october01news

5/10/01 - Shrewsbury Town 1 Hull City 1
The Tigers salvaged a point from Gay Meadow with a late Gary Alexander goal, following another below-par away display. Again, City had a nightmare opening 15 minutes and it seemed to be only a matter of time until the home side would score, with our defence getting pulled apart again, mostly down the left hand side. And indeed the goal did come on 15 minutes, when Luke Rodgers latched on to a Nigel Jemson flick on, breaking through on goal, and fired the ball past Matt Glennon from inside the area. Only minutes earlier Glennon produced a brilliant save to deny Steven Jagielka in a very similar position. He had to make many good saves during the half, and the game, to keep the score at 1-0. City did start to come back in to the game after the goal, and could have scored twice as the half progressed, but Michael Reddy saw his first effort saved well and mis-controlled the second time. He should have scored both times.
Brian Little brought on Matt Bloomer for the struggling Nicky Mohan and Ryan Williams for Michael Reddy at half time, and they helped the Tigers to produce a better display in the second half. The game was fairly even, with City having quite a bit of the ball but not creating much, while Shrewsbury looked dangerous in the final third and had a few chances. So with time running out it looked inevitable that City would suffer another away defeat. But with only 30 seconds of the 3 minutes of added time left, out of nowhere Gary Alexander headed a David Lee cross past Mark Cartwright to earn a point. Mad celebrations followed amongst the 600 or so Tigers supporters.
So a great escape of sorts, as City were again poor on their travels, and could very well have been 2 or goals behind in the first half. But with an improved though still below-par 2nd half performance, a point was grabbed. Shrewsbury will feel very hard done by - although we were pretty much as good as them after the break, they could have had a better lead in the first half.

You can read a full Match Report here.

3/10/01 - Reserves Win Again
City Reserves today ran out 6-1 winners over Halifax Town at Boothferry Park. Although Jamie Wood opened the scoring for the visitors, the Tigers hit back with goals from Steve Burton, Chris Dixon (2), Rob Matthews (2) and Gary Bradshaw, sealing an easy win. Ryan Williams and Neil Mann again played, with the former being substituted in the second half and the latter playing the full 90 minutes. Both had fair games, with Williams' most telling conrtribution a perfect cross for Matthews' first goal, following a great 50 yard pass from David Lee. The other strikes were as follows: Wood netted for the Shaymen with a tap in from 6 yards, Burton headed home a Lee free-kick, Dixon tapped in a Lee cross, Dixon slotted the ball home after breaking through on goal, Matthews smashed a shot past the 'Fax keeper from inside the area, and Bradshaw headed home a Mann cross. There was some good football on display, with some great passing at times, especially from Lee, Bloomer and Burton. Elsewhere, Chris Dixon was the real stand-out, as he took his goals well and did not at all look out of place with the more senior squad members.

13/10/01 - Hull City 1 Torquay United 0
City put in a fairly good performance and took another 3 points infront of 9,102 at Boothferry Park today, with a second half Michael Reddy strike enough for the three points. Lawrie Dudfield also missed a penalty in the opening 45 minutes and Gary Brabin stupidly marred his return to the ground, getting sent off late in the game for kneeing Julian Johnsson.
The Tigers were on top from the get go, and started to attack Torquay's goal with regularity. And the early pressure paid off, as Julian Johnsson won a penalty in the 20th minute, being brought down by Graham as he advanced in the area. Unfortunately, Dudfield's fairly poor spot kick was saved by Kevin Dearden. As the half progressed, the match became increasingly frustrating, as although City had the most of the ball, no real chances were created and Torquay were defending resolutely. David Beresford came close for us, firing a shot just wide, while Tony Bedau's header was saved by Matt Glennon and scrambled away just in time at the other end. After the break, the tempo was upped, but again no clear cut opportunities were created. The next came from a dead ball situation, with Andy Holt curling a free kick just wide from the edge of the area. Torquay also threatened, Graham shooting just wide after a good run.
But the turning point came with the inclusion of Michael Reddy, who replaced the returning Ryan Williams in the 73rd minute. Moments after coming on, with only his second touch of the game, the Ireland under 21 international netted his 4th goal for the club. Edwards' pass sent Alexander down the right wing and his shot was deflected to Reddy at the back post, and after controlling the ball well, he hooked it in to the back of the net from close range. It was no more than we deserved, although at times you felt it would never come.
As the last quarter of an hour came to a close, Gary Brabin managed to sour his day with a stupid sending off. Julian Johnsson tackled the ex Tiger on the touchline and as Brabin walked away from the tackle, he clearly kneed Johnsson in the face, and was duely dsimissed.
So another 3 points, and a fairly good display in spells. Depsite his penalty miss, Dudfield was probably the man of the match, he again showed his quality with some great running down the wing and caused the visitors problems all afternoon. Regarding the penalty, I have a feeling that if it had gone in, the margin of victory could have been greater. Still, a win is a win, and it keeps us in 3rd place in the table, still with a game in hand over the top 2. Next up is Rushden away next Saturday, and Duane Darby...

You can read a full Match Report here

13/10/01 - Juniors Triumph!
City Juniors ran out 3-1 winners against York in the Youth Alliance Cup this morning, with goals from Glen Kaveney, Clayton Donaldson and Michael Steer.

James Richardson's report of the game can be found here