In a match
that has come to be defined by how much it is worth, every missed chance
could cost you millions. In the £173m game, Hull City squandered
opportunities like a dissolute playboy throwing away his cash in the
casino at Monte Carlo and still made their fortune i
n the end.
Chance
after chance came and went until it seemed that Steve Bruce's side must
surely have let the richest prize in football slip away in the
Championship Play-Off Final at Wembley. Every miss felt like another few
million down the drain. Another season of penury in the second tier
beckoned and then they finally hit the jackpot.
It
was 18 minutes from the end when Mo Diame curled a quite brilliant
winner over the heroic Keiren Westwood in the Sheffield Wednesday goal
and the blue and white hordes, who had sung themselves hoarse and
dominated Wembley with their noise and their numbers, finally fell
silent. 'I thought their fans were going to get them over the line, if
I'm honest,' Bruce said afterwards. He was glad to be wrong.
Those who
craved the romance of a Wednesday victory and a return to the top flight
after an absence of 16 years for one of England's most famous clubs had
to admit defeat, too. It was not to be their year but with support like
this and an owner committed to taking the club forward, they will come
again.
Instead,
it is Hull, led back to the promised land at the first attempt by
Bruce, who will take their place among the super-rich. Their owner Assem
Allam, is gravely ill and was not able to attend the match but Bruce
dedicated this 1-0 victory to him.
The
Hull boss, who did such a fine job in stabilising the club after
relegation last season and revitalising it, exuded class yesterday,
making a point of shaking the hand of every one of the defeated
Wednesday players after the final whistle.
He
said he hoped Hull would be able to move beyond the name-change
problems that had blighted the relationship between the owner and some
fans. 'He has got more pressing issues than a name-change at the
moment,' Bruce said, 'because he is fighting away.'
The
clubs knew before the game was played that they were taking part in the
most lucrative game in football history. The value was calculated in
telephone numbers: £173m, £200m, £250m, take your pick. As the money the
Premier League makes from television rights goes up and up and the gap
between the top division widens and widens so the pressure to break into
the rich man's cabal grows and grows.
Some
turn it into fool's gold and squander it on poor signings and crazy
wages. Others, like Burnley, husband it carefully and use it to make
sure that even if they cannot hack it with the big boys at the first
time of asking, they remain on a sound enough financial footing to
bounce straight back and try to stay in the elite division the second
time around.
That has
been Hull's model. After relegation at the end of last season, Bruce had
to sell his best young players, prompting fears the club might fall
down through the divisions. But Bruce is a better manager than he is
often given credit for. He bought well but not extravagantly. Hull were
never far from the top of the table in the second half of the season,
even if they did finish six points adrift of automatic promotion.
Wednesday's
fans were making all the noise but the Hull players refused to be
cowed. They started the game looking like a Premier League team that had
merely been on loan to the Championship for a season. They were all
power and assurance. Tom Huddlestone and Jake Livermore quickly
established a hold on midfield.
They
did not have it all their own way. Everybody had warned that Wednesday
were the team with the flair players, the players capable of moments of
inspiration, of moments that could take the game away from Hull, and
only ten minutes had gone when Fernando Forestieri set about proving the
point.
He
took the ball with his back to goal on the left touchline and turned so
sweetly away from Michael Dawson that the Hull skipper could only get
close enough to him to chop him down as he closed in on goal. Dawson was
shown a yellow card and Eldin Jakupovic tipped Forestieri's free kick
over the bar. The threat passed but the danger was clear.
Hull
forged on, though, and they came close to opening the scoring after
half an hour. Abel Hernandez rose unchallenged to meet a corner and his
downward header was chested off the line by Kieran Lee. In the melee
that followed, there were claims for handball against Wednesday but the
referee waved them away.
Hull
started to pour on the power now. The Wednesday defence failed to cut
out a through ball to Hernandez and as he advanced on Westwood, he
toe-poked his shot goalwards. Westwood spread himself wide and deflected
the ball over the bar. Hernandez sank to his knees in despair. It was
the best chance of the half.
It
was all Hull now. Six minutes before time, Diame bludgeoned his way
past a couple of weak Wednesday tackles and unleashed a left foot shot
that beat Westwood but cannoned off the outside of the post. It seemed
as if it was only a matter of time until Bruce's side took the lead.
But
it also felt as if Hull were wasting their superiority. 'You can't keep
missing chances like that,' Bruce said later. They had another
opportunity two minutes before the break when Moses Odubajo raced
through on the right but a heavy first touch allowed Westwood, who had
sprinted from his line, to block Odubajo's cross and clear the danger.
Wednesday clung on.
Westwood was
soon back in action in the second half, flinging himself at a volley by
Dawson after Wednesday failed to clear a free kick and blocking it with
his body. Frustration crept into Wednesday's play. Ross Wallace
screamed at Forestieri, urging him on.
But
it didn't change anything. Hull missed a gilt-edged chance just before
the hour when Ahmed Elmohamady crossed beautifully into the path of Andy
Robertson. The cross was so well judged that Robertson did not have to
break stride but with only Westwood to beat, he lifted his shot wildly
over the bar from ten yards out. The wastefulness went on. It felt as if
the money was being frittered away.
Eventually,
the goal came. Eventually, Hull stopped toying with their opponents. It
was always going to take a special strike to beat Westwood and Diame
delivered it, curling his shot over the desperate dive of the goalkeeper
from 25 yards out. Westwood got one hand to it but could not keep it
out.
Wednesday
pressed for an equaliser as hard as they could but Hull kept them at
bay. They survived one frenzied appeal for a penalty for handball and
then the final whistle came. As they celebrated with their fans, one of
the tracks from the Housemartins' album 'London 0 Hull 4' reverberated
around the stadium. 'It's happy hour again,' the supporters sang, back
in the rich man's playground.
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