A pulsating contest finished 3-3 before the hosts ran out 5-3 winners on spot-kicks
Barry is the Hull City correspondent, and previously covered Nottingham Forest for the Nottingham Post/Nottinghamshire Live. Barry has reported on Hull City’s League One title success and Championship campaigns
Hull City’s strained relationship with the Carabao Cup continued on Tuesday night, though there were small signs that the relationship could be repaired in the future, but for now the wait goes on.
Having gone out at the first attempt in each of the last four seasons, City looked to be on the way to success when Sergej Jakirovic’s side came back from a goal down to lead Wrexham 3-1 going into added time at the end of 90 minutes, thanks to goals from Oli McBurnie, Joel Ndala and Matt Crooks.
In classic City fashion, they conspired to concede two goals to two Ollie Palmer headers in the 91st and 92nd minutes, and the tie went to penalties before somewhat predictably going on to lose.
Hull City doing Hull City things
Let’s be honest, this club is anything but dull. Whatever that looks like, we’re never short of drama and things to talk about, and that was the case again here.
For 90 minutes this was a stress-free evening and one City controlled for the most part. They recovered from the setback of Wrexham’s goal to score within five minutes and then seemingly take the game away from their host. While Wrexham had moments, the Tigers were the dominant side in the second period and looked to be well on their way to a comfortable away victory.
At 3-1 up going into stoppage time, there seemed to be no chance of that happening. Wrexham had lost their way, home fans were frustrated with many leaving, and then bang, the game turned on a sixpence. They’ll kick themselves when the draw comes out on Wednesday night because City were home and dry before crumbling.
Put that in the Disney doc
City are not the only club where drama follows them around. Clearly, Wrexham are one of those clubs, too, and they got their Hollywood ending again at the Tigers’ expense.
Ollie Palmer told the press afterwards that only promotion from the National League eclipsed Tuesday night’s sensational victory against the Tigers, which saw him play the leading role.
For much of the game, the Tigers took the sting out of Wrexham and controlled the contest and looked to have won it, before Palmer headed in two stoppage-time goals and then slotted in his penalty. The Racecourse is one of the original cathedrals of football on this island and it hosted another show-stopper.
Whatever happens this season, and there will be plenty of highs and lows for the rejuvenated Welsh club, they’ll have to go some to beat that.
Chin up, Joel
He might have only been on the pitch for a short period, but Joel Ndala’s influence was felt significantly. Not least because he scored the crucial second goal when he converted Joe Gelhardt’s cross, and he missed what proved to be the decisive penalty in the shootout.
Ndala was electric at times, just as we saw glimpses on Saturday in Coventry of his obvious ability. He looks a player with real potential, and one that has the ability to get fans off the edge of their seats.
You’d expect he’ll be back in from the start against Oxford United on Sunday afternoon, and he has the power to light up the MKM Stadium, so hopefully he won’t be too down about his penalty miss.
More injury woes
The worry earlier in the summer, and it was something we discussed at length on the 1904 Club podcast, was the durability of City’s defensive unit.
While few would argue that Semi Ajayi isn’t an upgrade on Sean McLoughlin and Alfie Jones in terms of technical quality, fitness concerns were an issue, and those concerns were well-founded.
Ajayi was brilliant in pre-season and was superb at Coventry City on Saturday, and to now lose him for a sustained period of time would be a hammer blow. Given Akin Famewo, Charlie Hughes and John Egan’s recent injury troubles, Jakirovic will have everything crossed that the bad luck does not continue.
Optimistic moments
If you can park the mad two minutes in added time, there was a lot to admire about City’s performance. They controlled long periods of the game, carved out some good chances and scored three good, very different goals in just their second game with a host of changes and players still not fully fit.
Some of their combination play through midfield and out wide was really encouraging. The way they crafted their goals shows how well-coached they are, and how, as we’ve been saying for a while now, much they’re buying into what the new manager wants.
There will be major disappointment about how that was thrown away, and rightly so because they have to learn from it and make sure it doesn’t happen again, but the overriding feeling is of excitement about what we’re seeing from this squad
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