Hull City 1-1 Doncaster Rovers (4-5 pens): FLW report as Grant McCann comes back to haunt Tigers | OneFootball

FLW report from the MKM Stadium for this FA Cup tie

Harry Clifton was the hero for Doncaster Rovers as Grant McCann defeated his former side Hull City once again, this time in the FA Cup Third Round.

The League Two side came from behind in the shootout to win 5-4 and advance into the Fourth Round, bringing a pulsating encounter to an end.

An end-to-end 90 minutes saw Rovers take a 52nd-minute lead through the talismanic Luke Molyneux, before Gustavo Puerta drew Hull level ten minutes from time.

The two Yorkshire sides couldn't be separated in extra-time as the tie was decided on penalties, where the midfielder was Rovers' hero, with him and Molyneux capitalising on two missed penalties from Alfie Jones and Mason Burstow.

Hull City defeated by Doncaster Rovers on penalties

Being backed by over 2,000 supporters, Rovers came out of the traps well and forced the first opening of the game as former Hull striker Billy Sharp's header looped over the net of Tigers debutant Carl Rushworth after good work from Joe Sbarra on the right flank.

The hosts would then look to cause Doncaster problems down the left flank as Harry Vaughan and Gustavo Puerta's quick thinking from a corner won by Ryan Giles resulted in the Colombian having a sight of goal, only for his curling effort to be blocked.

McCann's outfit then caught Hull on the break from the resulting set-play. However, Robert Street was unable to test Rushworth as his volley was squirmed high and wide.

The forward would then be presented with another opportunity after Joao Pedro lost possession in his own half - luckily for the Brazilian, Street's effort was blocked by Fin Burns.

Hull's next chance would come after 16 minutes, with Abu Kamara meeting Giles' inviting cross, but the two-goal hero against Leeds United couldn't generate the required power to beat Teddy Sharman-Lowe from close range.

Five minutes later, Pedro was able to weave his way past Joseph Oluwu before teeing up Puerta on the edge of the box, with the Bayer Leverkusen loanee seeing a curling effort fly just wide of Sharman Lowe's left-hand post.

After another counter-attack, George Broadbent was the next in Red and White to try their luck, with the midfielder sending a piledriver from 25 yards towards goal, which was well blocked by the head of Burns, who went down injured for his troubles.

After a couple of tussles in the middle of the park, Puerta was then able to send Giles down the left side again, and after his low ball was dealt with, Jay McGrath threw himself in front of Harry Vaughan's close-range side-footed effort to keep the Championship side frustrated.

Following yet another stoppage in play, James Maxwell sent in a cross from Rovers' left side which captain Owen Bailey was unable to connect cleanly with on two occasions, allowing Sean McLoughlin to clear.

On the stroke of half-time, Hull squandered a golden chance to take the lead after Pedro's powerful free-kick was parried out by Sharman-Lowe, with Burns unable to turn the rebound home from yards out.

Another chance then came and went for the Tigers in added time. Cody Drameh and Regan Slater's work down the right gave Kamara acres of space to pick out the bottom corner, before dragging his effort wide of the target.

Selles made two changes at the break as Alfie Jones and Xavier Simons replaced Burns and Steven Alzate as Hull started the second half the stronger, although Pedro was unable to fire a powerful effort home from close range a minute into proceedings.

However, the visitors would make City pay for an array of missed chances as Luke Molyneux was the coolest man inside the MKM Stadium on 52 minutes.

After winning possession back on the halfway line, Joe Sbarra threaded a lovely weighted through ball towards the Rovers winger, who outmuscled Giles before stroking it past the onrushing Rushworth's right and into the net, sending the visiting support into ecstacy.

After falling behind, Hull's first sign of response wouldn't come for 15 minutes as, after Pedro's appeals for a penalty came in vain, Puerta sent a subsequent effort past the post.

Rovers then saw appeals of their own waved away by Sunny Singh Gill, as Bailey felt he was sent tumbling inside the box.

With 12 minutes remaining, Sharman-Lowe finally had his palms tested with a 20-yard drive from Xavier Simons, before the Doncaster keeper would eventually be beaten by Puerta.

The Chelsea loanee between the sticks was able to parry out Mason Burstow's initial effort, before the Colombian was able to squeeze the ball home from a tight angle to get the Tigers out of jail.

Sharman-Lowe then nearly completed a disastrous two minutes for McCann's side, as despite the fact the keeper looked to have taken out Abu Kamara, Singh Gill opted for a caution, just after Harry Clifton saw a close-range effort well saved by Rushworth.

It was then backs against the wall for Rovers, who were fortunate to see Hull captain and substitute Lewie Coyle fire over from 12 yards out with six minutes to go, with that being the last meaningful chance as the tie went into extra-time.

The first chance of the additional 30-minute period came seven minutes in, as Pedro once again saw a curling free-kick lack the accuracy needed to trouble the Doncaster keeper.

Tempers in this all-Yorkshire affair then flared off-the-ball moments later with the Hull striker involved, although no cards were shown to players of both sides in the end.

Following a largely non-eventful first period of extra-time, Pedro then looked to go alone when it came to finding a route towards a winner, turning past three Doncaster defenders before seeing his latest effort turned behind for a corner.

