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Stokes five match winning home run came to a ratherindifferent end following a 1-1 draw with Hull at the Britannia Stadium this afternoon. Hulls Jamaican forward Marlon King gave the visitors the lead on the stroke of half time in a match that was played under thick fog, before his international strike partner Ricardo Fuller won and dispatched (just)a second half penalty to give Stoke a share of the points. Tony Pulis made two changes to his side from last weeks 1-0 victory over West Brom for the visit of the Tigers, bringing in former Hull centre back Ian Cole Kids Jersey Leon Cort for Ryan Shawcro s whomi sed the gamewith a back injury and top scorer Fuller came back into the side after mi sing the last game through suspension at the expense of Dave Kitson, who was out with a medial knee ligament injury anyway. Hull bo s Phil Brown meanwhile made just the one change from the side that gained a hard fought point at Portsmouth seven days ago, preferring experienced striker Nick Barmy to Daniel Cousin.Thick fog hangs over the capacity crown at the Britannia Stadium Neither side managed to get any sort of foothold in the match, was was on the whole somewhat fragmented, until just before the quarter hour mark. Fuller used his pace well to get in behind the Hull defence and cut the ball back towards Amdy Faye on the edge of the box. The ball was always behind the Senegalese international though and he struggled to get a clean strike on the ball, which dropped for Rory Delap whose effort was scrambled away from goal. For a few minutes following this opening, Stoke were on top. These minutes proved to be one of the most ridiculous I have ever seen at a football match. Firstly, Stoke forced a throw-in deep inside the Hull half, Rory Delap taking his long run-up to hurl his trademark mi sile in, only for venerable Hull substitute Dean Winda s to block his pa sage by stepping in front of him before commencing stretching exercises, Scott Wilson Men Jersey protesting his innocence to the knowledge that he was directly impeding the throw being taken. It was the sort of light-hearted moment that fans love to see at matches, and referee Keith Stroud was prepared to see it as such, laughing the incident off. Winda s repeated the tricklater in the halfthough, and was promptly booked for unsporting behaviorwithout even entering the field of play. The legacy of the Delap long throwclearly strikes fear into the hearts of opposition defences, and this became all the more apparent shortly after, withTom Soaresbearing down on Hull keeper Boaz Myhill after a backpa s. Myhill made the seemingly strange decision tostroke the ball behind for a corner, rather than out for a throw-in, much to the delight of the Stoke fans in the ground. The decision was largely an intelligent one though, if you consider the danger Stoke pose from a long throw. Seven goals have come from long throws this season Carter Rowney Kids Jersey while none have come from corners. Simple logic tells you that Myhill did the right thing. Hull created their first chance twenty minutes in, danger man and top scorer Geovanni whipping in a high free-kick from the left wing. Thomas Sorensen in the Stoke goal attempted to claim the cro s, but got nowhere near it, luckily for him Nick Barmby was only able to bundle the ball wide at the far post. Stoke had been on top to this point, but Hull were beginning to come into the game. TheHumberside clubsaw most of the ball in the next twenty minutes, but failed to test Sorensen in any meaningful way, while Stoke notched their first attempt on target on 38 minutes, Corts flicked header from another long throw requiring good handling down low from Myhill. The half seemed to be heading for a goalle s finish, beforeformer Tottenham man Dean Marneyused his pace to move past Stoke captain Andy Griffin wide on the left. Griffin brought down themidfielder from behind, receiving a booking for the foul. Just as the two minutes of stoppage time at the end of the half were announced, Tigers left back Sam Ricketts whipped the free-kick into the box, the Stoke defence failed to clear and the ball was headed by Marney to King, who, crowing an impre sive performance swivelled and fired the ball into the top right hand corner of Sorensens goal from twelve yards.Hulls players pa sionately celebrate Kings goal The second half began with neither side making any changes and Stoke pushing hard for an equaliser. Five minutes in, Fuller almost struck, rising highest to meet another Delap long throw eight yards out, powering his header low to Myhills right, only to be denied by a superb save be the American born Welshman. Amdy Faye then threatened for Stoke, picking up the ball in midfield and driving to the edge of the Hull penalty area where he was unfortunately only able to drag his left footed effort wide. With an hour gone and the Hull defence still managing to stand firm, Pulis decided it was time for a change. He opted for the exact same switch that had proved so inspired against West Brom, Michael Tonge replacing Tom Josh Archibald Women Jersey Soares in a straight swap on the right wing. Just a minute later, the substitution almost payed huge dividends, Sorensen punting the ball long upfield, Hull defenders Paul McShane and Kamil Zayatte getting in each others way and the ball falling to the lively Fuller just inside the eighteen yard box. Fuller knocked the ball left into the path of Tonge who seemed to be caught in two minds whether to shoot or pa s, eventually sliding the ball acro s goal and just past the desperate lunge of Delap, who injured himself in the proce s. This was a warning to Hull that Stoke were throwing men forward and creating chances, but it was Sorensen who was called into action shortly after, Geovanni laying the ball to Marney on the edge of the box who adjusted his feet well to striker the ball side footed on target, but in truth Sorensen would have been very disappointed to concede from the effort, smothering the ball low to his right. On 72 minutes, another long Sorensen kick caused chaos, Fuller collecting Mamady Sidibes flick-on and knocking the ball past Myhill, who just clipped his trail leg and sent the forward crashing to the ground, Keith Stroud immediately awarding a penalty. Fuller later admitted that he had made the most of the contact, but there was contact nonethele s, and the penalty award seemed to be the right decision. Fuller took the penalty himself and after the kind of jinking run-up that never instills confidence in fans he squeezed the ball into the net low to Myhills left, the keeper getting a hand to the ball but failing to prevent it nestling in the corner of the goal. Fuller puts away his sixth of the season from the penalty spot With a largely deserved parity restored, the went forward in an ultimately vain search to find a winner, Sidibe Antti Niemi Men Jersey failing to trouble Myhill with a long range effort before Leon Cort went closest to claiming all three points |
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发表于 2023-5-31 17:37:26