To Hull And Back…Well Not Really, As I Live There.

Team: Kenny, Orr, Hill, Gorkss, Connolly, Derry, Taarabt, Faurlin (Vaagan Moen), Routledge, Smith (Hulse), Miller (Ephraim).
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Hall, Chimbonda, Shittu.
Attendance: 20,601

I woke up with a feeling that we were gonna run riot at the KC Stadium, funny how halfway through the game that changed and the uproar was of a different nature.

Well as I now live in Hull (don’t ask), it only took me 15 minutes to get to the ground with my best friend in tow. We had a pre-match beverage in the Brickmakers Arms where a few other Hoops fans had already congregated and I had to then explain who the different players were etc, to my friend (she’s a rugby fan eeek !) and caught up with some friends and got to have a drink with Steve and Ellis my heroes from the Burnley game.

We wandered the short distance to the ground and on the way we caught up with some other good Rangers friends. Kelly actually commented on how friendly everyone is to each other and she really enjoyed all the banter. We divulged in a pie, which didn’t really have any filling in, but took the edge off the hunger. We took our seats right at the top of the Stand and the game kicked off.

Hull definitely had the first period of play, they kept up the pressure and made some good runs into the box. Then Tommy Smith did the hard work and got the ball to Taarabt who ran down the left and fired over the top of the goal. QPR then stepped up their game a little and the ball was played to Miller who poked the ball past the keeper into the back of the net. We all went wild and halfway into our celebrations we noticed that the flag was up for offside, gutted isn’t the word ! The next opportunity came from a corner when Gorkss smashed the ball over the goal. No matter what we did, it just wasn’t going in. Ishy Miller played really well. I was very impressed, he got every header and made some great runs going forward. I think he will be amazing when he’s fully fit. I also think that coming to QPR under Neil Warnock will be the making of him, like it has been for Derry and Hill etc.

Just before half time, Taarabt got the hump when he didn’t get a ball. He took off his gloves and started walking towards the bench signalling that he wanted to come off (rolling his arms), but Warnock didn’t respond. A few minutes later he did it again much to the amusement of the home fans who started rolling their arms the same as Adel had done and singing, ‘he wants to go home.’ The half time whistle blew and I couldn’t stop laughing at the sight of Keith Curle walking onto the pitch to meet Taarabt, put his arm around him and walk him off. We all wandered down to use the facilities and to catch up with other friends.

For the second half, we sat right behind the goal and a few rows from the front to get a better view of our attacking play (hmmmm !!!). Not long into the second half, Taarabt’s free kick missed most players apart from a charging Bradley Orr, who sidefooted the ball towards goal. If it had gone in it would have blasted through the net. I honestly feel that Bradley Orr had the best chance of the match. For the remainder of the game we matched like for like as neither side wanted to give anything away, so kept cancelling each other out. Alejandro Faurlin seemed to take a knock to the knee but he carried on and tried to run it off, but eventually he had to come off. I’m hoping that it’s nothing serious as he does run his heart out for us. He was replaced by Petter Vaagan Moen (or PVM as we now all call him).

Not long after, Tommy Smith crumpled in a heap, not sure if it was his hamstring, but he limped off to be replaced by Rob Hulse. Just before the end of the game, Hull’s Matty Fryatt went one-on-one with Paddy Kenny and his shot soared over the bar. The match finished 0-0. It would have been nice to have seen Shittu and Chimbonda given a little run towards the end, but I guess Uncle Neil is saving them for another day.

Happy with a point, but I really felt that we could have done more. We had some periods of pressure, but other times we seemed to go off the boil. Adel needs a kick up the butt because if he lost the ball he never chased it back down. He is so lazy at times. I think the Adel strop will be talked about for days and hopefully, any Premiership Manager watching will be turned off by his childish display.

Later, I was out with my friends to sample the delights of Hull’s nightlife where we found ourselves doing the arm rolling and calling the dance ‘The Adel’, I think it’s gonna catch on !

So Portsmouth at home on Tuesday, hopefully Faurlin and Smith will be fine, the team will have re-grouped and Adel will be in a better place mentally, for them to win this one convincingly. Still top of the league and how nice does it feel when you say that !

Lorna Graham