Hull City proceeded to the Third Round of the Capital One Cup with a slender 1-0 win over League One side Rochdale.

The Championship side opened the scoring just ten minutes into the game, as Tigers youngster Greg Luer netted his second in the competition. He latched onto a through ball from Abel Hernandez before slotting the ball in.

A Host Of Changes

Nine changes were made to the Hull side which lost to Charlton at the weekend. The key change however was the welcome return of Mohamed Diame following a knee injury he sustained in December 2014.

Four changes were made to the Rochdale side, as Reuben Noble-Lazarus, Ashley Eastham, Andy Cannon and Calvin Andrew all coming in. Oliver Lancashire, Donal McDermott, Callum Camps and Joe Bunney making way.

It took the home side two minutes to register a shot on target. Isaac Hayden fired an effort from 20 yards out, but the chance was blocked by a Rochdale defender. A minute later Ryan Taylor fired a free kick from roughly the same distance as Hayden's shot, but it went just over.

Luer Fires Hull In Front

With the Tigers dominating Rochdale failed to make an impact and went a goal down on the ten minute mark. Luer ran onto a through ball from record signing Hernandez, who fired past Josh Lillis from just inside the area.

Rochdale finally had a chance 11 minutes in as Reuben Noble-Lazarus took a shot which was well saved by Hull 'keeper Eldin Jakupovic. This was when the visitors started getting a foothold in the game.

However Hull had yet amother chance as a lively looking Hernandez fired a volley from around 20 yards out just over the bar. The striker then turned defender as Cannon was lining up a shot, which the Uruguayan blocked and sent out for a corner. This was the last major occurrence of the first half, in which Hull looked very comfortable.

Hernandez Misses Sitter

The home side continued in the second half as just a minute in, the Tigers had another good opportunity. Andy Robertson sent in a delicious cross which Hernandez headed over from just inside the six yard area.

In an end to end start to the second half, Andrew went close to giving Rochdale an equalizer. He couldn't get enough power on his header which was gratefully caught by Jakupovic.

The action however dried up in the stint leading up to the hour mark. As Cannon's deflected effort being the only main shot of the opening 15 minutes, his shot was easily picked up by deputy 'keeper Jakupovic.

Odubajo Makes Goal-Saving Clearance

A largely uneventful second period then livened up as with 20 minutes to go Hull substitute Moses Odubajo saved the day for the Tigers. He managed to clear the ball from inside the six yard area to stop his side giving away an almost certain equalizer.

Rochdale were nearly in again as Rhys Bennett took a shot from inside the area, however his shot fired well wide. The visitors had a penalty appeal turned down five minutes from time as Harry Maguire was adjudged to have handling the area, but referee Mark Haywood waved away the protests.

The game ended with the Tigers proceeding to the Third Round, albeit with a slender win over a team from a lower division.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Aaron Irwin
Formula 1 editor, Football League co-editor at VAVEL UK. Writer since July 2014. Hull City correspondent. Currently studying for a Journalism degree at Hull School of Art and Design.