ANY notions of Hull City being a one-man team were banished last night after Jimmy Bullard's team-mates made light of his absence to further strengthen Phil Brown's grip on his job.
The Tigers, so dependent on the skills of their club record signing during the mini revival that had brought four points from back-to-back home games against Stoke and West Ham, simply blew Everton away with a sparkling first-half display.
Goals f
rom Stephen Hunt, Andy Dawson and Dean Marney ensured Hull claimed a fourth win of the season despite a spirited fightback after the break by David Moyes's men.
It also helped nudge Brown's men up a place to 15th in the table but, on a cold night next to the Humber, what warmed the hearts of everyone involved with Hull the most was that the victory over a club competing in Europe this season came without the skills of Bullard. Undoubtedly the spark behind the recent upturn in form at the KC Stadium, Bullard was expected to be badly missed after telling his manager ahead of kick-off that he did not feel up to two games in five days.
However, Hull produced a performance of such quality without the 31-year-old in an exhilarating opening 45 minutes that they fully justified what had seemed a debatable pre-match claim by Brown that the Yorkshire club are far from being a one-man team.
With Hunt in outstanding form and Jozy Altidore again showing his increased liking for the English game, Hull exacted revenge for the four-goal mauling inflicted by Everton in the Carling Cup less than three months earlier.
Even two typically slack pieces of defending from Kamil Zayatte which gifted the visitors two goals after the break could not take the gloss off a fine night for the Tigers.
The home side took just nine minutes to go ahead, Hunt showing great tenacity to follow his own cross into the penalty area after the ball had looped towards the back post off the foot of Joseph Yobo.
Altidore then showed tremendous strength to hold off Sylvain Distin before unleashing a fearsome strike that Tim Howard did well to beat away.
The American international goalkeeper's relief was, however, only temporary with Hunt, by now standing near the penalty spot, gleefully smashing the rebound into the net.
It was the perfect start for Hull without their talisman and the night got even better just 11 minutes later when Andy Dawson doubled the advantage.
Referee Martin Atkinson had harshly adjudged Zayatte to have been fouled 25 yards from the Everton goal, the Hull defender being, if anything, guilty of committing a foul himself.
The visitors' frustration at such a contentious decision understandably turned to fury seconds later when Dawson curled an exquisite free-kick around the wall and past Howard on the line.
Hull's third goal came just before the half-hour and, again, it owed a huge amount to the determination of Hunt who, after having his initial cross blocked by Leighton Baines, reclaimed possession.
The Republic of Ireland international immediately fired in another attempted cross that deflected off Sylvain Distin for Marney to hit a shot that flicked off Tim Cahill and into the net.
Everton had been a major disappointment during the first half with their often nervy efforts belying a team that had won just one of nine games before the trip to the KC Stadium.
The visitors men were, however, given fresh hope of launching a comeback just four minutes after the restart when Zayatte inexplicably sliced a poor cross from John Heitinga into his own net.
The Guinea defender then compounded his error by gifting Everton a second goal with a clumsy challenge on Louis Saha as he latched on to another pass from Heitinga.
The referee had no option than pointing to the spot and Saha got to his feet to send Matt Duke the wrong way and set up a tense final 26 minutes.
There were a couple of worrying moments, not least when Dawson had to head Saha's shot clear, but Hull held on to claim what could prove ,come the season's end, to be a priceless victory.
Hull City: Duke; McShane, Gardner, Zayatte, Dawson; Garcia (Barmby 78), Boateng, Marney, Hunt; Geovanni (Kilbane 87), Altidore (Vennegoor of Hesselink 75). Unused substitutes: Myhill, Moyoukolo, Ghilas, Cairney.
Everton: Howard: Neill, Yobo, Distin, Baines; Rodwell (Jo 60), Cahill, Heitinga, Pienaar; Saha, Yakubu (Gosling 46). Unused substitutes: Nash, Hibbert, Coleman, Duffy, Baxter.
Referee: M Atkinson (West Yorkshire).
