Like many Hull City fans, I hadn’t seen the team in the flesh for 511 days. Only those who travelled to Stoke for a 5-1 hammering at the start of March 2020 had a slightly shorter absence. So, when the club announced pre-season friendlies at home to Mansfield at 12pm and away to Scunthorpe at 3pm on the same day, I had to try and do both!
Hull City vs. Mansfield Town
Team: Ingram, Coyle, Fleming, Jones, Greaves, Docherty, Smallwood, Moncur, Williams, Magennis, Lewis-Potter.
Subs Used: Green, Smith, Jacobs.
Driving and walking to the now MKM Stadium didn’t feel as strange as I thought it would after 17 months away. It felt familiar from the moment I cut off Anlaby Road and ducked down Albert Ave and Lowther Street to avoid the (non-existent) traffic. The crowd of less than 2,000 was sparse, but the last three years have prepared us for seeing empty seats at home. The stadium is in need of a thorough clean, it’s scruffy and faded and deserves better given it’s less than 20 years since we opened this shiny beacon of hope for our City and our sports teams. But it’s home, and I’ve missed it immensely.
A legend of our FA Cup Semi Final win over Sheffield United was on everyone’s lips going into the game, but it was another, Stephen Quinn, lining up for Mansfield who impressed in the first game stinging the hands of Ingram early on and winning the penalty for Mansfield’s first goal with a shot that Coyle threw himself at and hit his trailing arm. Danny Johnson dispatched the penalty [0-1] to give the visitors a deserved lead just after the half hour.
City showed moments of quality and played some incisive attacking football leading to chances for Magennis, which he headed into the keeper’s hands, and Williams, who blazed over, but it was rare, and it was Mansfield who looked fresher, hungrier, and keen to impress. The Tigers had that well-seen look of “first pre-season friendly” about them. If anyone as going to score again before half time, it was Mansfield.
At half time, Olly Green and Andy Smith replaced Docherty and Jones and Green, in particular, had a terrific second half. The young midfielder had a very good game in the recent U23 friendly against North Ferriby and continued here, spraying passes beautifully and getting stuck in to challenges when he didn’t have the ball. Debutant George Moncur improved throughout the game and got himself on the ball much more after the break, passing and probing and creating interesting situations. Despite some improvement, Mansfield were a threat on the break and doubled their lead through a Johnson header at the back post after Smith and greaves were dragged out of position to make challenges leaving City all at sea [0-2].
Fleming was shook by a ludicrous tackle by Oates that earned The Stags’ winger a yellow card and City introduced another youngster, Matty Jacobs. He gave an effervescent cameo at left back, improving City immensely, and collected Green’s delightful pass to put in a superb cross that Josh Magennis headed home [1-2].
Thoughts then turned to getting to Scunthorpe in time for a 3pm kick off. In a Typical City moment, an unexploded World War 2 bomb was discovered near Goole yesterday, closing the M62 and causing horrendous traffic issues as vehicles used the Humber Bridge to circumvent the closure. Today, of all days. We left 10 minutes early to give us a bit more time but then easily navigated the traffic (thanks in part to the brilliant Humber Bridge tag *beep*) and turned up at Glanford Park with 15 minutes to spare – plus the 30 minutes that kick off was delayed!
Hull City 1 Mansfield Town 2
