A chance conversation before the match informed me that the match was on Sky and the tickets were £30. I've not checked to see if either was correct but if it were then few would subscribe to SKY TV to watch a BRFC match and would the ones that paid £30 for ten minutes, (albeit 10 minutes of scintillating attacking football by the Rovers) think that £3.00 per minute a good deal?
So a decent performance against a resolute and bruising Luton on Saturday in which Peter Jackson awarded Dolan MoM for his display on the right wing and I (not that it matters) awarded my MoM to John Buckley. Last night v Hull saw Tony Mowbray, instead of simply replacing the 'injured' (
) Sam Gallagher with Butterworth or McBride elect to not only bring in Clarkson who imo plays like the rookie Buckley of 2 years ago (and imo is someway behind Buckley in quality) but also to push poor Buckley out wide when he plainly isn't a winger? Dolan meanwhile was uprooted from his favourite right wing berth and was switched to his weaker side on the left wing whilst BB was then installed as CF though God only knows why because whilst I don't know what BB is suited to but it ain't centre forward! Even I felt sorry for Ben B! We all know that his first touch is awful and that his second touch is usually a tackle so why on earth TM left him isolated up top on his own I cannot begin to understand. Fair play to BB for keep trying but the fact that nothing was sticking to him meant that most of the first half was played in our half with us on the defensive. It was a turgid, desperately poor first half with little goalmouth action at either end but particularly little in Hull City's last third of the pitch. Meanwhile Tony Mowbray paced slowly about his area seemingly unfazed by the obvious imbalance in the team.
Second half and still no change until on 54 minutes TM must have finally seen enough and hauled off the ineffective Clarkson, and surprisingly John Buckley as well and replaced them with Dan Butterworth and new loan boy Reda Khadra. Khadra took up his post on the left wing, Dolan moved over to the right whilst Butterworth played up top with BBD. What a transformation that was! Immediately the Rovers got onto the front foot and tore into Hull as if their lives depended on it! Khadra showing a combination of Dolanesque footwork and Armstrongesque pace frightened the living daylights out of Hull's RB Coyle as he was twisted in knots and left for dead time and again. Butterworth for his part exhibited a mixture of strength and close control and Dolan was finding the right wing a far more accommodating position to exhibit his box of tricks. Brereton too was looking more comfortable with a few blue and white shirts around him. 60 minutes and Butterworth unleashed a cannon of a shot from 30 yards that was unfortunately straight at Ingram in the Hull goal, even so he could only block it and Dolan was first to the rebound but snatched at his shot and the ball flew into the BBurn End. With the Rovers fans now on red alert and cursing their luck they only had to wait a minute before Dolan (?) harassed Jacob Greaves into conceding a corner on the right. Joe Rothwell slung it in and Ayala was unchallenged to thud his header home.
A succession of Rovers attacks failed to add to the score until on 65 minutes after good work by Khadra, Lewis Travis st\lid the ball to BBD for him to curl a lovely shot across Ingram and inside the far post. I was right behind that shot and from the minute it left BB's boot it had goal written all over it.
With me no anticipating a collapse by Hull and a final score of 4-0 or even 5-0 the Rovers seemed to take their foot off the gas. I've no idea why but after just 15 / 20 mins of action Butterworth looked completely knackered. I can only speculate that he had taken a knock but if he had I didn't see it.
Khadra too looked to have slowed a little and a reprieved Hull commendably regrouped and fought back.
With Travis as the sole growler in midfield the Rovers were pushed back and I recall thinking at one point
'if they score it'll be here we go again' to last saturday's nightmare ending. Hull however with only 4 goals to their name this season and with all of them coming on the opening day of the season at PNE looked desperately short of attacking quality and though they huffed and puffed they had left their shooting boots back on the east coast. I have to say at this point that I don't believe Maginnis ever owned a pair as the main threat from Hull came in the first half from Wilks cutting inside from the right side, Pickering commendably cutting off any route for him down the wing.
FT 2-0. If the game had finished after 98 minutes on Saturday instead of 99 mins we'd now be lording it just 1 point behind WBA and Bournemouth! As it is we are equal in 6th place. A very commendable start without a doubt but I'm not envisaging that we will stay up with the parachute clubs for too long. This season a top half finish would do very nicely.
Kaminsky... 6 Coped well with just about everything that Hull sent his way which despite 15 shots wasn't very much. 5 shots on target with the rest flying with regularity into Row Z.
Nyambe... 6 Defended capably but an out of position and all at sea John Buckley meant any adventurous wing play never happened for him.
Lenihan... 7 Strong defensively as almost always and without any red mists.
Ayala.... 8 As with Lenihan but claimed and excellent second goal of the season to start the rot for Hull.
Pickering... 7 Continuing to grow in stature in the team. Plenty to do in the first half against the strength or Mr Wilks but too quick to be beaten down the line forced Wilks elect to go inside. VERY wrongly booked by Referee John Brooks after Longman pushed the ball right but then ran directly into him! Poor Harry never moved but was still shown a yellow.
Buckley.... 5 Played out of position and subbed on 54. The reason for his poor showing was with Tony Mowbray.
Clarkson... 5 Nice touched here and there but this lad no matter how promising Livvie think he might be should still be playing in their U23's. No way should he be taking a midfield place off either Davenport and / or Buckley and / or Johnson when fit. This is a rough tough Division and it's not for the likes of this lad.
Rothwell... 6 Again a lightweight defensively although his trademark runs tore Hull's midfield to shred on occasions in the second half. Just a pity that his final ball isn't quite as good as his wonderful ability to carry the ball at speed. Claimed an assist with his corner.
Travis... 7 Hard pressed to stem the Hull flow on his own. Had a decent shot whistle just wide and claimed an assist for setting up BB's 'killer' goal.
Dolan... 7 Worked hard as ever but had a poor first half. Enjoyed much more success and was more of a threat once he'd gone to replace Buckley on the right. With him on the right and Khadra on the left we have the ability to stretch any defence. One of them though needs to get boots of a different colour!
Brereton.... 6 Worked hard but with such a poor first touch, less than great ball control and even worse heading ability no way can he play up top on his own. Looked a different prospect after the changes. I frequently recall the words of Forest's old Manager Frank Clarke to a BRFC official 3 seasons back....
"Have you found Brereton's best position yet... cos we couldn't"
Subs
Khadra (Buckley 54) 7 This lads a player for sure. Lightning fast with great ball control and trickery. TM say's he's a long way behind the rest of our squad in terms of fitness. If that's the case I look fwd to seeing him fully fit!
Butterworth (Clarkson 54) 6 What an impact playing alongside BB but what a fade out after 15 minutes too! I guess it's a mystery which we will have to wait to find out.
Davenport (Dolan 89) Too late to make much of a difference but it did show TM was aware of our pussyfoot midfield.
Tony Mowbray.... 4 Where do i start? Sent out a weak team for sure, disrupted the two best players from Saturday by playing both out of position. I'd guess that was in order to accommodate Clarkson! Is this a condition of his loan I wonder? If so then I'm afraid he'll have to go back to Anfield! As a result BB in a position that clearly doesn't suit him was cut adrift and left to fend for himself up top. With nothing sticking up top Hull played most of the first half in our half of the pitch! Tony did obviously get his subs right but to major on that would be a cop out of that initial team selection.
Referee John Brooks 5 Let a lot go that most would have blown up for and then whistled for minor offences. He needs to tear up that ridiculous yellow for Pickering.... but they never do that do they?
