For the second weekend running Tony Pulis’s Stoke side lost points after conceding twice in the second half, with struggling Hull coming from behind to beat the Potters by two goals to one at the KC Stadium today. Tigers manager Phil Brown was feeling the pressure that comes from winning just three league games in ten months, with many people predicting that a loss for his side would result in the loss of his job prior to the match. His afternoon got off to the worst possible start as Matthew Etherington put Stoke ahead mid-way through the first half, but former Stoke man Seyi Olofinjana gave the hosts hope with a well-taken goal just after the hour mark. The game looked to be heading for a draw, but, when Stoke skipper Abdoulaye Faye was sent off after picking up a second booking from referee Mike Dean, Hull were given the impetus to push on, and snatched the points withbig-name striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink’s predatory strike in injury time.

As predicted, Pulis chose to throw defender Robert Huth straight back into the fray for the match, with the German replacing Andy Wilkinson at right back on his return from suspension. Otherwise, his side was unchanged from the one that drew with Wolves eight days ago, with Thomas Sorensen in goal, behind a back four Huth, Ryan Shawcross, Faye and Danny Collins. Rory Delap, Glenn Whelan, Dean Whitehead and Etherington made up the midfield, while Ricardo Fuller and James Beattie led the line, chosen ahead of Tuncay and Dave Kitson who were named amongst the substitutes.

With desperate times calling for desperate measures, Brown made no fewer than five changes to the Hull side that was beaten at Burnley last week, with strikers Craig Fagan and Jozy Altidore given the nod, as well as experienced winger Richard Garcia and ‘keeper Matt Duke, who came in for the injured Boaz Myhill. Midfield playmaker and KC Stadium medical room frequent visitors’ discount card holder Jimmy Bullard was the most notable inclusion on the home side’s team sheet, making his full debut ten months after completing his club record move to Humberside from Fulham.

The game started quietly, effectively living up to its billing on the undercard of Sky Sports’s Super Sunday, but began to heat up ten minutes in, with Bullard crashing two long-range efforts wide of Sorensen’s goal and Shawcross, who looks set to sig a new four-year deal at Stoke next week, picking up an early booking after a reckless lunge on Fagan. A series of Delap long throws then put Hull on the back foot, with Fuller drawing the first save of the match from Duke, with a well-struck, but too central effort from the edge of the box.

As the half wore on, Hull began to build a head of steam, enjoying good possession deep in the Stoke half, albeit without significantly troubling Sorensen, their best moment having come when Garcia broke free of the Stoke defence, only to be denied by a fine last-ditch tackle from Whelan. They have one of the worst defensive records in the Premier League though, and their defensive deficiencies showed on the half hour as the visitors scored against the run of play. Hull defenders Anthony Gardner and Bernard Mendy failed to deal with a high hoof upfield from Shawcross, and the ball fell kindly to Etherington wide on the left wing. After scoring spectacularly and winning the man of the match award against Wolves, the former West Ham man’s confidence is sky-high, and it showed as he cut inside at pace and strode towards Duke’s goal, choosing to ignore the opportunity to play the ball square to Fuller, instead going alone, unleashing a fearsome shot past the ‘keeper at his near post to open the scoring. Etherington’s finish was a good one, and he will no doubt be pleased with it, but a goalkeeper of Premier League calibre should not be beaten at his near post in such a situation, and Duke will be disappointed to have been.

Seconds after the re-start, Stoke went forward again, but a promising situation broke down as the ball would sit for neither Fuller nor Beattie. Hull looked keen to hit back before the break, and went close through Altidore, who flashed a header across the face of goal in front of the travelling Stoke fans and wide. Olofinjana then appeared to temporarily forget that he made the £3 million switch from Stoke to Hull in the summer, as he inexplicably passed the ball to Collins in the left back position after he had worked himself a chance to shoot clear at goal twelve yards out. He would more than rectify his poor decision in the second half though.

Half-time came and went, with neither side making any changes, although Brown chose to withdraw Garcia just five minutes after the break, in favour of the ageing but persistently nigglingly useful Nick Barmby, with the hope that the 35 year-old would change the game. Before he had a chance to do so, his side rode their luck, as the Potters came within inches of scoring a second and opening a commanding lead. Etherington played a neat one-two with Fuller after cutting in from the left wing, and teased a low ball across the Hull box towards Beattie at the back post. Gardner, a one-time defensive target for Pulis, slid in well to intercept, but could only divert the ball towards his own goal, before it hit Duke’s stomach, and then his left foot, and span behind for a corner. Duke didn’t know much about it, but he had just made the vital save of the match.

