HULL CITY 3 CITY 1
League Division 2
29th September 1987
Attendance 9,650
Scorers
City Stewart(89 pen)
Hull Parker(20), Bunn(36 & 55)
Ref Ken Redfern
City Mimms, Gidman, Hinchcliffe, Seagraves, Brightwell, Redmond, White, Stewart, Varadi, Scott, Simpson – subs McNab(65) Lake(65)
Hull Norman, Palmer, Heard, Jobson, Skipper, Parker, Roberts, Bunn, Saville, Askew, Daniel – used subs Payton, Williams
FROM THE PRESS BOX
PETER GARDNER WRITING IN THE MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS 30TH SEPTEMBER 1987
Forget the First Division, survival in the Second is more like the name of the game for Manchester City.
Until the Blues start winning away matches, they have no realistic chance of mounting a promotion challenge.
They now have a reputation as a touch softer than a Mr Whippy ice cream.
Hull City found that to their advantage at Boothferry Park last night where they coasted to a 3-1 victory to leave the Blues an embarrassing 33 League games without success outside of Maine Road. And it is there in the next two matches that City must re-discover pride lost in successive defeats east of the Pennines.
Hull continued where Leeds left off on Saturday to leave ominous doubts about City’s ability to climb into the top half of the table.
Yet for 10 minutes at the outset, City never gave the Tigers a bite. But once Hull snapped into attacking action they could have been three up inside quarter of an hour.
John Gidman, later to compound City’s night of shame with a shock late sending off, twice cleared off the line, and Steve Redmond scooped away another home effort that was agonisingly close.
It was no more than Hull deserved when Gary Parker shot them ahead with a crisp 16-yarder after 20 minutes. Had Ian Scott not totally miskicked when Paul Stewart set up a gilt-edged chance eight minutes later, the game might have had a different outcome.
Scott could have helped himself to a hat-trick, but he again later miscued and then saw another effort well saved by Tony Norman.
In fact the Hull goalkeeper was far busier than Everton’s on-poan Bobby Mimms at the other end. But doubtless Mimms wished he had stayed at the deep end of the Mersey as three of the four shots Hull aimed at him whistled into the net.
City looked a more potent force once the classy Paul Lake was introduced in the second half to leave team manager Mel Machin wondering why he had overlooked him in the first place,
… Certainly he had attacking aggression and the right ideas as he gave Hull a late pounding with right flanking raids that came too late to make any significant difference.
Gidman’s sending off five minutes from the end came following his second bookable offence. He clattered into Garreth Roberts after a first half yellow card for dissent and referee Ken Redfearn had no option but to give him the red one.
City’s late consolation goal came from a firmly driven penalty by the again impressive Paul Stewart awarded after Scott had been dragged down in the last minute.