A relieved Hull City coach Ruben Selles admits Saturday’s final-day draw with Portsmouth summed up the season in one 90-minute display. City roared into a deserved lead early in the first half when Matt Crooks cleverly turned in Gustavo Puerta’s corner after a Joao Pedro flick at the near post.
Their dominance should have brought more goals, but again, they were unable to capitalise on that early lead before half-time.
Pompey recovered and while Joe Gelhardt and Joao Pedro should have scored shortly after the interval, a poor second half allowed the hosts to gain control and the hosts levelled when Christian Saydee slammed in at Ivor Pandur’s near post in a moment the City goalkeeper won’t want to see again.
Chances still came for the Tigers to win the game, with John Egan’s header well saved and Mason Burstow passing up a gilt-edged chance. Thankfully, those missed chances mattered little in the end with the Tigers surviving on goal difference from Luton Town, who were relegated after a 5-3 battering at West Brom., though the Tigers did finish the season as the lowest scorers in the league with just 44.
“The game mirrored the season. We have been having those games and those moments for us this season. We went 1-0 up, we felt powerful,” Selles told Hull Live when it was put to him that the game was a microcosm of the campaign.
“We also felt we had something we needed to protect, and we went a little bit backwards, maybe too much. Then they equalised and just following the results, there was a moment in the second half where a point was enough. We just decided to shut the game down in the last 10/15 minutes and defend because we knew with that back five we wouldn’t concede goals, and with a couple of set pieces we could be dangerous.
“With that extra defender, we know we could close down Josh Murphy on that side, and if we closed Murphy and we were aggressive in the set-pieces, we could keep the result, and that’s what happened. It was not difficult, really, it was what we planned for that kind of situation.”
Selles says he was made aware of the results elsewhere just before the break, by which point, Preston were winning at Bristol City and Luton were trailing at The Hawthorns. As the game wore on, and the Hatters were being thrashed, he opted to send on Alfie Jones to help close the game down.
“I was not aware until about 35 or 40 minutes into the first half that there was a difference of two goals (at West Brom).
“We went through the different plans for different situations, and we knew we would play for a 1-1 only if someone was losing by more than one goal, because we didn’t want to arrive in minute 92 depending on somebody losing and all of a sudden needing to score a goal in 93, 94.
“But I knew almost every result after minute 40. Every substitution was related to the gameplan, not injury. We knew from the 78th minute that a point would be enough.”
Given the tight confines of the Fratton Park technical area, conversation about the situation between both benches could have been ongoing, but Selles says he did not converse with his Portsmouth counterpart, John Mousinho, at all throughout, leaving that to his coaching staff.
“I didn’t chat a single second with (John) Mousinho and his team. My assistants and my people were shouting at them because of the referee’s decisions. This is the game.”
Selles, who has largely been quite understated since arriving in December, allowed all his emotion to flow out at full-time in front of a jubilant sold-out away end at Fratton Park.
“That was the feeling after the game, to have a day like today, to manage the emotions, to manage the game and be in a good place at the end of the game, they deserved that celebration with the fans,” he continued.
“When the referee blew the whistle, I just needed to be 100 per cent secure that the other games were done. That was my first thing, I was just trying to find confirmation because you never know in those moments, you can celebrate too early and make a mistake. But the feeling was amazing. To achieve it and know it has been a very difficult season for everyone, but in the end, we got it.”