Hull City rounded off their preparations for a first European campaign with a 1-1 draw against Barnsley at Oakwell in a game in which goalkeeping errors led to both goals.
Shane Long opened the scoring at the beginning of the second half with the simplest of chances when deflecting the ball home after closing down keeper Adam Davies.
Then substitute goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic committed a howler of his own just before the hour mark, when he rushed out of his goal to try to head clear a long ball from Dale Jennings, only to watch in shock as the bounce eluded him and the ball went over his head for Conor Hourihane to put into an empty net from wide on the left.
Jakupovic did make amends to some extent with smart but routine saves from two free-kicks by Jennings and Sam Winnall, but the damage had been done.
City's next best chance of the second-half fell to Tom Ince, but his shot across Davies was well saved and the resulting corner came to nothing. ![longgoal]()
Shane Long scores past Adam Davies.
The Tigers had started the first half fairly slowly and were happy to contain their hosts. They almost came undone in the first three minutes when sleepy defending allowed Connor Jennings to run through on goal and draw a save from keeper Steve Harper. Sone Aluko had two of the Tigers' best chances, first dragging a left-foot shot well wide from 20 yards on 13 minutes, before seeing a strike tipped around the post by Adam Davies on 26 minutes. Before that, Ahmed Elmohamady was presented with a half-chance when Liam Rosenior presented a great ball to the back stick, but the Egyptian sliced his right-foot volley.![]()
Ahmed Elmohamady goes in for a challenge.
A long-range effort from Huddlestone sailed over after a break in play to take on water, but Barnsley could have ended the half 1-0 ahead, had Nana Boakye-Yiadom had shown more composure when lashing at a misplaced Paul McShane header back to Harper. With Trecin up next in the Europa League on Thursday, the Tigers will be glad of the run-out, but know they must show more tempo to gain the upper hand in the away leg of the third qualifying round tie.Hull City starting XI: Steve Harper, Liam Rosenior, James Chester, Paul McShane, Ahmed Elmohamady, Tom Huddlestone, Jake Livermore, Tom Ince, Robert Snodgrass, Shane Long, Sone Aluko.Subs: Eldin Jakupovic, Robbie Brady, George Boyd, Stephen Quinn, Joe Dudgeon, Yannick Sagbo, Connor Townsend.
Shane Long scores past Adam Davies.The Tigers had started the first half fairly slowly and were happy to contain their hosts. They almost came undone in the first three minutes when sleepy defending allowed Connor Jennings to run through on goal and draw a save from keeper Steve Harper. Sone Aluko had two of the Tigers' best chances, first dragging a left-foot shot well wide from 20 yards on 13 minutes, before seeing a strike tipped around the post by Adam Davies on 26 minutes. Before that, Ahmed Elmohamady was presented with a half-chance when Liam Rosenior presented a great ball to the back stick, but the Egyptian sliced his right-foot volley.
Ahmed Elmohamady goes in for a challenge.A long-range effort from Huddlestone sailed over after a break in play to take on water, but Barnsley could have ended the half 1-0 ahead, had Nana Boakye-Yiadom had shown more composure when lashing at a misplaced Paul McShane header back to Harper. With Trecin up next in the Europa League on Thursday, the Tigers will be glad of the run-out, but know they must show more tempo to gain the upper hand in the away leg of the third qualifying round tie.Hull City starting XI: Steve Harper, Liam Rosenior, James Chester, Paul McShane, Ahmed Elmohamady, Tom Huddlestone, Jake Livermore, Tom Ince, Robert Snodgrass, Shane Long, Sone Aluko.Subs: Eldin Jakupovic, Robbie Brady, George Boyd, Stephen Quinn, Joe Dudgeon, Yannick Sagbo, Connor Townsend.
Makes me laugh that I miss a friendly game through an injury and some people think it's just I'm unhappy Hopefully back for Thurs #HCAFC
— Curtis Davies #6 (@TheCurtisDavies) July 26, 2014