Town’s U21s fell to a disappointing 2-0 defeat to their Hull City counterparts at a blustery Playford Road this afternoon.
Noah Wadsworth’s corner somehow found its way into the net in the 25th minute, then Nathan Tinsdale added the second eight minutes later.
With the wind blowing against Town in the first half, the Tigers struck the first shot of the game in the ninth minute.
After the Blues had made heavy weather of clearing an attack, Hull trialist Chisom Afoka, who was previously with Aston Villa, hit a low effort to Alan Fleischer’s right, which the keeper saved and then pounced on ahead of visitors’ forwards.
The Tigers, who are coached by former Town striker Billy Clarke and whose academy manager is Wembley 2000 hero Richard Naylor, continued to have the better of it and in the 18th minute a dangerous ball flashed across the Town box from the right but not close enough to Afoka at the far post.
On 24, the Blues goal lived a charmed life, Fleischer saving well from Afoka, then Jambang stopping on the line from Pharrell Brown.
But from the resultant corner, the East Yorkshire side went in front. Wadsworth’s ball from the right looped over with the strong wind, through Fleischer’s hands as Jack Beckie challenged and into the net.
Hull came close to a second on the half hour, Harry Vaughan shooting wide after a cross from the right had been half-cleared to the edge of the box following a sharp break.
But just over a minute later, it was 2-0, Tinsdale curling a low shot between the diving Fleischer and the inside of his left post.
In the 35th minute, Vaughan went close again, hitting a shot which wafted just wide of Fleischer’s post from the left of the box.
Two minutes later, Town almost pulled one back, Emmanuel Okunowo’s shot from the edge curling away from visitors keeper Callum Yam but striking the post. Tommy Taylor was unable to make anything of the loose ball.
On 40, Oli Davis, cut in from the left and hit a shot which Yam gathered as the Blues ended the half more positively having been very much second best for the most part but with the wind playing a significant role, not least with the opening goal.
Three minutes into the second half, Taylor charged down the keeper but Yam was able to ride the challenge inside his own six-yard box.
Within a minute, Afoka hit a powerful shot from the right of the Town area which Fleischer did well to stop. The subsequent corner looped dangerously across the area.
It should have been 3-0 in the 52nd minute, Afoka having been found unmarked down the middle by Zane Myers but the Hull trialist put it the wrong side of the advancing Fleischer’s left post
Town were next to threaten, Davis scuffing a volley from the edge of the area wide after a cross from the right had been nodded out. Surprisingly, the referee gave a corner.
Three minutes later, Davis went closer, a shot from the right of the box catching a defender and arcing just wide of Yam’s right post.
On 62, Abube Onuchukwu nodded a Morgan ball from the right back across goal but found Yam’s arms rather than a teammate. The former Aston Villa man’s reaction showed he knew he should have done better.
Town made their first changes a minute later Okunowo and Taylor making way for Matty Roberts and Steven Turner.
The pair were straight into the action, standing over free-kick wide on the left which Roberts eventually curled, with the assistance of the wind, under the bar, Yam doing well to tip it over.
In the 70th minute, Town swapped Morgan for Chuks Uzor-Greey, then Ayoola took over from Jambang, who had suffered a knock.
The Blues continue to look for a goal, skipper Jacob Mazionis nodding to Yam as the game moved into its final quarter of a hour but with the linesman raising his flag. A minute later, Onuchukwu was booked for a foul on Myers.
On 82, Brown shot wide for the Tigers from distance with a third Hull goal seeming as likely, if not more so, than a first for Town.
Time eventually ran out for John McGreal and David Wright’s side. Having gone 2-0 down in the first half, the under-par Blues never really looked like getting back into the match with Okunowo’s shot off the post the nearest they would come to a goal.
U21s: Fleischer, Jambang (Ayoola 72), Lewis, Mazionis (c), Curtis, Onuchukwu, Nwabueze, Okunowo (Turner 63), T Taylor (Roberts 63), Morgan (Uzor-Greey 70), O Davis. Unused: Gray.
Hull: Yam, Wadsworth, Devine, Dickinson, Beckie, Leake, Vaughan, Tinsdale, Afoka, Myers, Brown. Subs: Iggulden, Howard, Dawson, Harriman-Annous, Hall.