Hull City horror show threatens to drag them back into Championship relegation scrap

There was cause for concern at the MKM Stadium as Barnsley pulled off a surprise victory on Humberside with a comfortable 2-0 away win over Hull City.

Despite hosting their biggest season attendance, Shota Arveladze’s men had a disappointing night as they offered little threat against bottom of the table Barnsley.

An early chance that fell to Keane Lewis-Potter in the sixth minute almost gave the Tigers the perfect start as he was picked out unmarked at the far post by Di’Shon Bernard following a marauding run from the Manchester United loanee. Despite finding himself in space, he lost his composure at the vital moment as he skewed the ball well wide of goal from eight yards out to give the visitors a huge let-off.

Surviving the scare, Barnsley soon got into their rhythm with a display that belied a team sitting at the foot of the Championship table. Domingos Quina’s ability to run with the ball pegged the home side back with a number of successful forays in the opposition half.

The front four of Barnsley continued to knit their play neatly and had the ball in the net in the 12th minute as Amine Bassi slotted past Harvey Cartwright but had strayed offside from Claudio Gomes’ slide-rule pass.

Cartwright, who was making his home debut, was called into action soon after, palming away Quina’s well-struck shot from the edge of the box. As the home side struggled to find any momentum in their play, the visitors continued to probe and took the lead in the 27th minute.

Some intricate Barnsley work along Hull’s right saw the impressive Carlton Morris played in, and as the ball fell into the striker’s feet, he instantly pivoted to pull the ball back to Callum Styles, who cooly finished past the helpless Cartwright.

Things almost got a lot worse for the young Tigers goalkeeper as he made a hash of Bassi’s shot from distance but recovered at the second time of asking, looking a relieved figure as he initially parried the ball towards his own net.

Hull continued to struggle with the ball but came close to grabbing an equaliser just before the break. Lewis-Potter got away from his suitor from 25 yards out, but his curling shot just cleared the Barnsley goal with goalkeeper Brad Collins beaten.

Barnsley landed the ultimate sucker punch just moments later to cap an impressive first-half showing. As the Tigers backline failed to deal with a hopeful long ball, Morris picked up the loose ball on the edge of the box. The former Norwich City striker allowed the ball to drop before rifling an unstoppable half volley past Cartwright in goal.

In the second period, Barnsley continued to play their football, and whilst they did not trouble the Hull goal, they kept the hosts at bay for the majority of the half. Substitute Tyler Smith had the Tigers’ best chance but Collins made a vital save to keep a clean sheet having been put through on goal.

As the home side waited to have something to cheer about, Hull could not muster any sustained pressure or threat on the Barnsley goal.

Despite those chances for Lewis-Potter and Smith, it was a woeful showing in front of the crowd as they criminally surrendered possession time after time. The passive nature of the performance has been uncharacteristic of the side for most of the season. Whilst their quality has been doubted at times, their application rarely has not.

Skipper Richie Smallwood failed to set his basic standards for the rest of the side when lacking quality on the ball, and in truth, Hull’s tempo never picked up from the early Lewis-Potter chance.

Deliveries from wide areas were poor and there were little moments of the usual high energy game of George Honeyman. Finnish striker Marcus Forss, who scored his first goal for the club at the weekend against Queens Park Rangers, struggled once more in the line striker role, with the home midfield rarely getting close enough to support him.

The only real bright spark was the continued promising form of Regan Slater. The young midfielder, who signed from Sheffield United for £50,000 in January, did not give up and almost nearly had an assist for Smith with a delightful pass with the outside of the boot from deep.

As Barnsley secured their first away win in over two years, the home side was greeted by a chorus of boos that drowned out the jubilant travelling support from across Yorkshire.

Post-match speaking to the club website, Arveladze was not too despondent with his players given the performance and result as the Georgian was keen to remain positive.

“We have to stay positive, it was positive to see the supporters come and they supported us until the last minute.

“Maybe we could’ve created more. We had a chance with 20 minutes to go with Tyler Smith and that would’ve got us back into the game.

“We’ve not been at our best today and we gave a very important three points away.”

Smallwood was not as diplomatic in his assessment of the evening in front of the bumper home support.

“It’s not good enough or acceptable. Luckily there’s another game [in a few days time]and we’ve got to go again.

“We knew what kind of side they [Barnsley] are. They’re a hardworking side with a lot of young players. We knew that they could turn up on the day and cause problems. They certainly did that because we didn’t deserve anything from the game.”

Hull’s captain maintained that there has to be focus as the Tigers travel to second from bottom Peterborough United at the weekend.

“I’m pretty sure we won’t put in another performance like that, because if we do, we’ll get beat. I’m sure we’ll regroup quickly, analyse this one, and go out on the training pitch and put it right. We know it’s going to be tough, so we need to stand up and be counted.”

With strikers carrying injuries and looking toothless up top with only two goals scored in the last six games, fans may be forgiven for harbouring concerns that they could well be dragged back into the Championship relegation battle.

Saturday’s fixture against Peterborough promises to be a huge game now which could arguably define the remainder of Hull’s season.

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