Hull City look champions in the making, Doncaster Rovers remain some way off

Anything you can do, Darren...

Grant McCann looked over his shoulder and told Tom Eaves to warm up. Within two minutes of his introduction, he had given the scoreline a more realistic look.

His 87th-minute goal was decisive in a 2-1 win that ought to have been more comfortable, pouncing on the rebound when Joe Lumley saved Richie Smallwood’s long-range effort but could only serve it up for Eaves.

“I thought it was a really good performance bar a 10-15 minute spell in the second half where we got a wee bit lax in our shape,” said McCann.

“They’re one of the better footballing teams in the league and one of the better teams in the league.
We kept coming, coming and coming. Their back four defended really well for them so I’ve got to give Doncaster credit for that but the subs had a really big impact.

“We’ve got a strong squad and the most pleasing for me is the togetherness of the group. They all get on, the spirit in and around the training ground and on the pitch is pleasing to see. They demand off each other but in the right way.”

Doncaster have beaten Ipswich Town and Lincoln City when they led the table earlier in the season, but on this evidence, Hull are different gravy.

They need a big squad, as everyone does in this most punishing of seasons. Jordy De Wijs fractured his eye socket in the FA Cup penalty shoot-out defeat to Stevenage and Dan Batty and Callum Jones picked up hamstring injuries but they got their Cup run-outs precisely to give the leading lights a rest.

Hull dominated the game but the longer the second half remained at 1-0, the greater the nagging doubt.

The returning Greg Docherty hitting the post offered a partial explanation, but it was still a surprise the Tigers only scored once after playing most of the opening 45 minutes – and indeed the game as a whole – in Doncaster territory.

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Josh Magennis’s goal was as much about brute force as strength and inevitably Mallik Wilks played a part.

The winger, who wore red-and-white hoops in McCann’s time at Rovers, was a constant threat to Hull and Joe Wright brought him down just outside the area after 25 minutes. George Honeyman, a man who did not look like he had been told the barbers have reopened, tapped the ball and Magennis hammered it in. To say it was on the cards was an understatement.

All Doncaster offered were nearly moments, Matt Smith almost mishitting a cross in after Brad Halliday did well to win the ball, and Reece James not quite able to stretch to Ben Whiteman’s curling delivery a minute later.

Not only did Docherty hit the post but Joe Lumley had to save well both from Hakeeb Adelakun’s follow-up, then Wilks as the ball stayed alive.

The second goal would not come. When Cameron John swung at fresh air, Lumley sprinted off his line at Wilks, who went to ground. It was the Hull man who was booked, for diving, to McCann’s post-match annoyance.

Keane Lewis-Potter was his first substitute and instantly gave them more sting, replacing Adelakun. He turned a Honeyman free-kick goalwards, curled a shot narrowly wide and played Magennis in one-on-one when a more selfish striker might have taken the worse option of shooting.

When Lumley stretched out his right boot, Lewis-Potter hit the rebound wide. Within a minute, the Tigers were punished, John-Jules putting away Josh Sims’s right wing cross.

“It stings because we’ve lost the game,” said Moore afterwards, but he was being generous to his side when he said: “We feel we should have come away with something.”

For a moment it looked like Doncaster’s doggedness might burgle a point.

Then McCann turned to his bench again.

“When you analyse the two goals we’ve conceded it’s just two lapses of concentration that have cost us,” reflected Moore. “Joe’s an exceptional goalkeeper and nine times out of 10 he deals with that.

“You quickly have to put it to the back of your mind because in the next 48 hours we have another game.”

It is unlikely to be as tough as this.

Hull City: Ingram; Emmanuel, Jones, Greaves, Elder; Docherty, Smallwood; Adelakun (Lewis-Potter 67), Honeyman, Wilks; Magennis. Unused substitutes: Long, Coyle, Burke, Eaves, Scott, Slater.

Doncaster Rovers: Lumley; Halliday, Wright, Anderson, John; Whiteman, Smith; Sims (John-Jules 64), Richards (Coppinger 64), James; Okenabirhie. Unused substitutes: Lokilo, Jones, Williams, Butler, Hasani.

Referee: A Backhouse (Carlisle).

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