Matt Jarvis makes his point at Hull about Wolves' Hunt

Posted Sunday, January 31, 2010 by theguardian.com

Matt Jarvis makes his point at Hull about Wolves' Hunt
Stephen Hunt scores Hull's second goal from the penalty spot.

Not since John Prescott left the Cabinet have left-wingers been as prominent in Hull. A game that was supposed to be about one became a tale of two, and was almost supplied with a dramatic denouement by a third. There was a crushing inevitability of Stephen Hunt scoring against Wolves, the club who have submitted three offers in pursuit of the Irishman. So far, so predictable.

Then a twist was provided by Matt Jarvis, who could be displaced at Molineux by Hunt but who was the supplier of a point for Wolves. One player Mick McCarthy has signed this month, Geoffrey Mujangi Bia, replaced Jarvis in the 90th minute and had a chance to score an injury-time winner.

The Belgian is one of McCarthy's more exotic recruits. Jarvis, bought from Gillingham, is a more typical acquisition for a manager who has long raided the lower leagues astutely. After testing Jamie Carragher with his powers of acceleration on Tuesday, the 23-year-old capped a memorable week with his first top-flight goal when he steered his shot past Boaz Myhill after Kevin Foley's cross had flicked off Paul McShane en route to him.

"I'm delighted with the guys I've got," said McCarthy, who was typically deadpan on the subject of Hunt. "Personally I think he's a little shit, scoring the penalty the way he did. I have never confirmed or denied any bids for him. Me and you can dance around our handbags all night long but I'm not going to talk about it."

Wolves have been sizing up Hull's Stephen Hunt, but they might be better off sticking with what they've got. Matt Jarvis stuck to the left wing dutifully, and while Hunt popped up in different areas of the pitch, his passing was less reliable. Jarvis then went and trumped the Irishman's penalty with an equaliser from open play. Hull, who have not won since November, led twice. Their opener was instigated by the teenager Tom Cairney, granted a league debut in one of Phil Brown's bolder selections. The midfielder picked out Jozy Altidore and the American's upper-body strength brushed aside Christophe Berra before he lay the ball off to Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink. His crisp, first-time shot beat Marcus Hahnemann.

It preceded a second half of incessant incident when both sides had opportunities to win the game, aided by defensive deficiencies at either end. A swift exchange of goals allowed Hunt to make amends for an initial mistake. He dallied in possession and lost the ball to Ronald Zubar. After the right-back's one-two with Foley, his cross should have been cleared by Anthony Gardner. Instead, the central defender's slice looped over Boaz Myhill and into his own net to gift Wolves a first league goal in seven-and-a-half hours of league football.

Within two minutes, Zubar barged Altidore over, both clumsily and needlessly. "I thought it was the worst decision I have seen in a long time," added McCarthy, pausing with deliberate effect before adding: "By Ronald Zubar. The penalty was a penalty. No question."

Hunt's spot-kick was emphatic. "If the tactic by Wolves was to unsettle him, it was the wrong one because he's a fiery character" said Brown. "Stephen Hunt is here to stay as far as I'm concerned. He's got a love affair with Hull City."

THE FANS' PLAYER RATINGS AND VERDICT

Rick Skelton, HullCityOnline.com It was a pretty awful game and the standard of the goals summed it up. We started quite well and looked comfortable in the first half, but in the second half we were terrible. The two strikers didn't do too badly - Altidore had a good game and Vennegoor lasted 90 minutes which is a first. Cairney was the only one to have time to put his foot on the ball, everyone else was very hurried. But Zaki looks the business – with a fit Zaki and a fit Bullard we've got half a chance.

The fan's player ratings Myhill 6; McShane 5, Mouyokolo 7, Gardner 5, Dawson 6; Mendy 7 (Garcia 80 n/a), Boateng 6, Cairney 7, Hunt 6; Altidore 7 (Zaki 69 7), Vennegor of Hesselink 7

Tim Spiers, Observer reader Neither side wanted to give anything away and that made for a fairly scrappy game, but coming from behind twice, we've got to be happy with a point. Our 4-5-1 set-up was quite frustrating and when we were 2-1 down Mick was about to bring on another striker, and then we scored and he didn't. If we had gone 4-4-2 I think we could have won. We're now playing a few teams around us away and I'm optimistic of getting a few points – there's less pressure than playing at home.

The fan's player ratings Hahnemann 7; Zubar 6, Berra 6, Craddock 7, Ward 7 (Stearman 90 n/a); Mancienne 7; Foley 8 (Guedioura 90 n/a), Henry 7, Jones 7, Jarvis 6 (Mujangi Bia 90 n/a); Doyle 8