A somewhat lacklustre 3-1 win today. We dominated proceedings throughout but, after an impressive first half hour, our U21 found it difficult to break down a well-organised and disciplined Hull side.
We went 4-1-4-1 again, this time with Tiv Rushesha initially taking up the right back role: Lewis Webb; Tiv Rushesha, Kai Ludvigsen (sub Harry Jones 37m), Ben Blythe, Sam Leverett (sub Kian Jenkins 82m); Joel Cotterill; Liam Smith, Cameron Congreve, Azeem Abdulai, Ben Lloyd (sub Corey Hurford 82m); Ruben Davies (sub Josh Thomas 46m).
We started confidently, stroking the ball around at ease and quickly going 2 nil up by carving our way through the visitors’ defence – Cam Congreve putting us 1 up on 13 minutes and Ruben Davies getting a 2nd a minute later after slick interplay by Abdulai and Smith gave him the opportunity. We looked as though we’d get a hatful.
Hull settled, dug in and got themselves back into the match. We had a scare with a free kick against the underside of the bar on 33 minutes. On 42, a misunderstanding between Rushesha and Webb outside the area gave Hinds an open goal to pot into.
We continued to dominate possession, but created very few direct chances in the 2nd half, our final ball frequently letting us down. Hull simply battened down the hatches and patiently looked for breaks.
Although his pass to Leverett gave the left back plenty to do, Azeem Abdulai took the return and finished well to put the game to bed on 81 minutes.
Corey Hurford managed to get himself sent off with a straight red in added time. We also had Congreve, Blythe and Cotterill booked in a contest that never warranted that many cards.
Things didn’t always come off for us today, but we were still well worth the victory. It didn’t really happen for Rushesha at right back, he looked much more comfortable when he swapped with Harry Jones after Kai Ludvigsen had to leave the pitch injured. A number of our players now really need to be properly tested at first team level.
Nice atmosphere there this afternoon – sunny (for a change!) and lots of young age group kids there in the crowd making a splendid racket.