Match Day Thread Preston NE v Hull City

We played Snodgrass when he was further off the pace than Dio is.

 

Analysis: Jekyll and Hyde Hull City serve up yet another away-day to forget at Preston
By Philip Buckingham

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IF HULL City reached the halfway mark of the Championship season with all the style and authority of an automatic promotion contender, they turned for home yesterday resembling imposters in the race to reach the Premier League.

No sooner had City dismantled rivals Burnley with a performance laden with promise, they succumbed to the most dispiriting loss of their campaign at Preston. Forty eight hours after the sublime came the ridiculous to leave the Tigers right back at square one in a hopeless quest for consistency.

City protested that defeat should have been avoided when Robert Snodgrass' late attempt appeared to cross the line before being cleared but Preston were worthy winners through Paul Gallagher's 66th minute strike. The only gripe of Simon Grayson was that a third home victory of the season was not by a greater margin.

The sense of déjà vu was suffocating for City. Just as they had fallen awfully short at Leeds United and Rotherham United in the weeks before Christmas, a third consecutive away defeat followed the exact same scripts. A struggling host rose to the occasion and exposed that familiar soft under belly of their guests. The secret is well and truly out on this weak and timid group from East Yorkshire.

City's away form is now sending fault-lines through this promotion bid. Since winning at Brentford in late November, the Tigers have taken one point from a possible 12 on the road. All four opponents reside in the bottom half.

Manager Steve Bruce was again at a loss to explain the nosedive in fortunes.

"I knew at the start of the season it was going to be tough and we needed to build bridges but the last three games have been nowhere near," admitted Bruce. "We've got to have a mentality to be better than what we were today."

A freshening up of personnel is beginning to look essential when the transfer window opens. Without it, City will surely remain the same predictable opponent that has lumbered through much of December.

Just 48 hours after City had sauntered through Boxing Day with a 3-0 victory over Burnley, Bruce made the calculated risk he had promised.

Resting his talented forward line of Mo Diame and Abel Hernandez and forced to overlook the injured Moses Odubajo, the City boss made three changes. Shaun Maloney and Chuba Akpom were both recalled, as was Snodgrass, handed his first competitive start in 499 days.

If City were struggling on their travels, they were greeted by a host suffering difficulties at home. Just two wins from 11 Championship games at Deepdale this term painted Preston in a vulnerable light, but those failings were never apparent.

Despite scoring just eight goals at home all season, Preston crafted a handful of genuine chances inside the first quarter.

An opener should have come as early as the sixth minute when Adam Reach ballooned over from inside the City box as the visitors enjoyed a charmed life.

Preston stretched the Tigers' bedraggled defence almost at will. Curtis Davies scrambled to deny Will Keane a path to goal and then deflected wide the follow-up shot of Joe Garner, before the latter almost caught out Allan McGregor from 40 yards out. The Scot's save presented Reach with another opening, this time stopped by McGregor at the second attempt.

The escapes should have jolted a sleepwalking City side into life. Instead, they felt compelled to repay Preston's charity with inexplicable defensive lapses. David Meyler was caught fast asleep on his own byline by Marnick Vermijl, who pulled the ball back for Garner. The goal gaped but the Preston forward shot wildly over.

Maloney was next to almost cut City's throat. A slack square pass deep inside his own half gifted the home team possession and when the ball was quickly moved on to Keane, he dribbled around Davies and shot narrowly wide. Preston ended the half having had no fewer than 11 shots on goal.

City, by contrast, had barely threatened. Snodgrass' curling shot over the bar was as close as the Tigers came in a first-half display to make those witnessed at Leeds and Rotherham appear encouraging.

Bruce had seen enough at the break and responded by replacing Meyler with Tom Huddlestone. The results were almost immediate. A controlled half-volley from the half-time sub forced a low save from Jordan Pickford after 48 minutes.

City threatened to wake from their slumber, raising the tempo for a spell, but by the time Preston took the lead in the 66th minute, it came as no surprise.

Slack defending brought their predictable downfall. Daniel Johnson's clever free-kick on the right picked out Gallagher in space 14-yards out and he finished through a mass of bodies.

Harry Maguire cleared Reach's shot off the line in between two openings for City substitute Hernandez as the game opened up late on. An air-shot followed Diame's pass inside the area before a low effort from the edge of the penalty box was smothered by Pickford.

Then, right at the death, came the drama that shaped the final result. A half-cleared corner was picked up by Snodgrass, whose shot was flicked on by Hernandez and then kicked off the line. Bruce claimed it was "a metre over the line" while Grayson argued the opposite. Either way, City's complaints were not convincing. Deep down they knew their wretched performance warranted nothing.

In a calendar year that will forever be remembered for City's failings when relegated from the Premier League in May, perhaps it was fitting the final fixture of 2015 was one of gross underachievement.

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