By Peegs
August 25 2003

Damian Spencer claimed his first and the Robins 3rd Hat trick in the league in a crazy 9 minute spell in the 3-3 draw versus Hull in the impressive Kingstons Communication Stadium. The only change to the team that lost at home to Swansea the previous Saturday was the inclusion in the starting eleven of Kevin Amankwaah at right back in a 4-42 formation inplace of Antony Griffin who took up a place on the bench alongside new signing Bob Taylor - who incidentally will be sponsored by cheltenhamtown.tk.

Hull with there many big name players such as - Alton Thelwell, Danny Allsopp, Jason Price and ben Burgess - made the brighter start in the KC Stadium, an early ball forward saw Jamie Victory slip and Jason Price send a lob shot wide of Steve Book's goal.

The Cheltenham defence of Victory, Brough, M.Duff and Amankwaah was opened up early in the first half and Steve Book had to be at his best to deny Danny Allsopp the first goal of the game, a slide rule pass from Stuart Green inbetween Victory and Brough saw Allsopp run onto the ball in the area however Book scrambled off his line to block the young Australian's shot.

The save would run out of play for a Hull throw in and unfortunately this signalled the arival of the first goal. Ex Tottenham Hotspur player Alton Thelwell crossed from the right hand side, Allsopp won a flick header at the near post and N.Ireland International Stuart Elliot stole infront of Kevin Amankwaah to head home and give the 'Tigers' a 1-0 lead to the delight of the majority of the 12,000 strong crowd.

To the frustration of the few hundred Cheltenham fans to make the long journey up to Hull the Robins players were either falling over or not passing to the red and white striped jerseys, however things would change in a mad 10 minutes leading up to half time.

Damian Spencer equalised with 32 minutes on the clock for his first goal of the campaign and it was a combination of 2 new players that set up the goal, Scotsman Graham Fyfe hit the ball forward, Kay Odejayi flicked the ball and Spencer used his strength to hold off 2 defenders, round Paul Musselwhite in the Hull goal and tap the ball into the empty net to send the travelling Robins fans crazy and silence the Tigers faithful.

The goal came somewhat out of the blue but more action was to follow. Hull - managed by ex England Under 21 manager Peter 'the' Taylor looked to regain their lead straight away and nearly did so when they exposed Amankwaah's inability to defend down the Cheltenham right, Damian Delaney broke clear ran towards goal and shot towards 'Bookie's' near post, however the Ex Forest Green stopper got a strong fist behind the ball and diverted it behind for a Hull corner. A tactic of note which is frustrating the fans is the fact we don't leave anyone up at corners, this corner again would see all 11 players in the penalty box, it may be worth leaving someone like Fyfe upfronmt to collect and hold up any clearance that comes.

With 38 minutes on the clock the Robins took the lead and again it was two new signings that combined to set up Spencer. Bristol City loanee Kevin Amankwaah showed that he is very capable going forward using his pace by skinning left back Damian Delaney, he crossed but put to much elevation on the ball, Graham Fyfe retreived it down the left hand side and smashes in a cross shot that arrived to the feet of Damian Spencer who converted the ball home to make it 2-1 to Cheltenham.

The Cheltenham fans in the plush North Stand were still celebrating the 2nd goal and gloating to the Hull fans when the unthinkable happened and we scored again! A poor clear out by returning 'keeper Paul Musselwhite was headed back into the area by the under pressure Mark Yates, Damian Spencer was the only player to react - some say he looked offside - and he beat the goalie to the ball and lofted it over Musselwhite and into the back of the net to send the Robins fans crazy and silence the Tigers followers. However always in the back of your minds was a scoreline we had against Swansea at one point last week........ 3-1! So could the Robins compose themselves and hand onto a precious lead?

The answer to the question tipped towards 'no' a few minutes towards half time when the Tigers pulled a goal back. A cleared corner was crossed back into the box from the right by Thelwell, once again Allsopp won a header in the box, no Cheltenham players reacted and Jason Price was left with the easy chance of poking the ball over the line. The 5 minutes leading up to halftime were key in the end result as if Town had got to the break with a 2 goal lead you would have fancied them to claim the 3 points.

H/T 3-2

The 2 ex International managers made no substitutions at half time however you would imagine words were exchanged with both teams defenders.

As in the first half Hull started the better team and were unlucky not to equalise within minutes of the restart when Danny Allsopp - who scored the goal that helped send the Robins down against Notts County last season - hit the cross bar after a flick header from Ben Burgess.

However the Hull fans wouldn't have to wait long for the equaliser as the impressive Danny Allsopp un marked in the box smashed the ball past Book after good work down the right by ex Tranmere man Jason Price who tormented Jamie Victory all afternoon.

This would signal a change of tactic and a substitution by Bobby Gould who sent on Bob Taylor for John Brough and sent back Odejayi to play centre back to the amazement of the fans, he later said he needed pace at the back so sent Kay back, the young Nigerian looked out of sorts early on in his new role but would later improve and do a solid job for the remainder of the game.

Super Bob - soon to be sponsored by cheltenhamtown.tk - nearly made the dream start to his Robins career, a Fyfe cross came to him at the far post and he volleyed at goal but sent the ball into the side netting, a striker of his experience should have hit the target but we'll let him off and put it down to lack of match practice and sharpness.

Although the ref and his assistants were shocking through the game the Cheltenham fans and players would be thankful to them for one decision on 70 minutes when Jason Price surged into the area and was felled by a mis timed Victory challenge, with 12,000 fnas screaming for a penalty he shaked his head and waved play on to the delight of the Robins fans.

Chances would still come in an entertaining game and new centre half odejayi used all his pace to make a last ditch challenge to stop Ben Burgess pulling the trigger from 18 yards out.

With the clock in the 5 minutes of added on time the Robins nearly stoll a winner with a trade mark Grant McCann free kick infront of the Cheltenham fans. He let fly with his left foot from 25 yards but Musselwhite made up for his bad clearance earlier by making a fine finger tip save to tip the ball over the bar.

And that was that, an entertaining 3-3 draw and 1 more point gained than many Robins fans would have expected. Damian Spencer showed us what he can do now he needs to add a bit of consistency to his game and score week in week out. Other positives to come from the game were Graham Fyfe showed what he could do with his left foot and was involved in the 2 goals and Bob Taylor made his debut and the long awaited return of Richard Forsyth as a 2nd half substitute.

F/T 3-3

HULL CITY: Musselwhite, Thelwell, Hinds (Whittle 72), Jospeh, Delaney, Price, Green (Keates 72), Ashbee, Elliot (Forrester 82), Burgess, Allsopp

CHELTENHAM TOWN: Book, Amankwaah, Brough (Taylor 60), M.Duff, Victory, Fyfe, Yates, McCann, Cozic (Forsyth 84), Odejayi, Spencer (Devaney 72)

Attendance 15,522