MO-MENTOUS
Diame gem hands Hull a return to big league
ENGLAND’S play-off schedule may have robbed Scotland of the services of Andy Robertson, Robert Snodgrass and Shaun Maloney for tonight’s friendly against Italy but Gordon Strachan is unlikely to grumble.
Those three, plus their injured Hull City team-mate Allan McGregor, will be back operating in the Premier League next season after a deserved victory over Sheffield Wednesday.
Long Strachan has bemoaned the lack of his players operating at the highest level, so to have that quartet on the game’s richest stage next term will be a trade-off the national coach is quite happy to make.
The day carried just as much relief as joy for Robertson, who missed the chance of the game from 12 yards. It was not a technical aberration to rival Peter van Vossen — or even Patrick Roberts for that matter — but the potential price of such a game-changing instant is estimated to be in the region of £200million.
If there is as much perversity in that sum as there is in a team picking up a trophy for finishing fourth, Hull were well worthy of the win, and not just on account of Mo Diame’s stunning winner or the fact they were better than Sheffield Wednesday on the day.
Steve Bruce’s side have proved their worth over the course of a long season, finishing two places and nine points higher than their Yorkshire rivals in the Championship table.
For Wednesday, this was the bitterest of pills to swallow. Once the immediate sensation of defeat has subsided, the knock-on financial effect will be felt keenly. Over and above all that, there is a sense that next season’s Championship will prove harder than ever to navigate.
With Rafa Benitez committed to staying at Newcastle following the promise of funds from Mike Ashley, and Aston Villa preparing to arm up with the proven Roberto di Matteo for next term, the second tier has been gifted two of English football’s bigger beasts, each wounded and determined to bounce back instantly.
The fear was palpable before kick-off but it felt like Hull had so much more to lose. Bruce may possess a superior group of players, and the final league positions would comfortably bear out that assertion, but there was a certain trepidation in the build-up for the manager, wily as he may be.
Wednesday’s surge in the latter part of the season saw them sneak into the play-offs but they had momentum, that most valuable of commodities, on their side.
Certainly, it was the Owls fans who were more raucous in the build-up, the sea of blue and white only serving to accentuate the empty patches of seating among the Hull support.
They were making a fair racket, too, much of it homage to Barry Bannan, ‘the wee Scottish man’ who they have eulogised in a similar style to Hibs’ feting of John McGinn. Popular as he may be, Bannan certainly was not looking ‘better than Zidane’ from his posting wide on the left. Even when pushed into his favoured central role in the second half, he struggled to get his passing game going as the physicality and nous of Tom Huddlestone and Jake Livermore exerted its influence.
The wall of noise seemed to sustain Wednesday for half an hour but gradually they were silenced as Hull took a grip on the game.
Snodgrass, relentlessly booed by the opposing supporters for flagging up Fernando Forestieri’s theatrics in a pre-match press briefing, swung over a corner which Huddlestone headed off the line, then Abel Hernandez and Moses Odubajo went close.
Nearest of all to a first-half goal was Diame, whose slaloming run ended with a shot that crashed back off the post.
Robertson’s big miss came at the end of a bold counter-attack midway through the second period. Hull’s full-backs launched a twin assault, Odubajo carrying the ball and supplying the low cross from which the Scot, having raced the full length of the pitch, blazed a shot over when the very least he ought to have done was test Keiren Westwood.
Clearly anguished by the mistake, Robertson was fortunate that relief was not far round the corner. He even played a part in the winner, clipping a pass forward which was only half cleared by Tom Lees, allowing Snodgrasss to collect.
The one-time Livingston starlet carefully assessed his options before feeding a simple pass to Diame, who swept home a fine finish from 25 yards. Snodgrass continued to exude calm, ushering his team-mates to be patient in possession, before spoiling the act with a mini tantrum when his number was displayed.
Clearly unhappy at being asked to give way, he aimed a shout at Bruce on the way past before casting aside his bib petulantly.
All that was forgotten as referee Bobby Madley blew his final whistle as he, Robertson and the rest, picked up their trophy and celebrated with abandon.