Preview
It’s just after 10 a.m., the sun is streaming in and I think we’ll win today. In fact we must win if we want to rise above the mire that we were in at the end of last season. Hull have scored an average of a goal a game while conceding two and that ties in nicely with my gut feeling of 2-1 to us. There’s been a lot of speculation about our line-up and I think that Richardson will probably replace McCartney. Maybe it’s just me but I never really notice McCartney when he’s playing. As regards the goalkeeping slot I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s been a bit of kidology going on and that Fulop or Gordon will actually play. If not, then bring Carson on; that’s what we’re paying him for. Da Silva apparently played a stormer against Argentina and will no doubt be in the squad. Turner will surely start and I hope Mensah too. That should tighten up our dodgy defence good and proper. We’ll have to be wary of McShane as he’ll be doing his best to make us eat shit. Personally I’ve nothing against Paul but he didn’t produce the goods for us most of the time, though I suspect he’s a better player than we ever saw. Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink sounds like a baddie from a Bond movie and should make his debut for the Tigers. He scored stacks of goals for Celtic and will be a danger. What’s he doing with an ‘of’ in his name anyway?

The Match
I got Radio Newcastle on and saw that Gordon was in after all and Richardson had replaced McCartney while Campbell was in for Jones after his midweek exertions for T&T, though he was on the bench. In the early minutes both sets of fans cheered Turner, the Hull fans booed Campbell, some of our fans booed McShane and everyone was so occupied that nobody remembered to boo Kilbane, or maybe he’s gone beyond the booing stage. The first ten minutes sounded frenetic with Reid sounding dangerous for us. Hull won the first corner when a good long-distance shot was deflected but it came to nothing and then we got our first and this resulted in a penalty for a clear handball by Fagan. Bent put it away no problem. The commentator said Turner was “huge” and that pleased me very much though Richardson was sounding wobbly when defending. I also learnt that ‘of’ in Dutch means ‘or’. At the half-hour mark our fans were sounding in fine voice but of course we were all hoping for a second as Hull were creating chances especially through Ghilas. Just before half-time they equalized when Zayatte headed in from a corner that had been won following a needlessly conceded free-kick by Ferdinand. I had heard very little mention of Bent and Campbell in the later stages and there were a few clouds overhead at the break. Still, a good rollicking would hopefully sort them out for the second-half.

The second-half was only a few minutes old when following thirty seconds of tremendous pressure we took the lead again through a great goal by Reid. Twelve minutes in Jan V. of H. came on for Fagan, who seemed to be doing his best to get a red card. Thanks for the penalty, mate. They’d managed to get the whole of V. of H.’s name on his shirt. Midway through the half Sonko dithered badly and Bent made it 3-1. I’d been a bit nervous till then, given our recent efforts at defending set-pieces, but I was sure we couldn’t lose it then. Reid and McShane were having a recurring niggle and had to be spoken to. With just under fifteen minutes to go Jones came on for Bent and the latter took a well-deserved ovation. More goals were in the air and soon enough debutant Turner headed home number four from a Reid corner (though AOL later said it was a Zayatte own goal). Mensah came on for Bardsley and they both got a deserved ovation. Let’s face it everyone was in such a good mood that my neighbour’s cat Oscar would’ve got an ovation if he’d taken the field at that point. Da Silva came on for Malbranque and I fancied another goal but had to settle for four.

Well, a great result and a lot of positives with Turner’s outstanding debut being to the fore and Reid’s major contribution being, I’m sure, a taste of more to come. Burnley got a good hiding so I hope that’s softened them up for our visit next week. Speaking of which, if you see a skinny grey haired guy staggering from Burnley Manchester Road Station with a large bag, please give him a hand because it’ll be me.

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