Hull 2 Fleetwood 1: Tigers fightback foils Town after Vassell opener

Simon Grayson and Fleetwood Town were left disappointed as the Cod Army let a first-half lead slip at the KCOM Stadium to lose 2-1 to promotion-chasing Hull City.

Kyle Vassell had deservedly put Town in front on 21 minutes after good work from the impressive Wes Burns.

Dan Batty and Keane Lewis-Potter both had goals disallowed for their respective sides in the second half, and it was Lewis-Potter who scored the winner for the home side after Josh Magennis had levelled things up on the hour mark.

After a positive start from the home side, Town started to show their counter-attacking strengths and tested the Hull defence.

Barry McKay tested Matt Ingram after 16 minutes with the first warning shot fired by Town.

The visitors went ahead on 21 minutes. Burns was crucial to the attack, taking on Hull left-back Callum Elder with ease before firing across goal for Vassell to tap into the unguarded net, giving Ingram no chance.

The Cod Army were the better side after the goal, and McKay came close to doubling their lead soon after. Matt Ingram had to be at full stretch to deny the on-loan Swansea forward.

Town sat back and let Hull control possession, stifling the Tigers' creativity to excellent effect.

Grayson was warned about his conduct after losing his temper with a linesman. The Cod Army boss was furious about a throw in decision that didn’t go his side’s way.

After five minutes of injury time, the referee’s whistle went with Fleetwood in complete control of the game.

Town thought they had gone 2-0 up early into the second half. Batty’s shot took a deflection and looped over Ingram but the linesman’s flag went up almost immediately.

It seemed that either the ball took a deflection off a Town player on its way into the net or the Town player obstructed the Tigers' goalkeeper.

Either way, it seemed a harsh decision and the ex-Hull midfielder was denied a goal on his first return to the KCOM Stadium.

Soon after, Hull felt they should have had the equalising goal when Lewis-Potter had the ball in the net.

However, the linesman’s flag also went up and the effort was ruled out, with the youngster visibly frustrated.

From that moment on, Hull used their frustration as a way back into the game.

Only minutes after Lewis-Potter’s goal was disallowed, the impressive Greg Docherty slid in Magennis and he made no mistake on the hour mark. He fired past Alex Cairns as Town’s defence looked open for the first time in the game.

Hull then took the lead 10 minutes later. Dan Crowley crossed aiming for Mallik Wilks, but Lewis-Potter connected with the ball to send the Hull players and officials into delirium.

Grayson made substitutions and tried to push forward for an equaliser, with Town getting caught on the break a couple of times before James Hill blocked the ball on the line heroically to keep the score at 2-1.

Mark Duffy had a chance late in added time to level for the Cod Army but found Alfie Jones in his way with a tremendous block.

Grayson will take many positives out of the performance – especially in the first half – but will feel disappointed to not take anything from the game.

Hull: Ingram, Coyle, Jones, Greaves, Elder, Slater, Docherty, Wilks (Smallwood 90), Crowley (Whyte 71), Lewis-Potter, Magennis; Subs not used: Long, Eaves, Scott, Emmanuel, McLoughlin

Fleetwood: Cairns, Hill, Connolly, Donacien, Burns (Biggins 86), Camps (Duffy 87), Rossiter (Finley 76), Batty, Andrew, McKay (Garner 76), Vassell (Saunders 76); Subs nut used: Coleman, Holgate.

Referee: Ollie Yates.

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