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Hull City confirmed their return to Championship football with a 2-1 victory at Lincoln City following an enthralling afternoon at the LNER Stadium which all but ended the Imps own automatic ambitions.
Grant McCann’s men, who required three points to guarantee promotion, were far from at their best as Mallik Wilks 83rd minute penalty dealt the decisive blow in a second-half period where the Tigers had spent much of it camped in their own half.
But in coming back against Fleetwood and Sunderland in midweek, Hull have found the resolve within their ranks when needed. Yesterday was no different as when the Tigers couldn’t quite find their usual flowing game, they dug that little bit deeper with the stakes raised to the highest levels.
Hull had started the brighter of the two sides with George Honeyman in his usual swashbuckling mood. Leading the press to get them further up the field from the off, it was Honeyman who almost provided the perfect start in their quest for the win. In just two minutes, his cross from the right-hand side was just headed over by Josh Magennis from eight yards but the marker had been laid down for Hull’s intentions for the afternoon.
They didn’t have to wait too much longer to open the scoring with Magennis grabbing his fourth goal in as many games in the fourth minute. Lewie Coyle manoeuvred enough space along the Lincoln right to whip in an inswinging left-foot cross for Magennis to apply a flying volleyed finish from close range for his 17th goal of the season.
Whilst the goal may have settled Hull down, their determination not to let Lincoln back into the game had threatened to get the better of Honeyman. Having gone into the book for a late challenge, every subsequent challenge went under scrutiny from the Lincoln players and staff as they called for further free kicks and looked to knock Honeyman from the tightrope he was treading.
It was Honeyman’s over-exuberance that ended his afternoon as he and Tayo Edun went shoulder to shoulder on the far touchline just before the break. The impact led to Honeyman receiving treatment for a sustained period and whether it was through injury or as a precaution to avoid a sending off, he was replaced at half time by Reece Burke.
With cooler heads required, there were none more than cooler than Regan Slater at the base of Hull’s midfield. On loan from Sheffield United, Slater has been in excellent form since Alfie Jones was redeployed into the back four and his work yesterday afternoon flagged why McCann rates him so highly.
With Lincoln’s Brennan Johnson and Morgan Rogers posing some of the biggest threats in the division, fully alert to that danger, Slater’s positional sense and tracking sniffed out the majority of their threat as both struggled to find the pockets of space that have brought Lincoln so much reward.
An unassuming character, Slater is the type that can go through a game almost unnoticed. His ability to break up the play and get Hull moving on the counter-attack was particularly evident in the first period before the Tigers found themselves pinned back in the second half as they missed the influence of Honeyman. It was only McCann’s will to clinch the win that ended Slater’s afternoon early as he was replaced by the more attack-minded Dan Crowley.
Lincoln, who had taken their time to get into matters had been far the brighter side from the restart and although Matt Ingram wasn’t called upon to make any particular saves of note, Lincoln were getting balls into the box and causing problems for the Tigers backline.
With Hull struggling to get their passing game together following the reshuffle having lost Honeyman, Lincoln’s pressure paid off as they hauled themselves level on 65 minutes. Anthony Scully’s deep corner was emphatically met by Lewis Montsma at the back post who smashed the ball into the roof of the net from six yards.
It was no more that Lincoln deserved and at that stage of the game, they looked the far likelier of the teams to go on and claim victory. With Hull still searching to find any rhythm in their attacking play, McCann made several changes to make something happen and almost out of nowhere, his substitution brought about the winning goal.
With Tom Eaves brought on to cause a nuisance up top, Lincoln’s Regan Poole inexplicably went through the back of the big striker inside the Imps penalty area and gave referee Purkiss little choice in pointing to the spot. It seemed an unnecessary challenge and was to a large degree against the run of play.
Mallik Wilks stepped up to take the decisive penalty and in the pressure moment, he cooly sent Alex Palmer the wrong way in the Lincoln goal as he rolled the ball home. It was supreme confidence from Wilks who later revealed that he’d surprised his teammates with his composure, being told afterwards that they’d expected him to ‘blast it’ as he was ‘too thick to place it’.
On a glorious afternoon in the Lincolnshire sunshine, the nerves were now beginning to jangle with the prize so close. There was almost late drama and with just seven minutes to hang on, Hull was almost left to rue Gavin Whyte’s chance to wrap up the victory in the dying moments.
Brennan Johnson who had a much brighter second period, found space on the edge of the Hull box only to see his shot clip the outside of the post with Ingram beaten in goal.
Given the late twist to proceedings, the final whistle was inevitably met with euphoria as Hulls’ players and staff ran onto the pitch to celebrate at the end with the champagne being popped, the promotion banners being brought out and chants of ‘We are going up’ echoing around the ground.
You could see the togetherness and jubilation as the players momentarily returned to their temporary changing room singing to ‘twist and shout’ with Grant McCann and his staff sitting outside with a cold beer and letting the players enjoy the moment.
Hull’s success has been fully justified and with the backing of their owners, the influx of hungry players and the calm approach that McCann and his staff have adopted, it’s been a collective effort and a job very well done to achieve promotion back into the Championship at the first attempt.
“When we went down we had two choices – either stay under the rock and hide or you can get out it and respond and so I couldn’t be more proud of all the players, the staff, everyone connected to the football club because I see the hard work that goes in every single day.”
The thirteen games unbeaten run has almost seen them win promotion at somewhat of a canter given their professional approach to games. Hull have barely look ruffled since their 1-0 home defeat to Ipswich in mid-February and ironically, yesterday of all days was probably their weakest display amongst that run. Not that it will matter one bit.
During the post-match celebrations, McCann was prompted on his next ambitions and the 41-year old was very clear on the next task ahead going into the final two games of the campaign.
“So I’m delighted but there are two more games to go. If we get six more points then we win the division. It’d be amazing because it’s one thing getting promoted but winning the title is a different kettle of fish.”
McCann will feel a shot in the arm of rejuvenation having proved his detractors wrong with many questioning why he should have gotten a crack at getting Hull out of League One.
“I think you’ve seen this season, the determination and the ability. They’ve got the common goal to prove people wrong. Even before a ball was kicked this season, a lot of people had written us off. And we’ve proved them wrong today.”
The achievement should have hit the reset button of Tigers fan’s view of McCann’s tenure so far and will have gone some way to eradicating the hurt that was experienced from Hull’s free fall out of Championship football following the first wave of the pandemic.
The City has restored pride and a club that they can be proud of. McCann’s story is one of the underdog. And in the modern game, it’s the underdog’s that need to be cherished.
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