Posh 0 Hull 1 (Figueroa) In the last two home games for Posh the opposition have worn a black and yellow kit, Premiership new boys Hull City and Championship Watford. One team played silky smooth, fast paced flowing football the other more athletic, strong and workmanlike. An uninitiated, impartial observer could have been forgiven for thinking the Premiership team played last week and the Championship team tonight, they would have been wrong. Posh fielded two different teams for each half in tonight's match and the starting eleven will be the ones taking the pitch against Swindon (or very close to it) when the real action kicks off on Saturday. Olejnik in goal was untroubled, as were the back four of Alcock, Bostwick, Zakuani and Ntlhe - even Zak's close control and passing have improved since last season. Ntlhe has made the Left Back position his own so far and this has allowed skipper Tommy Rowe to be pushed forward to his more natural role on the Left of midfield with MOM Grant McCann, revitalised Danny Kearns (surely he will come off the transfer list after his outstanding pre-season) and Lee Tomlin. McCann controlled everything hardly wasting a pass, Kearns buzzing about tigerishly (sorry couldn't resist that) and Tomlin full of skill, running and tricks, Hull resorting to fouling to stop him. Had this been a competitive game I doubt David Meyler would have stayed on the pitch, a crude lunge catching Tomlin and then a few minutes later an horrendous, needless sliding tackle from behind bringing Tomlin crashing to the ground whilst in full flight having beaten 3 defenders, possibly a straight red on another day, forcing Tomlin to be withdrawn, hopefully as a precautionary measure and there is no lasting injury. I got the feeling George Boyd, on his return to London Road, was trying just a little too hard to put on a good show for the fans, little going right for him early on, though he was well marshalled by Alcock. It was Hull, against the run of play, who broke the deadlock, and what a goal it was. With Figueroa out wide on the Left and 25 yards from goal there seemed little danger but his shot, arcing and curling, flew into the top right hand corner of the goal giving Olejnik no chance - I am hard pushed to think of any keeper who would have reached the ball, it was without doubt a top class goal from one of the few Premiership quality players in the Hull team. Once again the weak area for Posh was up front, Barnett and Sinclair rarely troubling Harper in the Hull goal. With mass changes at half time for Posh a little of the quality went, allowing Hull to dominate for long periods, though with no end result. Aaron McLean came on for Hull, but being played on the right he was not at his best, he is a striker and should be used as such to get the best from him. Apart from one smart stop from a direct free kick Joe Day had little to do. The pick of the players for the second half were Danny Swanson, Jack Payne and Shaq MacDonald. Swanson and Payne can count themselves unlucky if they do not make the starting 11 on Saturday, whilst I would be tempted to use MacDonald in place of Sinclair if we have not landed the new, hitherto unknown. striker that Darragh has hinted at. Yes I know he is young, raw and untried in League football but his quality shone through against a robust Hull defence. Barnett and Sinclair are too similar for my liking, MacDonald adds something different and is surely worth consideration. The game started in bright sunshine and meandered to a close in light drizzle as further changes of personnel, this time by Hull, disrupted the flow of the game and slowed things down. A first pre-season defeat but a good team performance against a physically strong team, much like many teams we will meet in League One (though perhaps with less quality). If anyone fancies a flutter then a few bob on Hull and Watford swapping places next May might well bear fruit. On this evenings performance Hull are in for a long, hard season, though at least I think they will comfortably exceed Derby's paltry total of 11 points for a season in the Premiership. Enjoy your time in the Premiership George, I fear it may be but a short sojourn (perhaps you and the rest of the Tigers can prove me wrong).
