Hull City show class with dominant Wrexham display as good news emerges

CommentsSportopinionBarry Cooper Hull City correspondent09:31, 11 Mar 2026Hull City completed the league double over Wrexham for the first time since 1948/49 with one of their most valuable successes of the season.

A stunning Joe Gelhardt free-kick before half-time and a Lewis Koumas header just after the hour sealed a thoroughly deserved 10th away win of the campaign, though it could have been made less nervy had 13-goal forward Gelhardt not seen a first-half penalty saved.

Nathan Broadhead's close-range finish 14 minutes from time threatened a stirring comeback, and brought back memories of the Tigers' late collapse in the EFL Cup back in August. They avoided a repeat of that and held on to a victory that, for 24 hours at least, creates a nine-point gap between themselves and the chasing play-off pack.

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Before a ball had been kicked, Sergej Jakirovic walked out of the tunnel on his own and across to the far side of the pitch where the dugouts are situated at the Racecourse. As he did so, the very vocal 1,300 away supporters sang his name.

Jakirovic paused and applauded the travelling fans in what was a really nice moment. Throughout the game, those same fans chanted his name, and at the end, stood as one to applaud him and the players on a fully merited away victory.

The connection between Jakirovic and the supporters has grown throughout the season, and it's easy to see why. That kind of togetherness will be critical in the remaining nine games.

City picked up where they left off against Millwall, though until Gelhardt's stunning strike they'd failed to really create anything of note, despite dominating the game.

In the past two games City have purred at times. Some of their football has been a delight to watch and while they didn't get those rewards at the weekend, they did in North Wales.

In truth, anything other than a Tigers victory would have been a travesty for the way they played until the Wrexham goal which came out of nothing, and was again totally avoidable.

Snapping out of those successive defeats was crucial. That's something they've been able to do all season, and again, have responded brilliantly.

It was quite a night for Joe Gelhardt. He scored one of the goals of the season with an expertly taken free-kick to give City the lead, and then moments later had his legs taken from under him inside the box. Perhaps so much excitement was the reason his rather tame penalty was telegraphed for Arthur Okonkwo to beat away.

In the 10 league games Gelhardt has played since returning from injury with his short cameo off the bench at Deepdale in January, he's not looked anywhere near the level we saw prior to that untimely lay-off.

Gradually, though, Gelhardt is returning to that level. He scored a wonderfully taken goal against Millwall on Saturday, followed by this top-class free-kick at the Racecourse. It's fantastic to see 'Joff' returning to form and finding some momentum at such a key time of the season.

We're now officially into the run-in. Just nine games to go and by the time we get to the international break come Saturday week, there will be just seven left to play.

Time is running out, but City remain in a fantastic position. That impressive spot they fnd themselves in was enhanced with such a crucial victory.

While some of those below them have games in hand, points on the board at this stage of the season is absolutely crucial and this victory just gives them a little extra breathing space.

Expectations will now rise again, given their next three games coming against the current bottom three sides in the league.

It was going to happen at some point and it eventually came just after the hour mark at Portman Road last Tuesday night, when Matt Crooks picked up his 10th booking of the season. As daft as some of his cautions have been this term, he could do little about the challenge on Jack Clarke, given Oli McBurnie had sold Regan Slater short and the Town winger was racing towards the box.

Crooks has been a big miss, but at least that ban, which has been long-looming, is now over. He is back for the final nine games of the season, assuming he doesn't pick up five more.

Any player who collects 15 bookings is banned for three games, so Crooks will be hopeful of avoiding that in the next few weeks because he's such a vital player and can make a big difference in games as we've seen regularly.

Lewie Coyle wasn't risked at Wrexham, which means he can also rest easy knowing he will not face a two-game ban, given he sits on nine bookings.

City now have a much calmer schedule over the course of the next week or so, leading into the international break, which will be more than welcome after three successive weeks of midweek games, and plenty of travel to the likes of Portsmouth, Ipswich and Wrexham.

Irrespective of what happened at The Racecourse, the next two against West Brom and Sheffield Wednesday must be considered close to must-win games, especially coming on the back of a morale-boosting away success.

City fluffed the chance to get two more points on Boxing Day when they were well below-par at Hillsborough and got away with a point, but they can ill-afford such sloppiness at the MKM Stadium on Saturday week. Before that Yorkshire derby, they go to The Hawthorns.

Albion are having a nightmare season, but City's record in that corner of the Black Country isn't great, so they'll need to do something they've not managed since a 3-0 Premier League win in 2008 and claim three points.

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