Town moved level on points with second-placed Leeds United following a pulsating 3-3 draw with Hull City at the MKM Stadium having been in front three times. Returning striker George Hirst put the Blues in front in the 19th minute but the Tigers levelled on 40 through Ozan Tufan before Omari Hutchinson put Town back ahead with the first of two brilliant goals. However, Hull equalised again through Liam Delap in the 56th minute, then Hutchinson’s second put the Blues ahead again, however, Tigers sub Noah Ohio grabbed a point for the East Yorkshire side with three minutes remaining and the Blues were unable to take late chances to win it.
Hirst and Wes Burns both started for the promotion-chasing Blues, making a surprise return to the XI, if not the squad, following injuries.
Hirst, making his 50th appearance for Town, was up front with Ali Al-Hamadi on the bench along with Kieffer Moore with Burns back in his wide right role for Jeremy Sarmiento, who was also among the subs.
Hutchinson started on the left with Nathan Broadhead absent from the squad due to a slight knock, while George Edmundson returned to the bench after his ankle problem. Hull made one change with Tufan starting in place of Delap, who was on the bench.
Town were first to threaten in the fourth minute, Hirst flicking on a header for Hutchinson, who had found space down the middle but his ball towards Burns on the right of the box was too close to home keeper Ryan Allsop.
Seven minutes later, Blues keeper Vaclav Hladky was in action for the first time. The Czech came for a right-sided cross but Tufan was first to it but the keeper was able to claim the Turkish international’s upwards header.
Town began to settle after a slightly nervous start and on nine, following a corner, skipper Sam Morsy brought the ball forward before hitting a low shot which Allsop saved down to his right.
In the aftermath of the resultant flag-kick, Hutchinson played the ball wide to corner-taker Leif Davis, who cut it back to the on-loan Chelsea man, whose shot was blocked.
Town started to pin the Tigers back in their half and in the 19th minute, the Blues went in front.
Burns and Chaplin exchanged passes in the corner on the right and the Welshman appeared to be blocked in until he sent over a low ball which Tyler Morton completely missed in front of the near post and Hirst slammed into the corner of the net from six yards.
The returning striker celebrated his seventh goal of the season and his first since the 2-1 win at Watford on December 12th at one end, while the large Town away following went into raptures at the other.
The Blues weren’t having it all their own way, however, and the Tigers were finding space in the Town half and in the 23rd minute Fabio Carvalho shot not too far wide.
Five minutes later, Tuanzebe made an important block from a Jaden Philogene shot with the home side now putting the Blues under pressure.
The former Manchester United man made another important interception a minute later, getting his head to a dangerous Abdus Omur ball in from the left in front of a Hull attacker.
Soon after the half-hour mark, Hutchinson was fouled on the left and Davis played the corner low to Chaplin in a manner now very familiar to Town supporters. The forward got in his shot but the ball deflected wide off a defender.
The subsequent flag-kick reached Cameron Burgess through a crowd of players and the Australian defender stabbed towards goal, his fellow Socceroo Massimo Luongo trying to add the final touch but the ball scraping just wide.
Town seemed to have weathered the Hull storm and on 34 Davis burst past his man on the left and claimed he was brought down, however, referee Andrew Kitchen felt otherwise, much to the former Leeds man’s annoyance.
Two minutes later, with Town down to 10 men as Burns was off the field having lost his boot in an earlier attack, Tuanzebe was booked following a tangle with Tufan on the edge of the box. The ball ran loose with referee Kitchen allowing play to continue and Hladky did well to close down Philogene and block his shot. Tuanzebe protested bitterly that he had been fouled first and may well have had a case, while Tufan claimed it ought to have been a red, a little ambitiously.
Hull, with their fans becoming increasingly angry at Hladky’s relaxed approach to restarts, continued to put the Blues under pressure but without seriously testing the keeper further.
But in the 40th minute, the Tigers profited from a Town error at the back and equalised. Hladky passed to Morsy just outside the box but the Egyptian international was dispossessed by Jean Michael Seri, who fed Omur to his left and as Blues players retreated to the line, and the Turkish international smashed a shot into the roof of the net.
It was a frustrating goal to concede from a Town perspective, Hladky having put Morsy under too much pressure on that occasion with two Hull players around him, while other players were better options.
Having been pegged back, the Blues began to take the game more to the home side again, although without carving out a chance. In the final minute of the half, ahead of three minutes of added on, Burns was booked for a foul on Carvalho.
But in the second minute of injury time, Town restored their lead in spectacular style. Luongo won a corner on the left, which was cleared to Luke Woolfenden midway inside the Hull half. The centre-half played it wide to Hutchinson on the right and the winger cut in before curling a brilliant strike into the top corner of the net to send the Town fans at the other end of the ground wild.
Carvalho was booked for a foul on Davis on the left, the final action of a pulsating half during which both sides could make a decent claim for having been the better side.
Town started the brighter and went ahead via Hirst’s sharply taken effort but from there Hull put the Blues under pressure, albeit without creating a very big chance until the equaliser which came via an error when passing out from the back, while Luongo might well have given Kieran McKenna’s team a 2-0 lead prior to the leveller.
The visitors then wrested the impetus from the Tigers with Hutchinson’s superb ninth goal of the season given the Blues a vital advantage at half-time.
Hull made a change ahead of the second half, Delap replacing Morton, adding to their attacking ranks.
Needing all three points to maintain their play-off push, the Tigers’ approach was clear from the kick-off, Tufan nodding a left-sided cross over from the half’s first attack.
