Oh dear. Dale were taught a football lesson by a resurgent Hull today. Dale crashed 3-0 at Boothferry Park after another poor display.

As Peter Taylor was introduced as the new Hull City manager to a rapturous Boothferry Park, it seemed that it was going to be a very long day for Dale. And so it proved, as Dale were beaten comprehensively. Hull were good, Dale were awful, simple as that.

From the first whistle, Hull were on top and seemingly had a point to prove to their new manager. Dale were up against it. Nevertheless though the Dale performance left a lot to be desire, and the way in which we lost was really not acceptable.

Hull broke forward with pace, and our two aging centre backs really could do little about it. Jobson tried his best, and without him and some good keeping from Edwards, we really could have been severely embarassed today.

The first goal came from a corner. A goal-bound header was helped into the roof of the net by Jevons. Dale really were offering little and reply and I can't seem to remember us even having a shot in the first half.

On the stroke of half time Hull doubled their lead. A fast paced moved that ripped our defence apart saw Branch smash home a close range shot after Taffy had been taken out of the equation following a ball cut back.

The second half saw a bit more effort from Dale, and we managed to actually create some chances. Paul Connor twice made the 'mouthy' Musselwhite pull off two fine saves, as Dale tried to get back into the game.

Simpson and Doughty came off as Dale changed somewhat surprisingly into a 3-4-3 formation in an attempt to get something. Both subs, Townson and Hodges had efforts but they didn't really trouble the home side. Perhaps the best chance came from a Bishop free kick which was parried away by Musselwhite.

At the other end Hull were still creating problems. Their fast paced counter attacks were simply too much for a slow Dale side. A header crashed against the bar and other efforts went just wide.

A third was finally added a few minutes from the end. Branch latched onto a poor back pass from Griffiths, before rounding Edwards and firing into an empty net.

No room for arguments here today, we were simply beaten by the better side on the day. Question really need to be asked though right now. Fair enough Hull were out to impress, but Dale's performance was bordering on shambolic at times. The first half we created nothing.

The second half we was slightly better, but there is still something wrong with the way we play. Hull beat us because they had players willing to run at us. We on the other hand decide to pass around and go backwards all the time. It does not work.

We deserved to lose today, and it really could have been a lot more. Such a shame that quite a few Dale fans travelled to Hull to watch that, as I can see a few not bothering to show up for our next home game, after this performance.

Photo: Action Images

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