City battled to make it through to the fourth round draw
Hull City goalkeeper Dillon Phillips saved Yuki Ohashi’s penalty (Image: Pro Sports Images)
It was by no means a game that will live long in anyone’s memory, apart from David Akintola and Dillon Phillips, as the pair made the difference to help Hull City win an FA Cup tie for the first time in six years.
City’s 4-3 win on penalties against Blackburn Rovers gave boss Sergej Jakirovic a first shootout win as a coach, and ensured they would be ball number 23 in Monday night’s draw for the fourth round.
Phillips, who kept a clean sheet in 120-plus minutes of action, made two saves in the shootout with Akintola guiding home what proved to be the winning kick, and ensured there would be Sunday afternoon delight for the home supporters who braved the elements.
Here, City reporter Barry Cooper looks back on what was a long, but ultimately successful afternoon in the East Yorkshire rain…
A reward for perseverance
If ever the word attritional could be used to describe a game of football, it would be this one. The first half was as poor as it gets, while City did improve in the second half and should have won it long before it got to extra-time and then penalties.
For the majority of the near-7,000 crowd, they deserved the winning moment for sticking it out on a cold, wet day in East Yorkshire, but it wasn’t pretty or enjoyable for the most part.
Against a resilient Rovers side, who had made eight changes, the Tigers huffed and puffed without ever really finding their stride, but football is about winning, and when the club haven’t won a cup match for six years, it gets to a stage where you take anything.
In the hat
It’s been more than 2,000 days since City were in the hat for the FA Cup fourth round, and while the game will not live too long in the memory for those involved, all that matters is that the Tigers will be involved, and they deserve a good draw. If City pull a good one out of the hat, then it will all have been worth it.
They may get a plum draw, they may get a fairly dull one. At this stage, you take whatever you can get. If nothing else, the Tigers and their fans have a game to look forward to next month, and you just never know.
You’ve got to be in it to win it, and City will have a shot at making the fifth round over Valentine’s Day weekend next month, and that’s reason enough to be excited.
Unsung heroes
Dillon Phillips has had to play second fiddle to Ivor Pandur all season, being forced to wait for his chance to respond to what was anything but an ideal debut at Wrexham in August.
Though he wasn’t overly tested by Rovers, Phillips was assured enough in the work he was required to do, and then his two penalty saves proved crucial in helping City get through.
And for David Akintola, who has struggled to make an impact, he showed glimpses off the bench with a rasping effort off the bar, and then showed real composure to slot in the winning penalty.
He may or may not be a City player come the end of the window and that remains to be seen, but in his time at City he’s made a difference with the winner against Sheffield United and then the decisive spot kick to end the Tigers’ long wait for a cup victory.
Injuries. Again.
The Tigers were hit before kick-off with Matt Crooks being forced to withdraw, and then 10 minutes into the game, down went Darko Gyabi with nobody near him.
He knew straight away that something had gone wrong, and now, City will have to wait nervously to find out the extent of his injury at a time when they’ve already got so many players out.
You have to feel for Gyabi because he’s shown real quality when he’s been given the chance. You hope it’s not three or four months out which would end his season, because that would be a real blow.
Thankfully, Cody Drameh was only suffering from cramp and they’ll hope Crooks is OK to be involved at Southampton on Saturday afternoon, with the likes of Joe Gelhardt and Ryan Giles not far behind him.
The big miss
It goes without saying that City have missed John Lundstram over the past three months and of course, the loss of Joe Gelhardt and Mo Belloumi have been huge. However, the absence of Ryan Giles has been felt the most.
Giles has been superb all season, and his stats speak for themselves, but moreover, the balance he provides is so very obviously lacking in the side, and it’s painfully obvious.
Not only that, Liam Millar looks a little lost without Giles backing him up, and Oli McBurnie is feeding off scraps. The only chance he was given came in extra time when Charlie Hughes surged forward and delivered a fine cross.
The full-back’s return cannot come soon enough because City don’t look anything like the same attacking animal without Giles, and that was evident on New Year’s Day against Stoke, and here again.
Fixture changes
City will now be in fourth round action over Valentine’s weekend next month, meaning their trip to Ipswich Town on February 14 will be rescheduled – fingers crossed the pair don’t draw each other.
Their win also means that their rearranged clash with Watford can’t take place on that weekend, after the Hornets were thrashed 5-1 at Bristol City.
The Tigers now have those two games to be shoehorned into what’s already a busy schedule for Jakirovic’s men. The Croatian, however, has hinted that the rearranged meeting with Watford could take place in midweek before the FA Cup tie.
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