Hull City 0 Derby County 1: Tigers contrive to leave themselves seeking favours on Championship's final day
If there was going to be a winner between Hull and Derby County, it was always going to be the Tigers. And yet somehow, they managed to lose.
Nat Phillips' 84th-minute header, only the Rams' second shot on target all game, dropped Hull from 19th in the table to 22nd going into the final day of the season, at Portsmouth.
The only saving grace is that two of the four teams still within range – Derby and Stoke City – play each other, so a Hull win at Fratton Park would keep them up. But they are cutting things mighty fine.
The hosts had only had two shots on target themselves at that point, which was the problem.
Failing to win home games they ought to has been the bane of the Tigers' life for much longer than this season, and it came back to bite them again, applying all the pressure and scoring none of the goals.
Now, instead of settling things a week early and having a nice bank holiday on the coast, they go to Fratton Park reliant on others to do them a favour.
Luton Town's dramatic late win in the early kick-off provided some simplicity for the three o'clock kick-off.
Hull had to remain focussed on the win that would secure their Championship safety rather than being tempted into playing for a draw had the Hatters lost. And it dropped Derby into the bottom three.
It gave two relegation-threatened teams a rare luxury on the penultimate weekend of the season - they could ignore results elsewhere and just go head to head.
The Tigers roared out of their cage in front of a pumped-up 24,451 crowd, their second biggest of the season.
Three times in the first three minutes, Gustavo Puerta launched throw-ins into the Rams' box, Nordin Amrabat having a shot deflected from the first of them, Lewie Coyle a volley blocked from the second.
Charlie Hughes swept a great ball out to Abu Kamara in the eighth-minute and the double-marked winger sneaked through, only for the move to break down on Coyle's attempted return pass. it was a god sign nevertheless.
Regan Slater got into a good shooting position a minute later, but could not get hold of it.
But an injury to Slater and more importantly the lengthy treatment which ended with him limping off in the 14th minute took the sting out of Hull.
Derby soon had their first attack of note, Jerry Yates slipping before he could make anything of the knockdown from a Marcus Harness cross.
Kane Wilson nearly forced his way through from right wing-back but an excellent Hughes tackle inside his own six-yard box put paid to that.
Kyle Joseph had to block Harrison Armstrong's shot after the ball had been pinging about Hull's penalty area.
Puerta's 26th-minute free-kick was comfortably caught by Josh Vickers, but too many of his set pieces did not even cause that much trouble.
John Egan nearly ended the half on a high, steering Coyle's lay-off over the bar.
Throughout the second half it felt like if a goal was coming, it was coming from the hosts. But it was a big if.
Joseph was not quite able to get to a Coyle cross, then Puerta shot wide from outside the area.
Gelhardt's snapshot from a Kamara lay-off went wide, another deflected just past the post. When Armstrong made a hash of Hughes' long ball forward, the forward lacked composure and screwed his effort off target.
Amrabat shot well over from 25 yards, and did not have the pace to get away into a goalscoring position when Gelhardt closed the ball down.
Alfie Jones could not quite get on the end of Sean McLoughlin's clever touch from a Coyle pass.
Pandur had to beat Wilson's cross/shot away and Eboue Adams sliced a shot way off target before Hull could get the ball away, but there was not much else to write home about from the Rams.
That was until Jones was dragged out wide in the 83rd minute and fouled fellow substitute Nathaniel Mendez-Laing. Craig Forsyth put the ball in for Phillips to head home.
Only then did Ruben Selles make an attacking substitution, bringing on Joao Pedro, Matt Crooks and Mason Burstow all at once but it was too little, too late.
Hull will be sat in the bullet seat on the final day.
Hull City: Pandur; L Coyle, Egan (Jones 60), Hughes, McLoughlin; Puerta, Slater (Alzate 14); Kamara (Burstow 88), Gelhardt, Amrabat (Pedro 88); Joseph (Crooks 88).
Unused substitutes: Lincoln, Drameh, Lo-Tutala, Palmer.
Derby County: Vickers; Langas, Phillips, Clarke; Wilson, Thompson (Mendez-Laing 68), Armstrong, Adams, Forsyth; Yates (Barkhuizen 90+2), Harness (Jackson 80).
Unused substitutes: Osborn, Roofe, Luthra, Goudmijn, Blackett-Taylor, Pieters.
Referee: S Martin (Staffordshire).