Three minutes after the restart, Hull should have levelled for a second time. Skipper Danny Greaves nodded a corner from the left back across goal, Hladky palmed out rather unconvincingly and Tufan headed over when it seemed easier to hit the target.
Town’s first opening of the second period came on 51, Hirst failing to find Luongo as he brought the ball forward in space.
The Blues were beginning to get on top with a Davis cross from the left inadvertently kicked back towards Allsop by a defender, the keeper kicking away in case it was deemed a back pass.
On 54, Luongo was booked for pulling back Omur as Hull broke. A minute later, Burns superbly took down a Conor Chaplin ball forward and fed Hirst to his left but the striker overran it and Allsop claimed.
The game was incredibly open at this stage with each side breaking on the other in turn. And in the 56th minute Hull got back on terms for a second time.
From their turn to attack, Carvalho crossed low from the right and Delap got ahead of Woolfenden to stab past Hladky from close range to take the roof off the MKM Stadium.
Again having conceded, the impetus swung back towards the Blues and just after the hour mark, Town went very close to going back in front.
Davis’s free-kick, central but to the left, wafted into the box and Burgess’s header looped beyond the motionless Allsop but struck the top of the bar.
Two minutes later, after Davis had shot high and wide with his right foot, Town made their first two changes, Moore and Sarmiento taking over from Hirst and Burns, who had had their moments, most notably the first goal, but, unsurprisingly, without looking on top of their game.
Both players, with Sarmiento on the left with Hutchinson moving to the right, quickly got involved and in the 66th minute Moore hit a 20-yard effort on the turn which Allsp palmed away to his left for a corner.
The resultant flag-kick was turned out for another corner at the near post but from the subsequent corner, Hutchinson scored his second brilliant strike of the game to restore the Blues’ lead.
Davis played the ball back to the Jamaica international, who had been left alone by the Tigers. The 20-year-old once again cut in and hit a lower shot but which similarly curled beyond Allsop and into the net.
The Chelsea youngster, who had taken his tally to 10 for his first senior season in his 50th senior game, celebrated delightedly in front of the Town support and immediately went looking for a Town fourth.
In the 70th minute, Hutchinson tricked his way down the right before laying the ball off the Sarmiento just outside the box and the Ecuadorian international’s shot was well saved by Allsop away to his left.
Within a minute, Hutchinson was tying defenders’ legs in knots again, this time shooting from the byline himself with Allsop again equal to it.
Hull swapped Omur for Noah Ohio in the 74th minute and while Matthew Jacob was receiving treatment following a clash of heads, Town swapped Chaplin and Luongo for Lewis Travis and Jack Taylor.
Taylor was very quickly into the action, finding space on the right and looking to cut back to Sarmiento, but the ball was intercepted.
Almost immediately, Hull sub Ohio broke away and hit a shot from the left of the box which took a deflection and Hladky did very well to save.
The game was continuing in its end-to-end basketball manner with on 79 Moore did well to win possession on the left and feed Taylor breaking down the middle unchecked. The former Peterborough man squared to Sarmiento to his left but the on-loan Brighton man’s shot was blocked.
Hull switched Regan Slater for Ryan Giles with Davis on the floor being treated for a knock, which forced the left-back off moments later.
Town looked to be seeing out the final minutes in relative comfort but in the 87th minute, Hull equalised for a third time. A free-kick was sent to the far post from where Jacobs nodded it back across goal. Hladky palmed out and sub Ohio lashed into the roof of the net to send the home fans wild.
The Blues set about restoring their lead once again with Hutchinson continuing to be their main threat, again twisting and turning his way in from the right but this time his shot was blocked, as was an effort from Sarmiento.
As the game moved into six minutes of additional time, it was Town dominating and looking for the winner.
In the 94th minute they thought they had won it. Hutchinson cut in from the right but his effort on goal was blocked by Allsop. The ball deflected across the face to Sarmiento, who seemed certain to score but his attempt was blocked, as was Morsy’s second follow-up.
In the aftermath, Taylor was fouled just outside the area, but Hutchinson curled the free-kick well over, the last action of the match.
Town will be disappointed not to have claimed all three points from a hugely entertaining end-to-end encounter in which both sides played their part, having been in the lead three times and having had plenty of chances to seal it at 2-1, 3-2 and to win it late on at 3-3.
However, Hull, who still stand a chance of making the play-offs having claimed the draw, will equally point to chances that they had in addition to their goals, particularly just after the break.
The result moves Town level on points with second-placed Leeds United but with the Whites having a superior goal difference but the Blues a game in hand, at Coventry on Tuesday.
Four points from those two games will win promotion back to the Premier League after 22 years whatever happens when Leeds take on Southampton in their only remaining game next Saturday.
The draw means the Blues’ fight for automatic promotion will now definitely go to the final day when they host all-but-relegated Huddersfield.
Hull City: Allsop, Slater (Giles 81), Jones, Greaves (c), Jacob, Morton (Delap 46), Seri, Omur (Ohio 74), Tufan, Philogene, Carvalho. Unused: Ingram, Coyle, McLoughlin, Docherty, Traoré, Sharp.
Town: Hladky, Tuanzebe, Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis (Clarke 83), Morsy (c), Luongo (Taylor 76), Burns (Sarmiento 62), Chaplin (Travis 76), Hutchinson, Hirst (Moore 62). Unused: Walton, Edmundson, Jackson, Al-Hamadi. Referee: Andrew Kitchen (Durham). Att: 24,298.