United progress to the Final

The final of the East Riding County FA Cup came around for Hull United when they played Preston at Hull University last Sunday. hoping to make it into the final for the fourth year in a row, the squad had great energy pre-match and especially in the warm-up.

the lineup was set up in a 4-2-1-3 formation which allowed the squad to have some freedom to play the team’s ethos, get the ball down and play style.

the lineup started with a return of Cone in goal and the back four of Newlove, Corrine, Robinson dropping into the centre-back role and Eleanor on the left-hand side. in the midfield, in the deeper midfield position was Captain Holmes and Tankard and Brown just in front of them. then finally the front three of Damms, Ibbotson and Ward.

The first half was a difficult start for United, struggling to get the ball and string passes together became a recurring theme for United throughout the game. some clear-cut chances were created by the front three but unfortunately, none were put away to give United the lead. A quick substitution had to be made in the game’s early minutes. Captain Holmes off and O’Rourke on and slotting into the back four, Robbo pushing into midfield.

united continued to attempt to keep the ball with the thought that the goals would soon follow. One chance from the corner with a header from O’Rourke seemed to be the opener but some great defending from Preston kept the ball away from goal. united seemed on all parts of the pitch to have a lack of execution. The team continued to push on and another substitution was made around the 30-minute mark. a straight swap of Ward off and O’Neill on.

at half-time, the squad went into the changing rooms knowing that they had not done enough to finish the game off in the first half. the effort was there but something just didn’t seem to click in the first 45 minutes. substitutions then had to be made at halftime, with the keeper cone coming off, due to illness, to be replaced by Adamson. also coming off was Brown for Lisle and Ward was back on for Ibbotson.

trying to kick on in the second half. the team tried to find a second gear to get into to put the game to bed, but it was Preston who scored first caused by a mistimed challenge to put them in the lead in the 55th minute.

needing to make changes to try and stay in the game, tankard came off for Holmes who made a massive impact as soon as she came back onto the pitch

united started to build momentum in the latter stages of the game, and the front three started to make some dangerous runs into the box. Ward kept darting down the win and playing some brilliant balls into the box but none found the feet of the strikers.

time was running out for an equaliser, so United came up with an all-out attack formation. giving Damms a rest and putting Ibbotson back on to give some fresh energy back into the team seemed to add some fire to the United attack. and around the 80-minute mark. there was no other choice but to make a triple substitution to get a goal. Tankard was on for O’Neill, Lisle off for Brown and finally O’Rourke off for Damms which then put three at the back to out as many bodies forward as possible.

then finally the chance came from a fantastic ball from Damms into the box for Ibbotson to tap in to make the game 1-1. finally united got a goal. the last 5 minutes became very end-to-end. however, no teams scored which ended up taking the game to a penalty shootout to decide who would be going into the final.

but before the final whistle, one final sub was made and Adamson came off for Cone who had a quiet confidence when it came to penalties.

the final penalty takers were then chosen and Preston was up first to start the shootout. with the ball going to the left-hand side of the goal, keeper Cone made a full-stretch save to give United a brilliant start to the shootout. All players in the lineup for penalties scored. Damms, Holmes and Brown. the final shootout scored 3-1 and united heading into the final with a sigh of relief.

player of the match went to Captain Holmes who won absolutely everything in the midfield.

the final of the cup will be played on the 11th April against North Ferriby.