Hull City 1 Burnley 4: Hull devoid of heart, spirit and ideas as Burnley end long wait

GREAT Escape? More like abject surrender as Hull City chose Grand National weekend to go from strongly fancied for the drop to racing certainties.

The Tigers are, with five games to play, heading in only one direction following a second-half horror show that gift-wrapped Burnley's first away win in the Premier League.

Brian Laws's Clarets, who despite claiming all three points seem destined to join Hull in the Championship next season, had claimed just one point from a possible 48 on the road before the trip to the East Riding.

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But they blew Hull away with such ease that the KC Stadium faithful were left wondering at the final whistle where their side's next point is coming from, never mind the survival target of three wins that manager Iain Dowie has set his side.

No heart, no spirit and no idea just about sums up the efforts of a Hull side who had run out to the theme tune from the film Great Escape.

Such optimism was understandable ahead of kick-off with the knowledge that three points against a horribly out-of-form Burnley would be enough to lift the home side out of the bottom three.

By full-time, however, the Great Escape had been replaced on the PA system by Razorlight's I Really, Really Wish I Could Be Somewhere Else and never has a song been more aptly chosen.

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Even Dowie accepted that the manner of his side's 4-1 defeat could have left supporters disillusioned.

He said: "Will that dent their belief? Of course it will. They came with expectation and other than the first 20 minutes, we didn't live up to it.

"We have got to refresh their belief with an away display at Birmingham next week. But that is not going to happen if we are looking down at our shoes or hiding in a corner.

"We have got to be brave and take this defeat on the chin."

Even the dream start of going ahead through Kevin Kilbane after just 130 seconds could not lift the toothless Tigers.

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The slick move that led to the Republic of Ireland international netting his first goal of the season had been hugely encouraging.

First, Craig Fagan showed great vision to release Jozy Altidore, who timed his run to perfection as the Burnley defence appealed in vain for offside. Then, after looking up and seeing the on-rushing Kilbane, the USA international picked out his team-mate with a sublime chip that invited a powerful header which gave Brian Jensen no chance.

With the Clarets' confidence levels at rock bottom following the previous week's six-goal hammering by Manchester City, Hull should have used their earliest goal of the season as a springboard towards claiming a seventh home win.

Initially, that seemed to be likely with the home side almost doubling their advantage on the half-hour when Altidore showed great tenacity and skill to beat Michael Duff and drill a shot that Jensen was fortunate to save with his face. Jimmy Bullard, following up, then narrowly fired the rebound over.

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Any hopes this would be the prelude to more attacking intent were soon swept away, however, as Burnley – with a helpful nudge from their hosts – battled back into the game.

The Clarets drew level 10 minutes before half-time when Kilbane was guilty of affording Tyrone Mears sufficient space to cut inside and pick out Martin Paterson, who cleverly turned his marker before drilling a low shot past Boaz Myhill.

Burnley should have gone ahead in the 57th minute when a sublime right-wing cross by Paterson found Duff unmarked only for the defender to blaze over.

It was a miss that prompted Laws to do an impression of Basil Fawlty at his agitated best as the under-pressure Clarets manager reflected on a golden opportunity being wasted.

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He need not have worried as, just seven minutes later, his side had gone ahead courtesy of a clumsy challenge by George Boateng on Duff that prompted referee Martin Atkinson to point to the spot.

Graham Alexander, who netted twice against Hull in October's

2-0 win at Turf Moor, coolly dispatched the penalty past Myhill.

He then repeated the trick on 70 minutes after Bernard Mendy had bundled David Nugent to the floor.

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The ultimate decision was right although Hull did this time have legitimate grounds for complaint as Nugent had handled the ball earlier in the move.

The rout was completed in the fifth minute of stoppage time when Wade Elliott took advantage of a shambolic defensive wall to curl a free-kick into the net.

It ensured a nightmare end to an afternoon that Dowie had described pre-match as one that would define Hull's season. Unfortunately for those in amber and black, he may well be right.

PLAYERS SHOULD BE EMBARRASSED BY THAT DISPLAY SAYS DEJECTED MANAGER DOWIE

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IAIN DOWIE has vowed to ring the changes at Hull City after branding their second-half capitulation against Burnley as "unacceptable".

The Tigers slipped to 19th in the Premier League table after becoming the first side to be beaten on home soil this term by the struggling Clarets.

With West Ham United beating Sunderland, it means Hull are four points from safety with just five games to play.

Dowie accepts time is running out for Hull and is calling for a big improvement at Birmingham City on Saturday.

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He said: "It is suffice to say there might be a few changes next week. I can't allow that to go by and say that it is acceptable.

"The players should be embarrassed. We have to play with desire, that is what the fans want from us.

"The fans turned up in numbers and we deserve to be criticised after a performance like that. We have to make sure that they are proud next week (at Birmingham).

"We will see how people are, who is fit and who is not. Then, we will pick the right team.

"We have to go to Birmingham with some spirit and fight.

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"I would rather be a lion for a day than a sheep for a lifetime."

The abject manner of Hull's second-half collapse drew deserved booing from the 24,369 crowd. It also brought a dressing down from their manager after the final whistle.

Dowie said: "The players have got to be told what is wrong. I am not going to dress it up or tread on eggshells.

"What is said in the dressing room, stays in the dressing room. But we have let it be known that it wasn't an acceptable display in the second half.

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"I can see from some of the players that they are hurting as much as me.

"I am not one for singling out players but they've got to look at the fact one lad (George Boateng) got stretchered off last week and he still put his body on the line.

"That is the type of character that you want to see in your players."

To add to Hull's miserable weekend, a scan on top scorer Stephen Hunt's troublesome foot injury has not brought good news with a further inspection planned for today.

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Dowie said: "He has got a sharp pain in his foot again and we need to have a look at it in an operation.

"If he needs a procedure, then it is going to be a lot longer but if everything is fine and we can move on, it might not be that long.

"We should get a bit of clarity on Tuesday morning."