Johnny Russell leads spirited Derby but Hull hold on to reach Wembley
Hull 0 - 2 DerbyAway team scorersJohnny Russell 7
Andrew Robertson 36 o.g.
Hull City win 3-2 on agg
What a difference three days make. Derby County came tantalisingly close to rescuing a lost cause which, with encouragement from an abject performance from Hull, looked anything but for most of an encounter which was as one-sided in their favour as Saturday’s first meeting had been for Steve Bruce’s side.
The hosts held on, just, to secure a third Wembley visit in the last 25 months, a marked improvement on one appearance in the previous century, where they will face Sheffield Wednesday on 28 May. Along with Yorkshire pride being at stake, so too will the small matter of £170m on offer to the winner of the Championship play-off final.
The Hull manager, Bruce, had insisted there would be no danger of complacency given their handsome advantage, but his side played like they only had to turn up to progress. Derby sensed their lethargy from the first whistle and exploited it to the tune of two goals before Bruce had the chance to haul his players in for the mother of all half-time dressing downs in his 200th game in charge, one which he almost had recourse to recall for all the wrong reasons.
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His words, clearly not for the easily offended, failed to spark the desired response, and Craig Bryson, unmarked barely half a dozen yards from goal, should have levelled the tie early in the second period when the midfielder contrived to miscue his effort when meeting an inviting cross from Andreas Weimann. Eldin Jakupovic was forced to beat out a fierce drive from Johnny Russell as a third goal seemingly beckoned, but Hull were able to assert themselves more in the final half an hour as the visitors understandably tired, given the Herculean nature of their effort to bridge a gap which ultimately proved just beyond them.
With a nod to the location of Liverpool’s never to be forgotten come-from-behind victory over Milan in the Champions League final 11 years ago, Derby supporters labelled their trip to the KC Stadium “Istanhull” in the attempt to overturn their daunting three-goal first-leg deficit. There was a sense of nostalgia from the hosts as well, as members of the squad to earn promotion to the top flight through the play-offs eight years ago were paraded on the pitch before kick-off.
Even though their efforts ultimately ended in defeat, the way Brighton & Hove Albion had rattled Sheffield Wednesday in the opening half-hour of Monday’s first semi-final had given the visitors hope that there could be a way of coming back from the dead and they gave themselves the perfect platform to do so as they immediately put their hosts on the back foot to take a seventh-minute lead en-route to a two-goal half-time advantage.
Hull looked a yard off the pace from the start and had failed to get up to speed as Cyrus Christie was allowed time and space to send over a cross from the right which Chris Martin headed back across the six-yard box.
It was met by Russell; his initial effort was blocked but the Scot was alert to the rebound and followed up to poke home his 10th goal of the campaign from close range.
A team that had conceded just 12 times in 23 home games during the regular season looked anything but secure as the party atmosphere in the stands soon turned to one laced with anxiety, the paucity of Hull’s play stunning their supporters into silence.
Mo Diamé was inches from reaching a deep cross from Moses Odubajo as Bruce’s side launched a rare attack but it was Derby who continued to dictate, Russell going close with a 20-yard free-kick just off target, as did Bryson from even further out.
The Rams’ first-half efforts were worthy of more than a single-goal lead and they underlined their dominance nine minutes before the break, Andy Robertson, scorer of Hull’s third goal at the weekend, turning Bryson’s low cross past Jakupovic after an initial deflection from Curtis Davies.
Guardian
