Merry Christmas!!

Just in case I forget to say I hope all my readership has a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year! Unfortunately I don't have much time to post today...

Hull City 4 - Cardiff City 1

I made my first visit to the KC Stadium in Hull and was pleased with the performance and result! The Tigers's best performance of the season saw them thrash Cardiff 4-1 in front of over 23,000 at the KC. Hull City led 2-0 after 9 minutes, Delaney finishing from close range and a Marney screamer putting City in control.

Fagan added a third before half-time, and although Chopra pulled one back for the visitors, Bridges made the match safe later on. There was even time for the impressive McPhee to chip a penalty onto the crossbar. The result lifts City above next week's opponents Leeds United, we are now three points from safety, and having played the type of glittering football that offers real hope of salvation. You can watch the highlights of the match on YouTube by clicking here.

Finished Hull Universities e-christmas card!

Finished the University of Hulls Business and Community Knowledge Exchanges e-Christmas card today which involved me having to learn Flash at SEED Software(Software Engineering Experience Development), involving a colabrative project between me, Dr Peter Robinson, Robert Sherratt and Carl Barrow. Personally, I am pleased with the finished result even though it has involved a lot of hard work.

Everybody who has seen it so far seems very impressed and I have learnt some useful skills, whilst completing the task.

Plymouth Argyle 1 - Hull City 0

Unfortunately the tigers lost again today, although they where away to a team in the top half of the championship. A superb solo effort from Sylvan Ebanks-Blake gave injury-hit Plymouth Argyle all three points as managerless Hull City came close to nicking a point at Home Park. Ebanks-Blake's shot on the turn midway through the second half was the one moment of real class in a scrappy affair.

Hull, under the caretaker management of former Derby boss Phil Brown for the first time, proved obdurate opponents until Ebanks-Blake cushioned Lilain Nalis' pass, spun round and turned Damien Delaney, and whipped a shot past goalkeeper Boaz Myhill from the edge of the penalty area.

The midfielder, who has played more than 350 games for his home-town club, is believed to have damaged cruciate and medial ligaments and faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines. He was replaced by 16-year-old Dan Gosling, who became the first Argyle player born in the 1990s to represent the club.

The lively Craig Fagan caused concern when he broke behind the Argyle backline, but a heavy touch and Luke McCormick's swiftness from his goal-line saw off the menace. The Tigers' spirit was then broken with the lovely piece of individual skill from Ebanks-Blake, who beat the otherwise impassable Myhill for pace.

The new caretaker manager Phil Brown said after the match that "If the players continue to show the commitment they showed then it will certainly give me a better chance of becoming the next manager. "I understand we are in the results business and if I can buy the chairman a bit of time of making the right decision about the next manager then that's my job done. "If I do that it will mean we are winning games and give me a better chance. "I am quite positive. The players showed a level of commitment that I was satisfied with in a very difficult week for everybody involved at the club."

Hull City 2 - Southampton 4

A thrilling game at the KC Stadium left the job of Hull manager Phil Parkinson in serious jeopardy as Southampton claimed all three points with a 4-2 victory. Hull created a chance early on when Craig Fagan swung in a cross from the left which Nick Barmby managed to get on the end of. However, as the former England man stretched to reach the ball, his six-yard shot was easily collected by Kelvin Davis.

Unfortnately, Southampton took the lead on 19 minutes when David Livermore lost the ball in his own half. Jones took the ball forward for the Saints before playing a neat ball across goal towards Grzegorz Rasiak who thumped his shot home from just four yards out. The visitors doubled their lead six minutes later. Stuart Elliott gave a free-kick away on the edge of the box and Gareth Bale stepped up to curl the ball into the back of the net with a sweet left-footed effort from 20 yards.

Hull grabbed a goal back in the 43rd minute when Barmby slammed the ball home from close range after Southampton had failed to clear a Tigers corner. The home side then managed to equalise on the stroke of half-time when Fagan got on the end of a poor back pass from Jones before slotting the ball past Davis from 15 yards out.

Southampton regained the lead with 15 minutes left when Skacel played the ball across goal from the left and Rasiak powered home his second goal of the match from close range. The visitors sealed victory and another three points seven minutes later when Bradley Wright-Phillips found himself with space in front of goal and he had no trouble slotting the ball home from 15 yards.

Under-fire Tigers boss Phil Parkinson said: "Our response to their second goal was tremendous and I thought the effort and commitment of our lads was top-drawer.