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Keane Lewis-Potter was the star of the show in arguably his finest performance of the season as Hull City saw off Play-Off hopefuls Oxford United at the KCOM Stadium.
The 20-year old was at the heart of everything good, scoring twice as City extended their lead to six points over second-placed Peterborough United.
The diminutive forward’s afternoon had started brightly from the off and he could have scored as early as the second minute. Breaking through the Oxford defence to be through on goal, a poor touch deserted him at the final moment before being adjudged offside in the initial build-up.
Converting chances has been an area in which Lewis-Potter will look to improve upon but whereas in recent games, his confidence may have been affected by failing to find the back of the net, the Yellows were about to feel the full force of his talents. Buoyed by a goal in midweek at Peterborough, there was still more to come from the forward
Whilst he inevitably stole the plaudits with his two goals, the 20-year-old showed a maturity to his play against Oxford that makes him much more than just a goal-getter and gave U’s full-back Anthony Forde a fairly torrid afternoon.
His first touch was exceptional and with Grant McCann encouraging both of his centre-halves to use the ball productively from out of defence, there were a number of moments where Lewis-Potter received balls into him at pace.
Undeterred by the attention of the opposition defenders, he either had the presence of mind to bring others into play or on a couple of occasions, gave his markers the slip with his intelligent awareness of the space around him.
In one first-half moment, he bamboozled full-back Forde, with a clever dummy which left the defender clawing him back that should have brought about the first yellow card of the game.
Not yet the finished article, there were times when the youngster did the hard work in beating his man but then finding himself in great positions inside the opposite box, his final pass wasn’t quite there to match his earlier endeavours.
Again, not to be deflated, Lewis-Potter continued to be a constant thorn in Oxford’s side and notched up the opening goal in the 22nd minute and what a goal it was too.
A superlative long pass from full-back Lewie Coyle flew into space on the Oxford left, and as the forward ran onto the ball and faced up one on one against the chasing defender, he curled home a lovely right-footed finish into the bottom corner. With Hull not quite at their attacking best, it was a timely strike as the 20-year-old grew in confidence for the remainder of the half.
Minutes later, some good play from fellow youngster Jacob Greaves saw him carry the ball from the halfway line, linking superbly with Lewis-Potter on the left. As the striker gave his man the slip once more, his cross couldn’t find the centre half, who had continued his run into the box, to finish off a move that would have encapsulated everything good about this Hull team as they look young and hungry for more success.
With Oxford still not heeding the earlier warnings, the left-sided forward was proving quite the handful and almost grabbed his second goal just before the break. This time from distance, he unleashed a dipping 20-yard effort that flew just over the bar, much to Jack Stevens’ relief.
Whilst Lewis-Potter had a quieter second period, his ability to show for the ball under pressure and in working hard to help his teammates without possession were also key features of his performance.
He showed his clinical edge once more in the 72nd minute with his all-important second goal coming at a time when the game was delicately poised going into the final 15 minutes.
Throughout proceedings, Karl Robinson’s Oxford had passed the ball well and enjoying the lions share of possession, they were still causing Hull problems. With not much separating the automatic promotion sides at that point in the afternoon, it was the Tigers that showed the composure to extend their lead as rivals Lincoln were conceding ground in the hunt to lowly Rochdale.
Prepared to sit and wait for the right opportunity to attack like a true tiger, the youngest of the litter, Lewis-Potter once more showed the belief to put the game to bed.
Good work from the outstanding Greg Docherty in midfield picked out the youngster just over the halfway mark and again opting to drive inside on his right foot, the U’s defence opened up for him to get a shot away, albeit deflected, which took it past Stevens and into the empty net. It was a crucial moment in the game, and crucial that Lewis-Potter delivered when asked.
Substituted moments afterwards for Josh Magennis, Grant McCann was asked post-match whether it was to reserve his energy on completion of a fine afternoon’s work but it was actually that the Tigers boss was contemplating the switch moments before he sealed the win!
With nine goals and three assists to his name, McCann deserves huge credit in how he has nurtured his young striker talent, having had to deal with transfer rumblings before Christmas that had seen him left out of the side. Since returning, Lewis-Potter has been backed by his manager publicly when Hull had struggled to find the net in early February but the faith shown in his forward has paid off in recent weeks.
“Keane and Mallik Wilks are young players. James Scott, too. They’ll have ups and downs in a season and sometimes they’ll have moments when they feel a little low on confidence if their performances aren’t quite there.
“We took Keane out of the team last weekend and put him on the bench and I just felt that would be good for him, just to freshen him up a little bit. He’s come back in and scored against Peterborough where his performance was excellent, and then today he went up a notch. He was up against a very experienced player in Anthony Forde and he caused him all kinds of problems. I was very pleased with Keane’s performance.”
Ensuring that he isn’t exhausted from the Saturday-Tuesday schedule, Lewis-Potter looks revitalised, fresh and most importantly full of confidence with ten games to go. City are looking calm, composed and showing no signs of relinquishing the opportunity to achieve promotion back into the Championship at the first time of asking.
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