4 days Ago By [email protected] (Barry Cooper)
Hull City rescued a point on Monday night as Ruben Selles' men battled back from another freak own goal to earn a 1-1 draw against play-off-chasing Coventry City . Abu Kamara's late strike meant the Tigers inch further away from the Championship's relegation zone with just four games of a dismal season left to go as safety edges closer into sight. The Tigers had chances before Kamara's late effort created by fellow substitute Nordin Amrabat, but at the other end, Ellis Simms and Haji Wright both missed good opportunities and were thwarted by Ivor Pandur.
Here, City reporter Barry Cooper looks back on what may prove to be a valuable point for City...
. For a team with the second lowest goals for tally in the league, you can't afford to be passing up the few chances that come your way. It took the best part of 40 minutes to fashion any kind of attempt on goal, and when it came, it should really have brought about the opening goal.
A neat bit of play down the left saw Regan Slater feed Kasey Palmer and somehow , he contrived to not score, and then in the second half, Slater again picked out Lewie Coyle who blazed over six yards or so out. City are a team who struggle to carve out good chances, but when they do, they really have to be taking them. Palmer's double-chance before half-time was as good as any all season, and could have changed the whole evening.
Fortunately, they got something from the game, but those have got to be taken. Not for the first time this season, City have conceded early in the second half and it's becoming a recurring theme. Once or twice you can accept because it happens over a 46-game season, but that's 10 goals conceded inside the opening 10 minutes of the second half this term, and three in the past four games.
It's simply not acceptable and for a team who have proved to be really dogged defensively for the most part under Ruben Selles, it's causing them real damage. What makes it worse is the fact that the goals are really poor. Yes, Charlie Hughes is unlucky in the sense that it just hits him, like the Alfie Jones one against Luton, but they're allowing necessary pressure on their goal by doing stuff you wouldn't expect an Under-10s team to be doing.
It's amateurish, it really is. Given how the game played out, and how good Coventry looked on and off the ball, and then take into account going behind, to come back and get a point could be huge. Defeat would have been a really hammer blow and left them right in peril and staring down the barrel of real trouble in the final four games.
It would have handed a big boost to Cardiff City and Luton Town after their respective defeats at the weekend. But claiming a point here means the Tigers have a three-point cushion, and with goal difference, it's effectively four. If you can win it, don't lose it.
That's something we didn't see against Luton or Watford recently, so it's a point on the board after two bad results in three. After the disappointment of losing at Watford, and being 1-0 down going into the final 10 minutes against a very good side in good form, losing here would have been a real sucker punch. Now, they've got a precious point, and they must go to Swansea City on Friday before the visit of Preston North End on Easter Monday, looking to keep adding to their tally.
They've put themselves in the box seat to go on and survive here, but they cannot afford to take anything for granted. There's a huge job to be done yet, but they can head to South Wales with a bit of confidence after getting something from a game they looked like losing. Having had six days between the defeat at Watford and this one, City now have a very short turnaround between now and the crucial Easter weekend, which kicks off in Swansea on Friday afternoon.
The Tigers will fly to Cardiff airport on Thursday afternoon before making their way to their hotel near the Welsh capital and then travel the 45 or so miles between the two Welsh cities on the day of the game, and then head straight back to East Yorkshire after the game. No sooner have they landed back at Humberside Airport on Good Friday evening, and attention will have turned to Monday's visit of mid-table Preston North End at the MKM Stadium, their penultimate home outing of the campaign, and a weekend that will go a long way to deciding the outcome of their season. Did you know that you can get daily Tigers news sent straight to your device as soon as it happens through WhatsApp? It's quick and easy to join.
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