Goals from George Hirst and Omari Hutchinson have given Town a 2-1 half-time lead over Hull City at the MKM Stadium.

Hirst and Wes Burns both started for the promotion-chasing Blues, making a surprise return to the XI, if not the squad, following injuries.

Hirst, making his 50th appearance for Town, was up front with Ali Al-Hamadi on the bench along with Kieffer Moore with Burns back in his wide right role for Jeremy Sarmiento, who was also among the subs.

Hutchinson started on the left with Nathan Broadhead absent from the squad due to a slight knock, while George Edmundson returned to the bench after his ankle problem.

Hull, who went into the game still with a chance of making the play-offs following West Brom’s 3-0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday and Norwich’s 2-2 home draw with Swansea earlier in the day, made one change with Ozan Tufan starting in place of Liam Delap, who was on the bench.

Town were first to threaten in the fourth minute, Hirst flicking on a header for Hutchinson, who had found space down the middle but his ball towards Burns on the right of the box was too close to home keeper Ryan Allsop.

Seven minutes later, Blues keeper Vaclav Hladky was in action for the first time. The Czech came for a right-sided cross but Tufan was first to it but the keeper was able to claim the Turkish international’s upwards header.

Town began to settle after a slightly nervous start and on nine, following a corner, skipper Sam Morsy brought the ball forward before hitting a low shot which Allsop saved down to his right.

In the aftermath of the resultant flag-kick, Hutchinson played the ball wide to corner-taker Leif Davis, who cut it back to the on-loan Chelsea man, whose shot was blocked.

Town started to pin the Tigers back in their half and in the 19th minute, the Blues went in front.

Burns and Chaplin exchanged passes in the corner on the right and the Welshman appeared to be blocked in until he sent over a low ball which Tyler Morton completely missed in front of the near post and Hirst slammed into the corner of the net from six yards.

The returning striker celebrated his seventh goal of the season and his first since the 2-1 win at Watford on December 12th at one end, while the large Town away following went into raptures at the other.

The Blues weren’t having it all their own way, however, and the Tigers were finding space in the Town half and in the 23rd minute Fabio Carvalho shot not too far wide.

Five minutes later, Tuanzebe made an important block from a Jaden Philogene shot with the home side now putting the Blues under pressure.

The former Manchester United man made another important interception a minute later, getting his head to a dangerous Abdus Omur ball in from the left in front of a Hull attacker.

Soon after the half-hour mark, Hutchinson was fouled on the left and Davis played the corner low to Chaplin in a manner now very familiar to Town supporters. The forward got in his shot but the ball deflected wide off a defender.

The subsequent flag-kick reached Cameron Burgess through a crowd of players and the Australian defender stabbed towards goal, his fellow Socceroo Massimo Luongo trying to add the final touch but the ball scraping just wide.

Town seemed to have weathered the Hull storm and on 34 Davis burst past his man on the left and claimed he was brought down, however, referee Andrew Kitchen felt otherwise, much to the former Leeds man’s annoyance.

Two minutes later, with Town down to 10 men as Burns was off the field having lost his boot in an earlier attack, Tuanzebe was booked following a tangle with Tufan on the edge of the box. The ball ran loose with referee Kitchen allowing play to continue and Hladky did well to close down Philogene and block his shot. Tuanzebe protested bitterly that he had been fouled first and may well have had a case, while Tufan claimed it ought to have been a red, a little ambitiously.

Hull, with their fans becoming increasingly angry at Hladky’s relaxed approach to restarts, continued to put the Blues under pressure but without seriously testing the keeper further.

But in the 40th minute, the Tigers profited from a Town error at the back and equalised. Hladky passed to Morsy just outside the box but the Egyptian international was dispossessed by Jean Michael Seri, who fed Omur to his left and as Blues players retreated to the line, and the Turkish international smashed a shot into the roof of the net.

It was a frustrating goal to concede from a Town perspective, Hladky having put Morsy under too much pressure on that occasion with two Hull players around him, while other players were better options.

Having been pegged back, the Blues began to take the game more to the home side again, although without carving out a chance. In the final minute of the half, ahead of three minutes of added on, Burns was booked for a foul on Carvalho.

But in the second minute of injury time, Town restored their lead in spectacular style. Luongo won a corner on the left, which was cleared to Luke Woolfenden midway inside the Hull half. The centre-half played it wide to Hutchinson on the right and the winger cut in before curling a brilliant strike into the top corner of the net to send the Town fans at the other end of the ground wild.

Carvalho was booked for a foul on Davis on the left, the final action of a pulsating half during which both sides could make a decent claim for having been the better side.

Town started the brighter and went ahead via Hirst’s sharply taken effort but from there Hull put the Blues under pressure, albeit without creating a very big chance until the equaliser which came via an error when passing out from the back, while Luongo might well have given Kieran McKenna’s team a 2-0 lead prior to the leveller.

The visitors then wrested the impetus from the Tigers with Hutchinson’s superb ninth goal of the season given the Blues a vital advantage at half-time.

Hull City: Allsop, Slater, Jones, Greaves (c), Jacob, Morton, Seri, Abdus, Tufan, Philogene, Carvalho. Subs: Ingram, Coyle, Giles, McLoughlin, Docherty, Ohio, Traoré, Sharp, Delap.

Town: Hladky, Tuanzebe, Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis, Morsy (c), Luongo, Burns, Chaplin, Hutchinson, Hirst. Subs: Walton, Clarke, Edmundson, Travis, Taylor, Sarmiento, Jackson, Al-Hamadi, Moore. Referee: Andrew Kitchen (Durham). Att: 24,298.

Photo: Matchday Images

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