Hull clash with Middlesbrough following opening Premier League win

HULL CITY 2
FULHAM 1

Beat Fulham to register the first-ever top flight victory in your history and what is the reward? A behind-closed-door friendly against Middlesbrough on Monday to ensure there is no resting on their laurels.

Generations of Hull City fans never thought they would be alive to see this event but if a starring role in Match of the Day was unfamiliar, this match was won with a familiar pattern of events from last season – the opposition were forced into a long-ball game by Hull’s organisation and fitness levels, striker Caleb Folan was brought off the bench to exploit the situation and the ‘super sub’ promptly delivered the late sucker punch.

‘The winner means a lot to me,’ said Folan, who joined Hull from Wigan for £1million, 12 months ago.

Hull City's Caleb Folan scores

‘Coming to the club, it was always the aim and dream to play in the Premier League with Hull. Achieving that in my first year took a while to sink in.  

'We are probably the first in the firing line in a lot of people's eyes but we can take what we did last year and repeat it.

‘We are here now and we have to give it our all to secure Premier League football for seasons to come. I think we deserve it because it is a massive city and a massive club. Everyone seemed pretty relaxed before this match and treated it as a normal game.’

Folan has unique ways of calming himself before matches. He is a creative type.

‘I do a bit of art and design,’ he explained. ‘I started off doing fashion design, graphic design and painting. I look up to a lot of the modern day stuff, graffiti artists like Banksy. If I am not playing or if I have a bit of time at home I keep occupied by doing that. It kind of brings me to a calm place.’

Hull’s minds needed to be in ‘a calm place’ during the first 20 minutes because Fulham were dominating and deservedly led thanks to Seol Ki-Hyeon’s header from Jimmy Bullard’s cross. The game changed after a brilliant solo effort from Geovanni, who had earlier hit a post.

Collecting Sam Ricketts’ pass on his chest, the Brazilian then took one neat touch to cushion the ball before a burst of acceleration.

With defenders backing off, he took a glance at goal, and curled a precise and powerful, long-range effort beyond Mark Schwarzer.

The longer the game went on at 1-1, ironically the more likely it seemed that Hull would win.

Fulham rued the absence of injured Andy Johnson, their £10.5m signing from Everton who is expected to feature on Saturday against Arsenal at home.

Their manager Roy Hodgson said Hull’s tactics made life difficult: ‘When balls are being constantly pumped up there and constantly crossed into your penalty area, you worry that someone is going to make a mistake.'

Unfortunately, from a situation where there didn’t seem to be any danger, Paul Konchesky, who is one of the best players in the league in those situations, made an error.

‘We weren’t capable of getting the ball back on to the ground and our midfield players into the game in the same way as we did in the first half. That was the major factor,’ explained Hodgson.

When he was told about Hodgson’s views, Hull boss Brown responded: ‘I thought we played more football than that myself. If you want to talk about direct football, in the last 10 or 12 minutes of the game, (Brede) Hangeland was playing centre forward for them. So tell me about that.’

Brown recently secured a new £500,000-a-year deal with Hull. Speaking about the contract, chairman Paul Duffen joked: ‘I wish it was only £500,000. No, Phil is a great guy, a friend of mine, we get on very well together and I would do whatever it took to make sure he was happy. I’ve got enormous respect for him.

‘Realistically, this season we’ll be looking to stay up because of finances as much as any other reason. Though you could say we’re one of the wealthiest clubs because we haven’t got any debt! If we can finish in the top half of the bottom six it will be a job well done.’

HULL (4-4-1-1): Myhill 6, Ricketts 6, Turner 7, Gardner 7, Dawson 6; Garcia 7 (Fagan 74min, 7), Ashbee 6, Boateng 7, Barmby 7 (Halmosi 62, 7); Geovanni 8; King 6 (Folan 70, 7).
Booked: Ricketts, Dawson, Fagan.

FULHAM (4-4-2): Schwarzer 6, Pantsil 7, Hangeland 6, Hughes 6, Konchesky 6; Davies 7, Murphy 7 (Andreasen 85), Ki-Hyeon 7 (Nevland 85), Bullard 7; Gera5, Zamora6 (Dempsey 81).

Man of the match: Geovanni.

Referee: Peter Walton