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Wed 24 Jul 2019
Hull City Official Supporters Club
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Amiens SC
HULL CITY  FIRST PRE-SEASON  DEFEAT

HULL CITY FIRST PRE-SEASON DEFEAT

Kathryn Townsley26 Jul 2019 - 18:08
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HULL CITY SUFFERED THEIR FIRST DEFEAT OF PRE-SEASON ON WEDNESDAY EVENING WITH A 2-0 LOSS AT THE HANDS OF AMIENS SC

HULL CITY SUFFERED THEIR FIRST DEFEAT OF PRE-SEASON ON WEDNESDAY EVENING WITH A 2-0 LOSS AT THE HANDS OF AMIENS SC.
After a goalless first half at the KCOM Stadium, Serhou Guirassy broke the deadlock eight minutes after the restart before Saman Ghoddos’ late strike made certain of the win for the Ligue 1 side.

Grant McCann made eleven changes to his side for the friendly fixture, with 21-year-old Dan Batty handed the captain’s armband for the evening. Tom Eaves wasn’t risked after struggling with his groin at Mansfield Town on Saturday, whilst the knee injury that forced Reece Burke off during that match meant that he was also not part of the Tigers’ squad.

A quick start from the Tigers saw David Milinkovic test Amiens keeper Regis Gurtner inside the opening sixty seconds. The winger collected a flick-on before switching the ball onto his right foot and curling a shot into the arms of Gurtner.

The French side produced a positive response though and caused the home defence problems for the first time of the evening when full-back Emil Krafth drove his way into the area and looked to fizz a low ball across the face of goal – but thankfully the danger was snuffed out by Matt Ingram at his near post.

More pressure from the Tigers saw two opportunities created in quick succession with Ryan Tafazolli heading wide from a Milinkovic corner before Josh Bowler gave the first glimpse of his talents with a positive run before cutting inside and firing a powerful strike on target, which was well held by Gurtner.

Bowler was proving to be an early menace down the right flank and won a free-kick in a dangerous area on 12 minutes after seeing another positive run ended illegally. However, Jon Toral’s delivery from the resulting set-piece was cleared by the head of Mathieu Bodmer.

A quiet ten-minute period followed with that uneventful spell coming to end when only a fine save from Ingram prevented the visitors from taking the lead. A probing attack saw the ball pulled back to Aleesami Haitam inside the Tigers’ box, who saw his effort superbly tipped onto the post by the Tigers’ custodian.

The response to the scare from McCann’s side was a positive one – with only a vital defensive header from Eddy Gnahoré preventing Nouha Dicko from connecting with Milinkovic’s centre before skipper for the night Dan Batty was off-target with a well-struck shot from distance.

The Tigers then carved out their best chance of the opening 33 minutes. A superb cross in from Brandon Fleming picked out Dicko in the penalty area, with the striker showing great movement to peel away from his marker, only to be left disappointed as his header went straight into the hands of Gurtner.

McCann’s side continued to apply pressure in the final third of the pitch with Bowler firing wide after neat play from Toral and Max Sheaf. However, the hosts were given a reminder of the French outfit’s capabilities going forward when the ball dropped invitingly for Bodmer inside the Tigers’ box, but the former PSG man could only fire his effort on the volley over Ingram’s crossbar.

The Tigers suffered a blow three minutes before the break when Robbie McKenzie hobbled off after picking up a knock while making a sliding challenge inside his own half, with the Hull-born defender replaced by Lewis Ritson at right-back.

The final action of the opening 45 minutes saw the visitors awarded a free-kick in a central position 30 yards from goal in stoppage-time following a foul by Fleming. Haitam stepped up to take the set-piece – but failed to trouble Ingram with the shot-stopper comfortably watching the effort fly over his crossbar.

An action-packed start to the second half saw Amiens apply early some early pressure but, after launching a swift counter-attack from a corner, the Tigers were unlucky not to take the lead.

Toral sent Dicko away down the left and the striker cut inside to beat his marker before firing an effort on goal, which was fumbled by Gurtner, but no-one in black and amber was able to fire home the rebound. And moments later, the striker was in the thick of the action once again, doing well to direct a half-volley on target which was well saved by Gurtner.

But, despite some promising moments for McCann’s men, it was the visitors who opened the scoring on 53 minutes through Guirassy. The powerful striker burst through on goal and produced a deft finish to poke the ball past Ingram and into the back of the net.

And Guirassy missed a golden opportunity to double his – and Amiens’ – tally for evening four minutes later when volleying wide from Haitam’s left-wing cross.

McCann responded with four changes on the hour mark as Jarrod Bowen, Kamil Grosicki, Markus Henriksen and Keane Lewis-Potter were introduced into the action in place of Bowler, Milinkovic, Toral and Dicko.

Neat link-up play from Grosicki and Sheaf almost created an opening for Lewis Potter five minutes later, but Gurtner was quickly off his line to snuff out the danger to deny the substitute any sight of goal.

Another Tigers’ change followed on 70 minutes with Jackson Irvine replacing Sheaf in midfield, as the home side went in search of a route back into the friendly fixture.

Lewis-Potter was involved again as he showed nice movement to lose his marker inside the box and get on the end of Batty’s low cross, but was unfortunate to see his clipped effort nestle on the roof of the net.

Greaves produced a superbly-timed challenge on 85 minutes to prevent substitute Jack Lahne from finding the back of the net. However, when the ball broke to Batty just outside his own box, he was dispossessed by Ghoddos, who beat Ingram from distance to double Amiens’ lead.

Lahne wasted a glorious opportunity to make it 3-0 seconds before the full-time whistle, firing wildly over the bar from 16 yards after showing good strength to fashion the opportunity for himself.

Hull City: Ingram, McKenzie (Ritson 42), Fleming, Tafazolli, Greaves, Batty, Sheaf (Irvine 70), Toral (Henriksen 60), Milinkovic (Grosicki 60), Bowler (Bowen 60), Dicko (Lewis-Potter 60).
Subs Not Used: Long, de Wijs, Stewart, Kingsley.

Amiens SC: Gurtner, Gouano (Dibassy 46), Krafth (Jallett 66), Gnahore (Bumbu 70), Guirassy (Lahne 70), Otero (Ghoddos 46), Haitam (Sy 66), Blib, Timite (Cornette 66), Bodmer (Talal 70), Lefort.
Subs Not Used: Dreyer, Essele, Demirel, Gendrey, Papeau, Eneme Ella.

Match details

Match date

Wed 24 Jul 2019

Kickoff

19:30
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