Aaron Connolly header earns Hull home draw with Coventry

Posted Saturday, September 16, 2023 by PA

Aaron Connolly’s brilliant late header earned Hull a 1-1 draw at home to Coventry.

The Republic of Ireland international glanced home Tyler Morton’s cross following a sustained spell of pressure to deny the visitors a hard-earned victory.

With Hull short of ideas, Joel Latibeaudiere’s first-half header looked to have been the difference between two evenly-matched sides.

The Jamaica international put the gloss on a fine individual performance after 27 minutes to claim his first goal since joining last year’s play-off finalists in the summer.

And though Coventry were organised from the outset, Hull’s late burst of energy resulted in a well-worked equaliser after 87 minutes.

Substitute Morton, perhaps more in desperation than with finesse, lofted a cross into the box in a central area.

But Connolly had the street-smarts to make clean contact and direct the ball into the bottom-right corner of the net with the back of his head.

Following their win at Leicester before the international break, a near-full house at the MKM Stadium expected big things from the Tigers.

But the hosts laboured for much of the game and would not have had too many complaints had they lost, despite having controlled possession for much of the second half.

They had their moments – Connolly flashed one wide from a difficult angle early on – but Hull were raw at the back and gave the ball away countless times.

Such uncertainty provided Coventry with momentum.

Excellent wing-back Jay Dasilva served notice of the visitors’ growing confidence after 25 minutes.

Yasin Ayari cutely teed up his team-mate inside the penalty area, but Dasilva’s radar was just off from an inviting position on the left.

Hull continued to give away possession and were punished soon after.

Josh Eccles’ near-post corner from the right was strong, but Jamaica international Latibeaudiere was still given an extraordinary amount of space to head home.

Hull manager Liam Rosenior demanded improvement, but it never came until after the restart.

Indeed, the home side should have been 2-0 down when Haji Wright misdirected a whipped pass from the right over the crossbar after 30 minutes, when it seemed far easier to hit the target.

Mark Robins would have expected from Hull a response in the second half. But aside from Scott Twine’s hit from distance – easily saved by Ben Wilson – it never arrived until the death.

Yet, despite the best endeavours of Coventry’s well-structured defence, a one-sided final 10 minutes offered Hull supporters hope.

And their optimism was rewarded when Connolly expertly scored a fourth league goal this season.