Hull 0-0 Doncaster: Report

31 January 2012 22:31

Toothless Tigers draw a blank

Hull missed their opportunity to close the gap on the top two in the npower Championship after being held to a goalless draw by struggling Doncaster at the KC Stadium.

The Tigers did what should have been enough to take the three points in a one-sided Yorkshire derby but they came up against a one-man resistance in Rovers goalkeeper David Button.

The Tottenham loanee produced a string of saves to deny Corry Evans, Cameron Stewart and several Robert Koren efforts while Matty Fryatt also missed a gilt-edged chance.

Nick Barmby's side did at least keep a third successive clean sheet in the league and remain in firm play-off contention, five points behind second-placed Southampton.

For Rovers the point and clean sheet saw them end a run of six successive away defeats, but in their first outing since the sale of Billy Sharp to Southampton, boss Dean Saunders was presented with a stark reminder of what they will be missing as his side were thoroughly toothless in attack.

Barmby called for a response following Saturday's FA Cup defeat at Crawley and his side obliged as they started in the ascendancy and Button was forced to make two early saves, the second a particularly smart one to deny Evans' low drive.

The Tigers continued to dominate and they should have taken the lead in the 18th minute when Liam Rosenoir did well to cut back to Fryatt , but the eight-goal striker dragged his shot wide in untypical fashion.

Rovers had their fair share of possession, but they were looking toothless with it and they faced a string of attacks as Hull searched for the opener before the break.

Aaron Mclean headed into the side netting from Andy Dawson's wicked free-kick and Button again came to Doncaster's rescue when he palmed away Stewart's volley.

Saunders would have been happy with his side's start to the second half as they stifled Hull and restricted their chances, but they remained inept going forward and were barely able to advance into the the final third.

Hull began to stir and Button was called into further action to deny Koren from distance on two occasions.

The Spurs loanee was seemingly unbeatable as the hosts pushed for a deserved winner and he again kept out a stinging Koren effort.

The longer Button kept Hull at bay, the more a surprise Doncaster winner looked likely and they almost sneaked one with 15 minutes remaining but El-Hadji Diouf's curling effort was superbly tipped over by Vito Mannone in his only meaningful action of the night.

From then normal service was resumed as the Tigers poured forward and John Oster cleared off the line from Josh King while Koren saw yet another effort drift wide.

Hull eventually ran out of ideas and Rovers claimed an unlikely point.


Hull 0-0 Doncaster: Match Report - view commentary, squad, and statictics of the game as it happened.

Source: DSG