Byline: Mark Ryan
HULL CITY 3
Cole (27, og), Zayette (44), Bullard (45)
WEST HAM 3
Franco (5), Collison (11), Da Costa (69)
NO wonder they reckon Premier League management can seriously damage your health.
wholesale colthingBlackburn's Sam Allardyce, now needing heart surgery, cannot be the only boss suffering.
Picture Phil Brown after 11 minutes at the KC Stadium, his team giving goals away as though they wanted him to be unemployed by Christmas. Then step into Gianfranco Zola's shoes, as he watched victory turn into near defeat, destroyed by bad luck, stupidity and rough justice in that order.
And just when they were preparing to rename his club Waste Ham, salvation came in the form of Manuel Da Costa's ugly left boot.
Hull, reduced to 10 men by then, had dithered in defence to throw away a victory of their own.
Imagine the blood pressure levels on the bench as Hammers substitiute Luis Jimenez almost stole all the points back in the dying minutes, only to find the side-netting.
And the hearts jumping as Junior Stanislas headed over from so near the Hull goal that grandmas nationwide would have fancied their chances.
It was marvellous fun if you were a neutral.
Carlton Cole squandered a fine fifth-minute chance. No matter, Stanislas swung in the resulting corner for Guillermo Franco to head his team's opener.
Hull keeper Matt Duke seemed fake rolex to freeze at the cleverness of it all. Franco's confidence soared and six minutes later he produced the pass of the match to leave Jack Collison an 11th-minute invitation.
The young midfielder duly accepted to loop his header goalwards, with Duke stranded in no man's land. 'Two-nil to the Cockney Boys' as the Hammers fans sang. At that point only the precise timing of Hull manager Brown's dismissal seemed up for debate, because the result wasn't.
The visitors' mistake was to underestimate another Londoner, Jimmy Bullard, who decided to chase a lost cause as if it were a matter of personal pride. His first freekick just about knocked out Scott Parker. His second free-kick was on target in the 27th minute, though it probably would not have beaten Robert Green had Cole not intervened with his head. The deflection proved fatal and Hull were back in it.
Bullard let Stephen Hunt whip the home side's next telling set-piece just before the break. West Ham's dozy defence watched as Kamil Zayatte arrived with exquisite timing to apply the killer touch. The colour returned to Brown's heavily-tanned face. If Zola was exasperated at that point, he was near despair in injury-time.
Referee Mark Clattenburg, never shy, pointed to the spot when Craig Fagan fell at Julien Faubert's feet.
That won him some attention, though some officials might have ruled the 'offending' contact was initiated by the striker as he backed into his opponent. Up stepped
embroidered patches Bullard, who showed once again how well he can clip a ball. Green dived low, Bullard aimed high and Hull were ahead.
But Brown's torment was not over because eight minutes after the interval Bernard Mendy was correctly dismissed for tripping Scott Parker, who was racing through on goal.
An
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