After the former Fenerbahçe man passed up another opportunity for the hosts, a fizzing ball from Molyneux caused havoc inside the Hull box as Rushworth relied on McLoughlin to clear after initially spilling the cross.

Sharman-Lowe was once again called into action with just over three minutes remaining, this time pulling off a spectacular acrobatic stop to deny Alfie Jones who searched for the top corner from 20 yards.

With two minutes of added time announced, Puerta had the chance to strike a dagger into McCann's side, who performed admirably throughout, exemplified by yet another block from McGrath at the heart of defence.

The last action before the shootout saw Sharman-Lowe deny another long-range effort, this time from McLoughlin.

Hull led 2-0 early in the shootout as Rushworth denied Joe Ironside in between conversions from Pedro and McLoughlin, before the tide eventually turned.

Burstow missed the chance to secure a 5-3 victory on spot-kicks for the Tigers, before Molyneux levelled it up at 4 apiece.

Sharman-Lowe then pulled off a great save to deny Jones to his right, before Clifton sent the Brighton loanee in net for Hull the wrong way, securing a passage to Round Four for the visitors.

Player Ratings

Hull City

Carl Rushworth - 6

Cody Drameh - 6.5

Fin Burns - 6 (Jones 45" - 6.5)

Sean McLoughlin - 6.5

Ryan Giles - 6 (Coyle 60" - 6.5)

Regan Slater - 6

Gustavo Puerta - 7.5

Steven Alzate - 6.5 (Simons 45" - 6)

Abu Kamara - 6.5

Harry Vaughan - 7 (Burstow 60" - 6.5)

Joao Pedro - 7

Doncaster Rovers

Teddy Sharman-Lowe - 7

Jamie Sterry - 7

Joseph Olowu - 7

Jay McGrath - 7

James Maxwell - 7

Owen Bailey - 6.5 (Gibson 120" - N/A)

George Broadbent - 6.5 (Close 90" - 6)

Luke Molyneux - 7.5

Robert Street - 6.5 (Ennis 84" - 6)

Joe Sbarra - 7 (Clifton 62" - 6.5)

Billy Sharp - 6.5 (Ironside 71" - 6)

Ruben Selles reacts as Hull City exit the FA Cup

Speaking to the media post-match, the Hull boss explained there were numerous factors behind his side's exit in this round of the competition for the fourth successive season.

"I think games in the FA Cup are difficult, but a lot of things happened today that meant the game couldn't be on our side," Selles said.

"The fact we had to substitute two players at half-time, for example, things changed.

"For their goal, we need to defend much better as a team, then when we managed to equalise and the situation afterwards, we didn't grasp, then we go back and go to penalties. We are (4-3) up, we need to finish the action, we didn't and we lose.

"It was an accumulation of a lot of things in the game that meant it didn't go on our side.

"I think those (types) of game are always difficult. It wasn't our best performance.

When reflecting on Molyneux's opening goal, Selles analysed the lack of structure from his team out of possession, which allowed the midfielder to punish the defence - in particular, Ryan Giles.

"We lost a bit of structure,and we should defend the pass better, as there is another player in front," Selles added.

Just moments after Puerta's equaliser, the flashpoint involving Sharman-Lowe and Kamara was discussed, but Selles refused to use the referee's decision as an excuse.

"I don't know the interpretation of the rule. But, we should do more to win the game today. We should have scored already. But, I think the situation is clear," said the Spaniard.

"We wanted to build from that (the 3-3 draw against Leeds), and we didn't. Now we will try even harder to win the next game."

Grant McCann reacts as Doncaster Rovers progress into Round Four

Addressing the media after his side's progression into the fourth round, Doncaster boss McCann highlighted his side's defensive solidity as a key factor behind their eventual victory on penalties.

"We had to be strong defensively today," said McCann.

"You could see today, under Ruben they're an improving team with some very good players and we had to be structured out of possession.

"I felt we started the game really strongly, we had some good chances that helped us.

"For me, I'm just really pleased with the boys for the effort they put in and the fans that travelled to support us. I'm pleased for the football club financially, and I'm really delighted."

After a strong first half showing, McCann revealed his initial frustrations in the opening periods of the second half, but once again praised the mentality of his side to turn the tide once more.

"I was frustrated at half-time, because when we won the ball back, we just gave it back to them. But, as the game went on in the second half and in extra time, we got better," the ex-Hull manager added.

"I'm really pleased with the team defensively, there were some really strong performances.

"From my point of view, the team were really good today. I'm proud to be sitting here today saying how well we looked defensively and scored a really good goal on the break - tremendous pass from Joe (Sbarra) and great finish from Mols (Luke Molyneux)."

Looking ahead to the coming weeks, the Northern Irishman is hoping his side can take such a performance into the remaining 21 matches of the league campaign, as well as highlighting the financial benefits of their cup exploits.

"We'd love to have a cup run," McCann stated.

I've said it since the start of the season, because, financially, it's tremendous for the football club and what we've made up to this point.

"Obviously, the league is our bread and butter. But, this is a nice bonus for us and, hopefully, we can use that as a springboard to be more consistent."

The attendance at the MKM Stadium was 10,032.