Fleming cranks up the pressure

SEAN GREGAN steps in to break up a Hull attack.

ATHLETIC 1, HULL CITY 1

THE most encouraging performance so far in Athletic’s pre-season build-up earned them a well-deserved draw against Hull.

John Sheridan’s team were fluent and attractive, stepping up the tempo from their previous outings to hold full-strength opponents from the Premier League.

While results are of little importance, this display was a confidence booster – and it highlighted the way stiff competition can galvanise players.

Most notably, Athletic have two talented goalkeepers for just one place, both of whom performed well last night.

Mark Crossley impressed with his shot-stopping, but substitute Greg Fleming pulled off a world-class double save after Athletic had equalised through Lewis Alessandra.

Fleming, a Scotland under-21 international who signed from Gretna, has already said he has no intention of sitting on the bench this season, and he gave Sheridan plenty of food for thought.

Striker Chris O’Grady also shone as Athletic made it four games unbeaten. They had previously won at Rhyl and Grimsby before drawing with Derby.

Hull, meanwhile, were on a retrieval mission after being clobbered at Crewe on Saturday (2-0 down after three minutes, 4-0 down at half-time) and they recovered their pride in a competitive, entertaining match.

The visitors had a bigger share of chances, with Caleb Folan proving wasteful early on after George Boateng’s 25-yard blast had been saved.

Crossley also denied Craig Fagan, but Athletic began to threaten as Craig Davies narrowly missed connecting with O’Grady’s low ball.

Some of Athletic’s quick passing, often with new recruit Kevin Maher at the heart of it, was pleasing to watch, as were the signs of an early understanding between players.

But Hull went in front after 39 minutes when Fagan crossed to the back post and Folan jumped highest to head in from eight yards.

Davies almost produced a superb leveller before half-time as he fired towards the top corner from long range, forcing ‘keeper Matt Duke to turn the effort away.

Crossley also did well after Brazilian striker Geovanni found space inside the box, although referee Graham Salisbury did far less to endear himself to the crowd when he penalised Sean Gregan for a perfectly good tackle and then decided to book him as well. In a friendly. Some things never change.

Fortunately the yellow card doesn’t count towards league games, and Athletic soon perked up anyway thanks to Alessandra’s second pre-season goal, which came after 70 minutes.

Neal Eardley takes credit for his dangerous free-kick into the box and, via a rebound off Chris Taylor, Alessandra drilled in from six yards.

By that stage Athletic had replaced Crossley with Fleming, who made his wonder-save by showing fine agility to stop Folan’s header, scrambling back into position and somehow blocking Fagan at point-blank range.

Crossley will take some shifting from the number-one spot, but he looks to have a serious fight on his hands.