North Ferriby 0-1 Hull City (U21s)

North Ferriby 0-1 Hull City (U21s)

Pre-Season Friendly

Wednesday 24th July 2024

Sam Opoku’s very late goal gave Hull City’s U21s a narrow win - and with it the Billy Bly Memorial Trophy - in this game against North Ferriby.

In honesty, it wasn’t a classic and although Ben Bottomley pulled off three or four decent saves (mostly in the second half) to keep Ferriby at 0-0 until the 88th minute, some of the football at times was tepid, tedious and typically what you’d expect at U21s level - and a stalemate seemed inevitable for ages until Sam Opoku pounced and then sprinted off towards the corner flag for an extravagant celebration.

The game was very cagey but the first 45 minutes especially so. 

Ferriby didn’t offer too much in attack and they were nullified by Hull’s backline who spent large parts of the first half stroking the ball around at the back - going from side to side very frequently, with little movement higher up the pitch enabling them to get any positive moves going. They had lots of possession but… pointless possession! 

You aren’t going to hurt the opposition playing the ball around inside your own half for long spells and probably a fair comment is that Callum Yam (in goal for Hull) had more touches of the ball than all of Hull’s attacking players combined, yet he didn’t have a save to make.

There were only two chances of note up to half-time; one where Hull’s No.11 trialist (who wasn’t bad) had a shot which Ben Bottomley saved before Henry Sandat hit the post on the rebound after about 20 minutes, and then closer to half-time when George Dickinson’s corner was headed goalwards by Lucas Dawson but a stretching Ben Bottomley was there to make a save.

After a slow start to the second half, Hull gradually got going a bit and started to move the ball around inside their opponents half and push North Ferriby back which eventually culminated in a few chances as they started to make inroads.

Just before the hour mark Lucas Dawson was denied again by Ben Bottomley; this time as the young striker smashed the ball goalwards from about eight yards but the big ‘keeper smothered it. A couple of other Hull chances went begging when they ought to have been put on target at the very least, George Dickinson also dragged a low shot wide when he caught a glimpse of goal on the edge of the box and looked for an opener, Bottomley was in the thick of the action again when he collided with Henry Sandat in an incident where the Hull striker was racing through and the linesman was late raising his flag but… still it remained 0-0.

Hull were certainly better after half-time (possibly a sign of their fitness levels due to being in a full-time training environment in comparison to North Ferriby) and in the 88th minute the goal came for the Tigers as Jaedyn Chibanga’s low ball in from the left was tucked home by Samuel Opoku who then produced one of the most exuberant celebrations I’ve ever seen in a pre-season game as he sprinted off towards the corner flag at full pelt.

Overall though, a poor game - it won’t live long in the memory, and there wasn’t too much meat to chew from the bone. Hull moved the ball well but they needed more intensity, more movement and more runs at times higher up the pitch (especially in the first half) where it was all a bit too pedestrian and like a mannequin challenge.

Individually, not much to shout about but George Dickinson, Alfie Taylor and Jake Leake were probably the stand-outs, with Ben Bottomley - simply by virtue of the fact he made some saves, being the Man Of The Match for North Ferriby.

George Dickinson wore both the No.4 shirt and the captain’s armband. He had lots of touches, was able to see the whole game infront of him from where he was playing and his passing was decent; spraying the ball about calmly and competently and trying to get some moves going. He also showed little bits of leadership; talking to others and demanding more when it was needed a few times which was good. He had a shot in the second half where he dragged it wide (just a few seconds after a little opening where he could have ‘wellied it’ on the volley from 20 yards but chose not to) and playing like this, with his confidence back, he’ll add something to this team. I’ve liked watching him in the past and he’s a decent player - and above everything it’s good to see him enjoying his football again after a frustrating time at Sheffield United last season where he didn’t really feature for their U21s.

Elsewhere, Alfie Taylor had a steady game at the back. Not vast amounts to do (one of those nights), but one where he did enough to underline his value and as a left-footed centre-back he’s as good as anyone in the ‘Young LCB’ category at U21s level, not bad in the air either, and can spray some fantastic long-range passes about (distribution being amongst his best strengths). Watching 100+ games per season, you learn to back your own judgements on players, and I just can’t help but feel that he needs a loan right now because given his height (6ft5) and his playing-traits - especially his distribution, that will be appreciated in the real world of first team football and testing himself in a gritty, rough and ready environment, it’ll bring him on a lot. And if he gets a season of 30-40 games then it’s only going to make him a better defender and drive his standards higher and improve him even more.

Very similar can be said of Jake Leake who was solid at the back and made a few good contributions and, similar to Alfie Taylor, the positive things you look for in a Centre-Back were easy to spot with him too.

Amongst the others; Hull’s No.11 (Trialist) was sharp and lively, clearly wanted to make a good impression and that effort/energy stood out as he tried to run at people and cause problems - notably the shot in the first half. Noah Wadsworth was steady playing at RWB and took a good whack in the air in the last couple of minutes (good to toughen him up). Having watched him at Bradford City in the U18s - where I’ve always said he was one of the best defenders in that league, he was often used as a Centre-Back, so it’ll be interesting to see where Hull play him. 

Pharrell Brown made a good impression when he came on in the first half - tracking back to win the ball well, some good bits of out-of-possession work, and then having a run and basically just showing some movement and intensity when everyone else was static. That stood out and was impressive. Jaedyn Chibanga will be pleased with his assist; offered good technique a few times, although there were a couple of occasions where he was needlessly caught offside so that’s his area for improvement along with a few others.