The young Tigers staged a dramatic fightback to earn a second straight victory and leap above their hosts in the table
A stunning second half comeback saw 10-man Hull City fight back from two goals down to beat Coventry City’s Under-21s 3-2 at the CBS Arena.
City found themselves two behind and a man down at the break after Ramell Carter was dismissed for a second yellow card, but two goals in six minutes early in the second period brought the Tigers level through Sammy Henia-Kamau and Hugh Parker, both expertly crafted by Cody Drameh.
With the game seemingly headed towards a 2-2 draw, the visitors completed the comeback when Parker turned provider to feed Darko Gyabi to fire into the net.
City started brightly with Hugh Parker heading wide before Pharrell Brown cut inside and angled a shot towards the far corner which goalkeeper Varney turned wide of his post. That move was created by a combination of Williams and Gyabi before the young winger forced a smart stop.
Just after the quarter-hour, however, it was the hosts who took the lead when City failed to deal with a ball into their box and from close range, Stidder turned home beyond Callum Yam.
After a rocky couple of minutes which saw Gyabi booked for an edge-of-the-box foul, Famewo went close with an angled header from Calvin Okike’s teasing delivery.
The hosts made it 2-0 when Stidder was allowed to cut inside by Calvin Okike and angled a drive into the top corner via a fairly hefty deflection amid calls for an offside flag, which was not forthcoming. Things went from bad to worse for the visitors just before the break when Ramell Carter was sent off for a second yellow card for a challenge outside the Tigers’ box.
City were back in the contest early in the second period when Gyabi surged through midfield before releasing Drameh to surge down the right flank and into the box before cutting it back for Sammy Henia-Kamau to angle into the corner. A goal very reminiscent of Oli McBurnie’s at Watford.
Minutes later, it was 2-2 when Brown’s terrific run from the left saw him pick out Drameh on the far side, and first time, he sent in a cross begging to be punched home from close range, and it was by Hugh Parker.
Despite playing with 10 men, it the first 20 minutes of the second half was all City with Brown and Gyabi at the heart of it. The Tigers had to weather a storm, largely of their own making, with Callum Yam making a couple of smart saves and then the turnaround was on the way to being complete.
Having been given nothing all afternoon, Parker was too strong for his man on halfway and allowed to surge forward before playing in Gyabi, who stepped inside his man and fired into the net to make it 3-2.
Drameh had to be replaced in the final moments after complaining of a hip issue, and was replaced by Ed Devine. Deep into added time Joao Mendes replaced Parker but the job was done, City 3-2 winners and some good minutes in the legs of their first teamers.
The Tigers’ Under-21s are next in action at the Vitality Stadium on Friday night when they take on Bournemouth in the Premier League Cup, before hosting Crewe Alexandra at the MKM Stadium next Tuesday afternoon (1pm).
City: Yam, Famewo, Okike, Williams, Drameh, Moore, Gyabi, Brown, Parker, Carter, Henia-Kamau. Subs: Revill, Howard, Devine, Ocaya, Mendes.
Sky Blues: Varney, Siddall, Witts, Stretton, Gordon, Perry, Shepherd, Betjemann (c), Stidder, Finney, Ambursley. Subs: Williams, Richards, Smith, Nidjebu, Jorgensen.
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