Should have been 3 or 4 up against the likes of Rochdale. No strength in depth. Allams out. Adkins out. In the words of Miriam Karlin in the Rag Trade, everybody out!
Hull City's third pre-season friendly ended in defeat as Rochdale snatched a late 1-0 victory at the Crown Oil Arena on Saturday. Joseph Rafferty scored the only game with just seconds of normal time remaining to inflict a frustrating defeat on Nigel Adkins’ side. Adkins opted for a strong starting line-up with five of his summer signings – Eric Lichaj, Reece Burke, Jordy de Wijs, Todd Kane and David Milinković – all included from the off, whilst Markus Henriksen once again wore the captain’s armband. The first chance of the game was created with just 62 seconds played. Evandro and Todd Kane linked up well down the right flank and the Brazilian’s cross was met by the head of Fraizer Campbell inside the box, only for the striker to see his header comfortably saved by Joshua Lillis in the Rochdale goal. After a largely uneventful first quarter-of-an-hour at the Crown Oil Arena, the hosts wasted a decent opportunity to open the scoring when Matthew Done’s low cross somehow found its way to Joseph Rafferty in space but the full-back fired his first-time effort narrowly over David Marshall’s crossbar. Marshall was called into action three minutes later when he produced a fine save with his feet to deny David Perkins following a lovely passing move from Keith Hill’s men. The Tigers regrouped and were presented with a decent opportunity to test Lillis on 25 minutes when Evandro was upended 30 yards from goal by Bradden Inman. de Wijs looked confident as he placed the ball down and stepped back – but was left disappointed as his set-piece cleared the stand behind the Rochdale keeper’s goal. Evandro’s influence on the game was beginning to grow as the Brazilian drilled a low effort from outside the box narrowly wide before linking up brilliantly with Kane, only to be robbed of possession inside the Rochdale box before he could get a shot away. The action switched to the other end of the pitch in the latter stages of the first 45 minutes as Marshall produced a fine save to keep out ex-Tiger Aaron Wilbraham’s well-struck effort. The Scot was then penalised for picking up what was deemed to be a back pass from Lichaj by the referee, giving Rochdale an indirect free-kick in a promising position on the corner of the six-yard box. However, the Tigers’ defensive wall stood firm to prevent Wilbraham’s low drive from finding the back of the net. Evandro, Henriksen and Milinković linked up nicely in the opening exchanges of the second half to create an opening for Kane, but the Chelsea loanee’s tame effort was easily held by Lillis. The Tigers dominated the early proceedings of the second half with Evandro, Henriksen and Milinković linking up nicely to create an opening for Kane, but the Chelsea loanee’s tame effort was easily held by Lillis. Milinković then saw an effort deflected behind before Stewart fired a well-struck effort from distance wide of the target. The pressure continued to come from the team in black and amber as they pressed the home defence into a mistake in the final third of the pitch, which allowed Evandro to slip the ball into the path of Kane inside the box, although he could only scuff his effort straight at Lillis between the posts. Rochdale gave a reminder of their attacking threat on the hour mark as Oliver Rathbone came close to finding a way past Marshall with a superbly-struck effort from the edge of the box that flew narrowly over. Stephen Kingsley fired narrowly over from a free-kick ten minutes later before Dale skipper Ian Henderson followed suit from open play after dispossessing Stewart midway inside the Tigers’ half. Adkins made ten changes 15 minutes from time, with Brandon Fleming, Angus MacDonald, Lewis Ritson, Adam Curry, Robbie McKenzie, Daniel Batty, Elliot Holmes, Tyler Hamilton, Will Keane, Nouha Dicko all coming off the bench. A swift counter-attack carved out a decent opportunity for Dicko on 86 minutes but the substitute sent his effort from a tight angle wide of the target. And the Tigers were made to pay for the