LAST UPDATE | 19 Aug 2023
AARON CONNOLLY SCORED twice in the last 10 minutes to give Hull City a dramatic 2-1 win away to Blackburn Rovers.
The Ireland international came off the bench in the 66th minute with his side trailing by a single goal.
Blackburn had been up against it from the 17th minute when Harry Pickering was given his marching orders for upending Liam Delap when clean through but displayed great resilience and managed to take a 74th-minute lead through Sam Gallagher.
However, Hull recovered superbly and Connolly volleyed home an 81st-minute equaliser before handing the Tigers their first away league win since January with a composed finish seven minutes later after latching onto a pass over the top to go through one-on-one.
“Aaron’s finish, he’s got that ability in training. He just takes things really early. He took both goals so early so the goalkeeper couldn’t get set and now he’s got three in two,” Hull boss Liam Rosenior said.
“We wore them down. If you watch the game back, we made, I don’t know how many, 600 passes. It’s hard with 10 men to defend against 600 passes. It’s no coincidence we score the two goals in the last 10 minutes, because the players stuck to the plan.
“Aaron gets the plaudits, two fantastic finishes. Why I really like Aaron in this group is because he stretches teams, runs in behind. That’s what the two goals come from and all of a sudden, Blackburn were used to having Liam stuck in front of them and then you’ve got Aaron on running in behind them and it took them by surprise. Fortunately for us, it worked.”
It’s the second Championship game in a row that the 23-year-old, who signed a one-year contract with Hull after leaving Brighton this summer, made an impact as a substitute.
The Galway native scored in a comfortable 4-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday last weekend but his goals today ensured Rosenior’s side sit in sixth place, level with Stoke City whose on-loan goalkeeper Mark Travers kept a clean sheet in their 1-0 home victory against Watford.
Enda Stevens also continued to rediscover form and full fitness with another 90 minutes of action for the Potters having been released by Sheffield United following injury struggles.
It’s newly-promoted Ipswich Town who sit top of the table after they beat Queens Park Rangers 1-0 win. Fermanagh’s Kieran McKenna, the Tractor Boys’ head coach, has overseen a 100 per cent start to the campaign with three wins from three.
There was a worry for Ireland U21 international Sinclair Armstrong in this game, the impressive striker forced off with injury a week after finding the net against Cardiff City. The Dubliner earlier came close to scoring when a fierce shot struck both posts.
Earlier in the day, Gavin Bazunu’s Southampton came away from Plymouth Argyle with a 2-1 win (U21 international Finn Azaz impressed but was subbed with 10 minutes remaining) to move up to fourth place.
The Saints are level on seven points with Preston North End after they defeated Sheffield Wednesday 1-0, Ireland duo Alan Browne and Will Keane lasting the distance for the visitors at Hillsborough.
