Monyhull 0 Revival Fires 2

After an extended mid season break the hull were finally back in action last Saturday with the visit of Revival Fires to The Pavilion. For Gaffer Millist it was out with the old and in with the new as the ‘hulls 4:4:2 formation was swapped for a 3:5:2 with Gaz Webber, Pete and Big Ron making the back 3, Tom P and Adam at wing back and a midfield triangle of Dan, Ryan and Jamie behind the front 2 of Lee and Tom H.

For the first 20 minutes the hull were trying to get to grips with their new structure, but all looked promising. The closest Revival got was a back header from Big Ron, under pressure from Gaz that Gary H in goal had to tip over for a corner.

Then came the turning point in the first half, the moment all Hull connoisseurs have been waiting for all season as Cautious Tom P went to ground in the tackle, muddying his pristine shirt and galvanising the hull midfield into taking control of the game up until half time. Captain Dan was pulling the strings, with Ryan probing for a through ball to put Tom H away and Big Ron stepping up into midfield to break up any Revival attack.

But time and again Tom was pulled up for offside and when Dan slid a ball invitingly across the six yard box there was no hull on hand to put it away, did a trail of crumbs from the Revival touchline towards Cake Clarke tell a tale of temptation failed?

In the second half the ‘hull were uphill and into the wind, but still looking comfortable for the first few minutes until a half clearance fell to a Revival player who struck it superbly with the outside of his left foot and just inside Gary’s right hand post. A fine shot but the hull defence had to be at fault as nobody closed down giving the player all the time he needed, Gary will be unhappy to let a shot in at a comfortable height on his near post from well outside the area.

Revival began to exert more pressure, and from across half cleared by Pete the same Revival player found himself with another opportunity to score from distance.

Gaffer John quickly reacted, taking off Pete after 4 or possibly 5 mistakes in the game (sorry lads) and Jamie for Gary Harwood and making his season debut Josh, and reverting to 4:4:2, but the game was slipping away from the hull.

The final event saw Big Ron’s perma-tan beginning to fade despite a liberal coating of mud, and in the end the sheer weight of his gold jewellery saw his legs begin to cramp up as he was replaced for the final minutes by Andy who tried to inject some purpose back into the game with some lively runs.

Dan took his first man of the match of the season, although as his shirt number was invisible with the amount of mud on his shirt, I doubt Revival will have named him.

Next up Darkhouse away on Saturday, and personally I’m fed up of being outclassed  and losing but saying it was a lesson, of holding our own and losing and saying we will win that one next season, and of saying we should have been a couple up by half time and losing. If we think we are good enough then lets treat the next few weeks not as the end of the season, but as a second mini season and try and get the results that would see us mid table next season.

So, while I’m not a fan of sport psychology can we have some fantasies about scoring a few goals or making some crucial tackles, or closing down the opposition to block a shot, and while Emile Heskey has some fine qualities, and contributes a lot to his teams, can we stop trying to emulate his scoring record.