By Tim Hodges
Hull City 2 Brighton & Hove Albion 1
The Albion bow out of the FA Cup for another season as the club loses a 5th round replay for the first time in its history.
Stand-in keeper Peter Brezovan was wholly indecisive from a Robert Koren corner, getting hopelessly out of position as the ball looped almost apologetically into the net via the head of Curtis Davies and then Jake Forster-Caskey’s shin.
Albion looked ineffective and out of sorts as Hull enjoyed almost all of the possession.
Ten minutes before half time Hull’s captain, Koren, curled a free kick into the Albion box. The ball hitt both Rohan Ince and Stephen Ward before deflecting in off the stranded Brezovan’s ankle to put Hull 2-0 in front.
Lewis Dunk then hit the bar early in the second half as Albion stepped it up a little, with Kazenga LuaLua on for the ineffectual David Rodriguez.
The Albion’s goal came with just over 20 minutes left. A superb free kick from Ward was glanced past former Seagulls keeper Steve Harper by who else but Leo Ulloa.
But the Albion couldn’t build on Ulloa’s strike and, apart from substitute Solly March’s strike right at the end which had Harper scrabbling for the ball, never really threatened an equaliser.
The Seagulls now face Millwall at the New Den in the Championship on Saturday (1 March) and a week later Reading at the Amex in another league game instead of Gus Poyet’s Sunderland in the FA Cup 6th round.
