The attendance is 10,267, a bit less than they were suggesting earlier today, but still not too shabby for an under-21s game.
Pity they conceded in the 90th minute, but 1-0 loss still a good performance, all to play for at the KC.
That's a decent result for the away leg. I hope we can get a similar crowd at the KC next week and beat them.
We paid the price for Bruce's negative tactics and lack of adventure. Still no first half away goal for 14 games.
Watson is a good keeper but he displayed bad judgement a couple of times coming too far out trying to collect the ball when a lot of players were going for it
Well done lads. 1-0 not a bad result against a very experienced team away. All to play for now in the home game. !!!!
I ate in the ground. A burger washed down with water. I got another water just before the start and I was charged £2.20. I hunted around for something to eat before the match but there was only dodgy places to go. Before City's last Premier League match there I went to a Wetherspoons but it was full of West Ham fans and it was a rush to get the food well before kick-off - not helped by my mate turning up late. Not my usual gourmet experience.
“I think there was a little bit of nerves, due to the youthfulness of our players we have to except that, five of our players tonight can still play for the youth team.“ Considering all of ours still play for the youth team, it really was quite an achievement to get them back to our place with just a one goal difference.
West Ham United 1 Hull City 0: Heartbreak for Under 21s but all to play for in second leg of final please log in to view this image AS THE self-styled Academy of Football prepares to close its gates for the final time next month, it was Hull City's under-21s that delivered a spirited lesson in defending last night. For almost 90 minutes they withstood all that a talented West Ham United side could throw at them. Attack after attack was snuffed out in a performance befitting the grand old stage of Upton Park, all until Djair Parfitt-Williams emerged off the bench to score a last-minute winner from close range. The heart-breaking late goal leaves City with a deficit to overturn back at the KC Stadium next Wednesday if they are to lift the Under-21s Premier League Cup, but last night's confident display has kept Tony Pennock's side firmly in the two-legged contest. It could have been even better for a City side that stood up superbly to the scrutiny of playing in front of 10,267 supporters during the Boleyn Ground's final weeks. Ben Hinchcliffe and Greg Olley both had excellent chances to open the scoring in the first period, only to lack the clinical eye needed to upset the odds and defeat their top-flight hosts. A game of fine margins swung back and forth, before finally – and cruelly – resting in favour of West Ham. "Losing 1-0 in the 90th minute is always going to be hard to take but it happens," said Pennock. "We have to dust ourselves down but overall I felt the lads played very well and grew into the game. "We tried to stay in the game as best we can and almost nicked a 0-0, which would have been extremely pleasing. I thought we deserved something from the game but it's still all to play for." City had already excelled in coming this far in the country's only under-21s knock-out competition, beating Sheffield Wednesday, Crewe, West Brom, Millwall and Huddersfield, but the biggest test of their talent was presented in the East End. A West Ham side that had toppled Liverpool in the semi-finals included no fewer than four youngsters to have featured in a first-team squad this season, including Sam Byram, a £3.7m signing from Leeds United in January. City had strengthened their own ranks by temporarily recalling Max Clark from his loan with League Two Cambridge United and the long-serving midfielder was the architect of a golden early chance for the visitors. Collecting possession inside the West Ham half, a threaded throughball squeezed through to feed the run of Hinchcliffe. City's centre forward was clear on goal but his finish lacked conviction and was easily smothered by goalkeeper Raphael Spiegel. The opportunity failed to bring the Tigers an opener yet it did pacify any early nerves. City more than matched their hosts through the early stages, working tirelessly off the ball to strangle West Ham's time in possession. Clark, clearly benefitting from his recent senior football, helped set the tone as City's skipper. Cutting in from the left flank and seeing space open up in front of him, his crisp strike again called Spiegel into action. West Ham struggled to impose themselves but in Martin Samuelsen they certainly had one player unbowed by the weight of expectation. After the tricky winger saw a speculative penalty appeal waved away when falling under the challenge of Rory Watson, he forced the City keeper into his first save in the 23rd minute. Wriggling free through challenges and into the penalty area, Samuelsen finally brought the home fans to their feet with a low drive pushed wide. Samuelsen, who earned plaudits out on loan with Peterborough earlier this season, was growing to the task in hand. A long-range drive again warmed the palms of Watson in front of the Trevor Brooking Stand, but City continued to pose questions of their own. Hinchcliffe's overhead kick could not find the power to match the ambition, while Spiegel was fortunate not to see a flapped cross fall at the feet of a guest. The Tigers kept knocking and engineered another clear-cut chance in the 38th minute. Jarrod Bowen's reverse cross to the back post was outstanding to pick out the run of Olley but Spiegel sprung to his right, pushing the City forward's header wide. West Ham had not lived up to their billing as favourites but, picking up the pace after the interval, they should have been ahead in the 51st minute. Byram's run and pull-back picked out Doneil Henry unmarked six yards out only for the central defender to drag his effort inches wide of the upright. City lived dangerously again soon after as Marcus Browne ran at Harvey Rodgers and fired into the side netting. A measure of West Ham's dissatisfaction at the pattern of play came on the hour with a trio of substitutions. A flurry of sleet greeted their arrival, as well as that of Will Annan, but still City refused to freeze. Hearts were nevertheless in mouths with 12 minutes remaining. Brown's shot from 20 yards out took a nasty deflection, forcing Watson to scramble across his goal-line and save at his far post. A rare sight of goal was afforded to Samuelsen when jinking into the City box and firing over before a better chance fell to Ben Clappison at the opposite end. A corner flicked on ended with the central defender nodding wide of the target. City had performed manfully but the dam finally sprang a leak in the final minute. A cross was dropped under pressure by Watson, allowing a loose ball to be centred for Parfitt-Williams to poke into an unguarded net. The Tigers are down but far from out. http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/West...tory-29174530-detail/story.html#ixzz46v9VfXfW
Result, attendance, performance and so on did not warrant even a mention on local BBC radio sports news this morning. I sincerely hope the club get their fingers out and publicise the return leg, and not just on their club website because no-one will do it for them.
