Post Match Reaction: Hull City 0-1 Aston Villa

Last updated : 22 January 2006 By Rick Skelton
Photo © Corred
Keith Andrews - "top performer" (Photo © Corred)
Miserable day. Floodlights on for a lunchtime kick off!

We put on a really patchy performance. At times in the first half and for the first 15 minutes of the second, we looked like we'd bury them. Not a lot of clear chances, but headers that Cort and Elliott should have buried and Fagan and Price had half chances on the deck.

There seemed to be a LOT of communication breakdowns. We also struggled to find each other with passes at times. Top performer was Andrews, whose passing ability, unflappablability and coolness in possession make him stand out. The problem comes when he has to pass to one of his useless team mates. Defence was solid, even without Dawson. Lynch didn't put a foot wrong, surprisingly, although the change maybe should have been Welsh into midfield and Delaney to left back. Mention for Francey who had a good game at right back, a couple of dallies in possession aside.

Photo © Corred
Jason Price - "completely rotten" (Photo © Corred)
Price was completely rotten. Lots of willing running, but useless in possession. The odd decision to start Ellison proved, well, stupid and Paynter and Fagan generally struggled, but worked hard.

The referee was awful. He gave them everything, unassisted by his rubbish linesmen. The officials were A. O'Leary, P. O'Leary and G. O'Leary. Bet none of them have a father either. We were defending a corner with Dawson walking wounded, when Ellison and Price clashed and needed treatment. The idiot ref made them both go off leaving us to defend a corner with 9 men, one injured. Someone needs to tell the morons at the F.A. that the "leaving the pitch" rule was made to stop games being disrupted and stopping faking of injuries. It's done neither. All it does is punish teams with injuries.

Not a bad performance. We won't often come up against a side with 9 players who'd easily walk into our side, but we coped with them well and matched them for chances. Only a deflected shot beat us. Ironic that our players spend most of their time standing off defenders and when they do bother to close them down, they deflect the ball in.

Ratings: Bo 7, France 7, Dawson (Lynch), Cort 7, Collins 7, Price 5, Ellison 5 (Elliott), Andrews 8, Delaney 7, Fagan 6, Paynter 6 (Green).

If you didn't hear the Radio, Falkirk have left Darryl Duffy out of the side for their cup game today. Good sign?