just inside their penalty area, and he falls under a clumsy challenge. A foolish challenge, since Fagan with his back to goal on the edge of the box is no danger to anyone. But referee Clattenberg points to the spot.

Penalty.

Stephen Hunt briefly thinks that he might take it. Only for Bullard to put him right, place the ball on the spot, and then smash it into the roof of the net.

3-2!

From 2 down in 10 minutes, to a half-time lead. This City team has suddenly got belief. Where did they get that from? Brown, Pearson, Bullard? Wherever, it's great to see.

Talk turns to when we were ever 2 down and came back to win. Against Derby at Boothferry Park in the mid-1980s, with a Billy Whitehurst header sealing it. Probably more recently too. But 2 down and then leading at half time? Can anybody remember such a thing?

As it turned out, this half-time chatter of victory was premature.

For the first 10 minutes of the second half we carry on as we'd left off. This in itself is credit to the manager and to our new found belief. It's too common for the half-time break to take the wind out of the sails of a team on a roll, but City kept going.

There is a fluency to our game, with one attack involving Garcia, Bullard, Hunt, Fagan and Mendy, weaving, passing, ever forwards. It comes to nought, but this is how we can play.

Then on 53 the tidy Scott Parker breaks for West Ham. Bernard Mendy charges across to cut him off as he advances on our area, but he misses the ball and brings Parker down. Free kick to West Ham, and Mendy is sent off.

Whether we'll miss a suspended Bernard Mendy at right back is a moot point, but we certainly missed having 11 men on the pitch for the rest of the game. Yes, I know, cliché fans, sometimes 10 men are better than 11, but not today. Garcia is subbed off and McShane comes on in the right back position, and West Ham keep attacking and finding gaps in our midfield.

We still have our chances - a free kick which Bullard wastes, a Dawson break down the left, a neat triangle with Altidore and Fagan down the right - but nothing to really threaten the West Ham goal. And West Ham themselves keep plugging away. They get a corner on 68 minutes. It's dumped into our penalty area, like an incendiary device which a couple of ours (Gardner and Altidore I think) look at warily as it bounces down. They back away from it, as one of theirs hammers it into the net.

3-3

And don't start with your `we would have taken that after 10 minutes'. We were winning, now we're not.

What's more, it doesn't look as if West Ham would settle for that either. With their man advantage, they're pushing for the win.

Phil Brown decides to take off Altidore and replace him with Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink. This is going to be an interesting selection dilemma for the rest of the season. Jozy is the more mobile, and perhaps crowd-pleasing in his enthusiasm. But big Jan knows the game better, doesn't need to run around so much, and - this is important - scores goals.

Not today though. Shortly after coming on he falls in the box, as Upson clambers over him, arms round his neck. Clattenburg waves play on, perhaps feeling that Jan is a big guy who doesn't need to fall over quite so easily.

With five minutes to go, Brown makes his last substitution, bringing off Hunt and replacing him with Geovanni on the left of midfield. A crowd-pleaser for sure, but whether Geovanni is what you need holding onto a point with 10 men is less certain. Especially as within a minute of coming on, Geovanni gives up chasing his man on the half-way line, giving West Ham an overlap as they come forward down their right, in front of the East Stand. The ball's crossed into our box. Duke stays static on the line, and happily for us it's headed over the bar.

West Ham go again, two more dangerous-looking attacks before the 4th official holds up a board indicating 4 added minutes. We get the ball with Dawson down our left, and it's forced out for a throw. West Ham think it's theirs, but Clattenburg overrules his linesman. Our throw, but we lose it and the Hammers again come forward at pace - a cross, a header on target, and Matt Duke scrambles across our goal to save.

And that - apart from Geovanni slamming a 40 yard free kick into a West Ham wall in the dying seconds - is that.

A great game. Looking at the bare facts, getting one point at home would seem to be the minimum that Brown needs to do to keep his job safe. But I'd hazard that his job should be safer than that indicates tonight. What we saw was a display of great team-spirit and no little skill. It was a world away from the atmosphere at the KC a month or two ago.

Talking of which, two months ago we capitulated at home to Everton at the KC. This Wednesday, we take them on again. There'll be no capitulation this time.

HULL CITY (4-4-2): Duke; Mendy, Zayatte, Gardner, Dawson; Garcia, Marney, Bullard, Hunt; Altidore, Fagan.  Subs: McShane (for Garcia, 57), Vennegoor of Hesselink (for Altidore, 74), Geovanni (for Hunt, 85), Kilbane, Boateng, Barmby, Myhill.

Goals: Cole (og) 27; Zayatte 44; Bullard (pen) 45

Booked: None

Sent Off: Mendy

WEST HAM UNITED: Green, Gabbidon, Upson, Da Costa, Parker, Behrami, Faubert, Collison, Stanislas, Cole, Franco.  Subs: Hines (for Behrami, 60), Jiminez (for Franco, 70), Kovac, Spector, Ilunga, Kurucz, Nouble. 

Goals: Franco 5; Collison 11; Da Costa 69

Booked: Franco, Hines, Jiminez, Stanislas

Sent Off: None

REFEREE:    M Clattenburg

ATTENDANCE: 24,909