HULL 1 TOWN 0
Proschwitz strike settles tight Third Round clash
Nick Proschwitz’s second half strike was just enough to settle a tight Capital One Cup Third Round tie at the KC Stadium.
The Terriers matched their Premier League opponents stride for stride over the 90 minutes and only a poor piece of marking allowed the German to fire Hull into the next round.
Town, in fairness, never really troubled Steve Harper, but looked far more a threat following the introduction of young midfielder Duane Holmes. The first year professional caused the Hull defence problems with his runs and forced the former Town ‘keeper into a save with a low shot.
Mark Robins made ten changes to his side and handed starts to two debutants for the trip to the KC Stadium.
Defender Tommy Smith and attacker Daniel Carr were rewarded for their good form in Town’s Development Squad with starts, while Keith Southern returned from injury to captain the side.
There were places on the bench also for first year professional Duane Holmes and Town’s Spanish summer signing Cristian Lopez.
It was Town’s summer signing from Dulwich Hamlet Carr who fired the first shot of the game in the fourth minute, when he curled against Joe Dudgeon from the edge of the area.
At the other end, former Leicester City striker Matty Fryatt had started brightly and forced Murray Wallace into a smart block. The Scotsman was in the action again with 12 minutes gone when he flung himself full length to block German striker Nick Proschwitz’s goal bound effort.
Town’s attacking threat was limited during the opening exchanges, but with the likes of Sean Scannell in the frontline they looked dangerous on the counter. Town’s counter attacking instinct almost produced the first goal in the 16th minute when Scannell slipped past Alex Bruce and played in Carr, but his shot was superbly blocked by the intimidating figure of Abdoulaye Faye.
Hull were the team on top, though, and had it not been for the woodwork they would have been ahead when Matty Fryatt saw a low, left footed effort rebound off the post and fall into the arms of a grateful Alex Smithies.
Fryatt wasted another chance a minute late before Oscar Gobern missed Town’s best opportunity of the half when he bulleted over a header from ten yards out.
Academy Player of the Year Duane Holmes was handed his debut with five minutes of the second half played and immediately he had the Hull defence on the back foot with a driving run; the midfielder try to play in Martin Paterson, but the Northern Ireland international was flagged offside.
Cristian Lopez made his Capital One Cup debut on 53 minutes and for a moment Town looked the more positive of the two teams. However, that positivity was dispelled on the hour mark when the Terriers’ defence allowed Proschwitz space in the box, who duly obliged in smashing the ball past Smithies for the opener.
Adam Hammill was Robins’ final throw of the dice and he began by curling over a 25 free-kick, after Holmes had been hacked down by Faye.
Holmes had moved to the middle of the pitch following Hammill’s introduction and was continuing to look a danger every time Town went forward. The youngster muscled David Meyler out of the way before skipping past Dudgeon and forcing Steve Harper into his first save of the game as the Terriers pressed for an equaliser.
It was almost curtains for Town in the 80th minute, though, when Smithies inexplicable passed the ball straight to Proschwitz, but the German failed to punish Town from 12 yards out.
The Terriers had the last say of the game when Gobern headed over, but it was enough to test Harper as Town’s Capital One Cup journey came to an end.
Town’s team (4-2-3-1):
Alex Smithies; Jake Carroll, Murray Wallace, Tommy Smith, Calum Woods; Oscar Gobern, Keith Southern (c); Daniel Carr (Duane Holmes, 50), Oliver Norwood (Adam Hammill, 66), Sean Scannell; Martin Paterson (Cristian Lopez, 53)
Unused substitutes:
Ian Bennett, Jonathan Stead, Jazz Richards, Liam Ridehalgh
Hull bookings: Abdoulaye Faye 68
Town bookings: Calum Woods 39,
Attendance: 7,151
Away: 955
