Goals
19 - Ryan Williams (Pen) - Richard Sneekes was pulled back by Sam Aiston as he raced towards goal and referee Peter Jones duely awarded the penalty. Aiston definitely had his hands on Sneekes but in scenes reminiscant of Southend last Tuesday, the midfielder seemed to make the most of it. Williams confidently put away the spot kick, notching his first goal for the club.
29 - Lawrie Dudfield - Mark Greaves helped an Andy Holt pass on to Roberts. He expertly nodded it to Dudfield, who unleashed a brilliant volley from the edge of the area, beating Dunbavin.
32 - Mike Edwards - A Williams cross was dropped by Dunbavin under the challenge of Wicks, and although the defender's subsequent shot was blocked by the keeper, Mike Edwards was on hand to tuck away the rebound. The visiting fans were livid with the decision, as they were with the penalty, but it seemed to be a fair goal.
Bookings
Richard Sneekes (2nd), Jamie Tolley
Tigers Line-Up
(4-4-2) Musselwhite, Holt, Wicks, Mohan, Edwards (Morley 83), Beresford, Sneekes, Greaves, Williams, Roberts (Whitmore 78), Dudfield (Rowe 79)
Not Used - Glennon, Van Blerk
Attendance
8,534 - Around 200 made the trip frok Shrewsbury. Attendances are pretty static at the moment, it seems.
Brief Notes
A game of two halves, and some mis-directed criticism. City were the better side in the first half, and deserved a lead. Not 3-0, but still, enough to go in to the break ahead. In the second half however, the players were obviously instructed to protect their lead and Shrewsbury managed to carve out more than a few chances.
Now, I'm not one to advocate sitting on a lead, but with a very strong wind against them and a 3-goal cushion, the option to defend was not a totally ridiculous one. Perhaps not quite as much as they did, but still not a ridiculous option. The fact that the visitors had so many second half chances (and a couple in the first) was due to poor defensive play, not our general strategy. Obviously, if you allow a team to come at you as much as City did Shrewsbury, the opposition will have an opening or two. But not 5 or 6. That was due to errors at the back which would have occcured however attack-minded we had been playing.
These defensive frailties have been all-too apparent lately. Andy Holt and Nicky Mohan get the brunt of the blame from me, as they have both been awful practically all season. With Matthew Wicks also looking shaky on Saturday and the previous Tuesday, our defence does not have a very menacing look at the moment. That needs to be sorted, and the returns of messrs Goodison and Whittle will really help.
However, moaning at this performance is stupid. We deserved to win the game on our first half showing and the fact that we were far more accomplished in front of goal. Teams have gained points off us by showing more finishing prowess on numerous occasions in the last year - Why is it so bad when we do it tk the opposition?
Apart from the defense, a good afternoon's work, in my opinion.
They Said
Brian Little, speaking to the Official Site, www.hullcityafc.net
"Overall I would say that 3-0 flattered us and it's not often that I say that after a home game so I suppose I have to enjoy it. If I'm truthful though, I didn't really enjoy the afternoon at all, especially the second half. I was surprised when they weren't given a penalty and even more surprised when we were awarded one, but was happy to go in three goals to the good at the break."
"But in the second 45, Paul had to make a few good saves and Shrewsbury missed two or three great chances. We then went on to get into some good positions ourselves but couldn't take advantage of them and all in all it was a scrappy game. But there have been times when we've played really well at home this season and not got the right result so I'll gladly take this one as we're probably due it."
"In all fairness to the players we told them to be a bit more negative in the second half but at the same time we didn't want to become completely defensive. The wide players were tucked in as we wanted to remain solid but we got into a bit of a rut and couldn't play our way out of it. But in the end it was reasonable afternoon's work and we got the result which is the important thing."
On the two upcoming away games at York and Halifax:
"We're all aware that what we do over the next seven days is going to be central to how we fare over the rest of the campaign. But anyone who thinks we're not working on it is wrong. Anyone who says that we're not talking about it is wrong. All I can do is try my best and at the end of the day if people aren't happy with that then so be it." |