missed opportunity as the hosts grabbed a last-minute winner through Rafferty. The full-back produced a neat touch to cut inside from the Rochdale right before finding the bottom corner with a fine curling finish. Rochdale: Joshua Lillis, Joseph Rafferty, Jimmy McNulty, Harrison McGahey, MJ Williams, Oliver Rathbone (Dan Adshead 80), Matthew Done, David Perkins, Aaron Wilbraham, Bradden Inman (Joe Thompson 65), Ian Henderson (Calvin Andrew 75). Subs Not Used: Callum Camps, Jordan Williams, Andrew Cannon, Aaron Morley, Brad Wade, Matthew Gillam. Hull City: David Marshall, Eric Lichaj (Lewis Riston 75), Stephen Kingsley (Brandon Fleming 75), Reece Burke (Adam Curry 75), Jordy de Wijs (Angus MacDonald 75), Kevin Stewart (Robbie McKenzie 75), Markus Henriksen (Daniel Batty 75), Todd Kane (Elliot Holmes 75), Evandro (Will Keane 75), David Milinković (Tyler Hamilton 75), Fraizer Campbell (Nouha Dicko 75). Subs Not Used: George Long, Jackson Irvine. Att: 1,098
Burke - looked good. Calm, won his headers and didn't mess about. De Wijs - massive. Was okay. Put a free kick out of the ground. Lichaj - steady. Looked good defensively and not bad going forward. Kane - decent. Linked well with Lichaj but wasted our two best chances Milinkovic - looked flashy but I don't think he completed a pass. Could go either way. I thought Kevin Stewart had his best game for us today, loads of energy and kept the ball moving. Henriksen looked good next to him too.
Nice to hear Stewart can step it up v Rochdale. The stuff on Twitter I saw was going on about the lack of a proper striker, was Keane still anonymous then?
Never went but a promising result. Bring on 21st place, or 20th best runner-up as I prefer to call it (being an optimistic fellow)
Very similar to Lichaj I thought, looked comfortable defensively but didn't get as involved going forward, possibly because Milinkovic was pretty poor defensively. Campbell was definitley the worst player in our team today. The ball didn't stick with him and twice the ball came over the top which you'd hope he'd turn into a chance but neither time he managed to get a shot off. Dicko looked brighter when he came on. That only leaves Evandro I haven't spoken about. Clearly very talented, some really nice touches and looked good, but a couple of times he could have tried a killer pass but took too many touches and got caught on the ball. Very promising from him though. Of the kids, I thought the left winger (Hamilton?) Looked tidy, started a really nice counter by keeping the ball in a tight space on the left touchline and pushed on to put the ball in the box.
Keane was playing more as a second striker off Dicko, but yes, didn't really contribute anything. Some nice finishes in the warm up though!!
Just watched the highlights, looked to make a few nice passing movements going forward but fizzled out to nothing. Kane seems to have impressed Phil Buckingham in the first half, obviously early days but seems we need someone up top who knows where the goal is.
At the back Burke looked comfy on the ball but there is not a lot to him physically. Wait to see him against champ forwards. De Wijs looks a bit naive at times but nix to have a proper left footed ch on the left. Lichaj looks like a solid champ rb. Kane looked a bit lost for 15m but settled down and was steady. Milinkovic flattered to deceive. Right footed on left side he comes inside all the time with limited success. Hardly completed a cross or pass all afternoon. Nobody looked particularly quick or inventive. Very limited in final third. Rochdale keeper didn't make a save of note. Need at least 2 champ quality forward/progressive players to give us a chance at competing
Kane played generally RM in front of Lichaj. Once he settled he looked intelligent and good on the ball. The general lack of tackling in pre season made it hard to judge his defensive talents but both Lichaj and Kingsley were left a bit exposed too many times against limited opposition
Friendlies...!? I recall us losing 1-0 at Jam-tarts and the press calling us ';the worst side to ever enter the premier league'. 4 weeks later we were 2nd in the table, having toasted Spurs at WHL!!
