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Sunday 30 December 2012

Hull City 2 - 0 Leeds United

Another early start for another early kick off, as I looked out of my window, I saw how 'lovely' the weather was, gale force winds and pouring it down, at this point, normal people would probably get back into bed and stay inside....Not us, we're Leeds aren't we, a bit of rain won't stop us....Now, how many layers can I put on and still be able to zip my jacket up....

The Police escort guided our coach into the car park at the KC Stadium and all of a sudden, a Policeman on a bike gave us a cheeky Leeds salute, we all laughed and saluted back, singing 'town full of Leeds fans'.

Inside the ground, we were all waiting for team news and when it did come through, we found Warnock had dramatically changed the starting 11 from the side that lost against Forest on Boxing Day. Pearce, White and Norris were all back in the squad, and most surprisingly, Somma and McCormack started upfront in favour of Diouf and Becchio.

It was Hull who had the first chance when Robert Koren saw his shot go wide of the goal in the third minute. We could have been in real trouble on the 6th minute however when Jason Pearce looked to drag down Stephen Myler in the area, from where we were stood, it looked like it should have been given, however the ref didn't have a clear view and waved the claims away.

Play was pretty even in the first half an hour of the game, both sides having some decent chances on goal but Hull did look the team most likely to score.

Aiden White tackled Elmohamady shortly after the 30 minute mark and the referee, Eltringham stopped play immediately. Ahmed Elmohamady was rolling around on the floor and the home fans were shouting for White to be sent off. After receiving treatment for a good 3 minutes and limping up and down the sideline, he suddenly came back onto the pitch and collected the ball, no limp, no pain, no injury. White on the other hand had been given a yellow card, Elmohamady should have received an Oscar. From then on, he was the match villain and got some abuse from the away fans.
The incident had livened the atmosphere, but Hull still looked the better side.

Half time came and both sides went in 0 - 0. Improvement was needed, Somma didn't look in the game and we were average at best. The positives were though, that we hadn't conceded.
Neil Warnock made a change at half time, taking off Somma and bringing on Luke Varney....At this point we had absolutely no idea why Luciano Becchio wasn't playing and we were all puzzled as to why Varney had been brought on in favour of him.

51st minute and Hull were running at us with pace and purpose, our defenders were struggling and inevitably, Corry Evans got the first goal of the game.
It was key now to change the squad, maybe bring someone off of the bench and push forward for an equaliser, but the Tigers' second goal came in quick succession.
Robbie Brady took a corner and David Meyler headed past Paddy Kenny on the 55th minute.
This was Forest all over again.

We all looked longingly at the bench for some kind of movement, for someone to come on and turn the game around, there was still plenty of time to play and stranger things have happened than us coming back from 2 - 0 down. Eventually, Warnock did make a change....One that puzzled us all, he brought on Rodolph Austin for David Norris, who, in my opinion had been one of our better players!!

From then on, it was like the whole team had conceded to the fact we'd already lost. We were flat and never looked a threat. Hull however were still pushing and had it not been for some fantastic saves by Paddy Kenny, we'd have been more than 2 - 0 down when the whistle blew for full time.

I haven't walked away from a match so disappointed with a team performance like that in a very long time. No fan likes to see their team defeated, however, we all know it's a part of football, but to witness the way in which we were defeated yesterday, I think that's what has angered a lot of people. The game isn't over until the final whistle, and in my opinion you NEVER give up be the deficit one goal or five goals, but that's just exactly what it looked like we did!!

It turns out Becchio and Diouf weren't 100% fit and Warnock didn't want to risk them, but they should be back for our next game against Bolton at Elland Road on Tuesday. Big improvement needed!!

We didn't end 2012 on a high, results wise but here's to hoping 2013 is a better year for us :o)

All the best to all of my readers & thank you for all your support this year :o)

MOT xx <3 xx









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