Hull City 1
Middlesbrough 0
by William Young, To Hull and Back Podcast
Hull City have done it.
The Tigers are in the Premier League after beating Middlesbrough, thanks to an injury-time winner from who else but Oli McBurnie at a blisteringly hot Wembley, completing one of the most incredible 12 months in the club’s 122-year history.
But first, a little context surrounding the game.
Tigers gaffer Sergej Jakirović made just a single change from the victory over Millwall at the Den in the semi-finals, as the injury to Kyle Joseph meant that Mo Belloumi was promoted to the starting XI, with City welcoming Cody Drameh and Amir Hadžiahmetović back into the matchday squad after spells out through injury.
With both ends of Wembley loud, raucous and rowdy, creating a fantastic atmosphere despite the sweltering conditions, the game on the field was a relatively quiet one in the opening stages, though Boro had the lion’s share of possession.
The first proper chance of the game arrived after 18 minutes, when a cross from Aidan Morris found David Strelec, but his header flew well over the bar.
Despite Boro’s relative domination of the ball, the Tigers carved out chances of their own, with captain Lewie Coyle seeing his looping header from a Liam Millar cross tipped over the bar by Sol Brynn, before Belloumi sent a powerful curling effort wide of the post just after the water break midway through the half.
The best chances for both sides, however, arrived on the stroke of half-time, when a deep cross from Ryan Giles found McBurnie in the middle, but his header crashed against the crossbar and out, before a Boro counter saw Strelec create some space for himself, but he dragged his effort from just outside City’s penalty box wide.
So, half-time, and it remained a stalemate. The weather was clearly having an effect on the game – temperatures inside Wembley were above 30°C, and the pace of the game was heavily affected, with neither side employing their usual high-energy styles as frequently as usual.
At the start of the second half, Middlesbrough started the stronger on the ball, with an early corner from Matt Targett finding Boro captain Dael Fry at the far post, but his header was just over and landed on top of the net.
The Tigers still showed their threat at times too, though, with both Belloumi and Giles testing the Boro defence on multiple occasions with their crossing, before the Algerian again cut in from the right and took aim. But unlike his stunning effort at Millwall, this one was a comfortable save for Brynn before City made their first change of the day, with Millar being replaced by Joe Gelhardt.
After the second water break of the afternoon, two more City changes arrived, with Belloumi and Giles being replaced by Drameh and Yū Hirakawa. And, spoiler alert, the latter would continue the tradition of Sergej getting his subs spot on…
With just under 10 minutes left, City saw another chance go by, when a deflected cross from Coyle caught out Matt Targett at the back, who was beaten to the ball by Gelhardt, but his shot on the turn was wide of the post.
The 90th minute arrived. Eight minutes added.
It seemed destined that we were going to have to endure extra time and possibly the dreaded penalty shootout. But the one man you always expect wasn’t having any of that.
In the fifth minute of added time, Ajayi passed out from deep direct to McBurnie, who played it wide first time to Coyle. He sent the ball out on to the wing to substitute Hirakawa, who beat his man Callum Brittain and put a fizzing cross into the box.
Sol Brynn tried to get to it, but fumbled it. Right into the path of Oliver Robert McBurnie. And you know the rest. It had to be him.
I’d like to describe the next few moments, as someone stood in the lower tier not far behind the goal at the other end of Wembley. But honestly? I can’t describe it. It was a haze of utter madness and delirium, which took hold of the 33,000 City fans in attendance, and I imagine those back home in East Yorkshire. Men, women, children, young and old. Hugging, kissing, crying. Utter pandemonium. Utter joy.
But there was still time left. Boro had lost their heads, shattered by the killer blow. The clock ticked towards 105 minutes before referee Jarred Gillett put his lips to the whistle, sealing one of the most incredible fairytale stories in modern English football and one of the greatest days in the history of Hull City Association Football Club.
So then. Arsenal. Manchester United and City. Chelsea. Liverpool. Twelve months on from escaping the relegation zone on the final day on goal difference, and unable to spend a penny all season, the Tigers are now alongside those teams in the richest league in the world. How on earth has it happened?
At the start of this season, Hull City were considered by most pundits, fans and reporters to be very likely to go down to League One alongside Sheffield Wednesday. A lot of City fans felt similar, and there was deep concern coming into the opening game away at Coventry back on August 9 last year, including yours truly. But I have never been happier to be incorrect about something in my life.
City dared to dream. And those dreams came true.