Perhaps lifted by the knowledge that they were lucky to still be in the game, Hull pressed forward and found a leveller on 62 minutes. A quickly taken central free-kick found its way to Stephen Hunt on the left flank, with the diminutive Irish iinternational picking out Olofinjana just outside the Stoke box. The rangy Nigerian worked himself shooting space and curled a fine shot up and over Sorensen and into the back of the net, sparking scenes of delirium from the KCfaithful, who had previously seen just four home goals from their side all season. In nineteen Premier League appearances for the Potters last term, Olofinjana netted twice, including the memorable winner against Arsenal just over a year ago. This was his first goal in Hull colours, typically coming against his former club.

The celebration could have been short-lived, as straight from the restart Whelan latched on to a clever flick from Kitson, who had been brought on for Beattie moments before the goal, and engineered a clean run at Duke. Dean brought the game to a halt though, penalising Whelan for a handball that went undetected by the majority of fans in the stadium, and punishing him with a fourth booking of the season.

Then came a key moment in the game, as Faye, Senegal’s answer to Nikolai Valuev, found himself in Dean’s notebook, after foolishly preventing Barmby taking a throw-in with the Potters stretched at the back. With Faye later dismissed after picking up a second yellow, who knows how the game would have ended if he hadn’t so cheaply picked up this one.

With ten minutes left to play, Pulis brought on Tuncay for Fuller, and the Turkey captain made a bright initial impact, causing problems in the Hull area and giving his side’s attacking efforts a new focus. these attacking efforts almost bore fruit through Shawcross with just five minutes on the clock, as Whelan cleverly picked out the 6′5” centre back at the back post from a free-kick when everyone expected the midfielder would shoot. Stretching, Shawcross tried to guide a looping header over Duke back across goal, and was unfortunate to see his effort bounce off the top of the bar and behind for a goal kick.

Barely a hundred seconds later came a moment of stupidity from Faye, as he ruined an otherwise solid afternoon’s work with one rash challenge, unnecessarily jumping into, and catching Barmy, giving Dean little choice but to show his yellow card again, and then his red one, the first shown in a Stoke match this season. Stoke and Faye can have few complaints over the second booking, but the stupid manner in which he picked up his first will be a great disappointment to Pulis and Faye, who will now be suspended for the visit of Portsmouth to the Britannia Stadium in two weeks’ time.

Pulis reacted quickly, clearly deciding to protect the point by bringing on a defender Wilkinson, controversially in place of Tuncay, who had only been on the pitch for six minutes. For me this was poor management, he was probably correct to bring on Wilkinson, but to replace Tuncay so quickly will be a huge blow to his confidence, and he was justifiably angry, retreating straight down the tunnel to the dressing room.

All before it was proved academic in the first of four minutes of injury time at the end of the match, as Hull snatched the winner. Bullard tried his luck from thirty yards, and, on a slippery pitch with the ball bouncing just before him, Sorensen could only divert it straight out in front of goal, into the path of Hull substitute Vennegoor of Hesselink, who was left with the simple task of poking home from twelve yards to seal a hugely significant three points for his side and manager.

Hull look a poor side this season, and to lose against them, particularly in such sickening late circumstances will be a bitter pill for Stoke fans to swallow. Already the predictably backlash against Pulis and his defensive late tactics has begun, but a sense of perspective is needed. We’ve lost no ground on those around us this weekend and still sit ninth in the Premier League table. What’s important now is that we train well over the international break, but this game firmly from our minds and go into the next one, another than we should be looking to win, against rock-bottom Portsmouth in two weeks, with the right mindset, ready to prove ourselves once again.

Stoke Side:

From The Horse’s Mouth:

Hull manager Phil Brown:
“It’s quite simple – the chairman came to join us last night in the hotel and we sat down again, chewed the fat about the future. We are talking long term, we’re not talking about one game, we’re not talking about two games. We’re talking about the long-term survival campaign obviously and the long term future of this football club.”

Stoke manager Tony Pulis:
“As soon as we went down to 10 men, we had to bring a defender on. I don’t think I have to explain the decision to him (Tuncay). He’s disappointed. If I’d have brought Dave Kitson off, Dave would have been disappointed. But one of them had to go.”

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