VILLA DEFEAT HULL TO REACH FOURTH ROUND

By Ryan Ghee
January 7 2006

Aston Villa reached the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time in five years as they defeated Hull City by a single goal at the KC Stadium.

Gareth Barry's deflected effort mid-way through the first half was enough to give Villa the victory against their Championship opposition who lie 25 places below them in the English league standings.

With Hull making a bright start to the match, it took the Villans a few minutes to find their feet but after taking a stranglehold over proceedings, O'Leary's men were rarely threatened by the underdogs of the tie.

With 15 minutes on the clock, Juan Pablo Angel had the ball in the net, only to be denied by the assistant referee's flag.

However, replays suggested that the striker was in fact onside and the host were given a lucky reprieve.

Just one minute later, Hull could have had a penalty as Barry appeared to haul Jason Price to the ground but Chris Foy adjudged that the challenge was legal .

Former Villa youth goalkeeper Boaz Myhill, playing in goal for the Tigers, was forced into action for the first time after 22 minutes when he had to deal with Lee Hendrie's well executed volley.

Minutes later, Steven Davis tried his luck from distance but the home goalkeeper kept his clean sheet intact as he tipped the long-range effort over the bar.

As the first period drew to a close, the home side put Villa under some rare pressure as Olof Mellberg's defensive header was intercepted by Craig Fagan who forced Thomas Sorensen into his first real save of the match.

After regaining their composure during the break, Villa almost took the lead three minutes into the second half but Luke Moore's effort deflected wide of the post and out to safety.

Peter Taylor's Hull City came close on two occasions within just a few minutes as Price wasted a clear-cut chance when well positioned and Lee Hendrie cleared Leon Cort's header off the line to keep the game all square.

Just minutes later, Gareth Barry made the hosts pay for their missed chances as his fortunate goal gave Villa the lead.

Barry's effort took a wicked deflection off Cort and with Myhill stranded, the ball flew into the net and Villa were allowed to breathe a sigh of relief.

After scoring the opening goal, Villa opted to sit back for a few minutes and they were very nearly punished as Elliott's header flew just inches wide of Sorensen's post.

The remainder of the game was largely dominated by Villa as Davis, Moore and Milner all wasted chances to seal their place in the next round.

However, Villa held on to the slim advantage and on the sounding of the final whistle, the relief of the Villa management, players and fans was clear to see as they celebrated their place in the hat for the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time since 2001.