STOKE lost their head on a day when Phil Brown might just have kept his.
Brown lives to fight another day – maybe just one more day if the rumours are true – while defeat leaves Stoke questioning their temperament in the closing stages.

Sitting comfortably on a 1-0 half-time lead and with Hull’s dispirited players theirs for the taking, Stoke somehow contrived to lose a game they should have won with something to spare.

Conceding an equaliser to old boy Seyi Olofinjana was bad enough, but that was nothing compared to events in the closing minutes.

Stoke skipper Abdoulaye Faye dived in foolishly to earn a second yellow card which, in turn, led to the unfortunate spectacle of a disconsolate Tuncay having to be subbed after barely stepping off the bench himself.

And then came the winning goal which, to Brown’s fans, must have felt like it had been scored by Mark Robbins or Adrian Heath in a re-run of those strikes which once saved Fergie and Howard Kendall ahead of their subsequent title-winning triumphs.

Brown’s ambitions might not stretch quite so far, but his joy and relief will have mirrored those of his more esteemed managerial forefathers.

With the flash bulbs trained as much on Hull’s manager as the game – just how he likes it – Jimmy Bullard announced the arrival of his long-awaited (and largely impressive) home debut by ballooning over one effort and screeching a second only a yard wide from distance.

A couple of long throws from you-know-who unsettled Hull sufficiently for Stoke to hog the play long enough for Ricardo Fuller to unleash a low 20-yarder that Matt Duke was happy to merely block when dropping to his left.

Some of Hull’s passing suggested they were playing with a fragile confidence, but Jozy Altidore’s raking shot wide of Stoke’s right-hand post was a reminder that their creativity, if not their finishing, remained a cause for concern.

Stoke remained somewhat shaky under pressure and, but for Glenn Whelan’s vital intervention to concede a corner, might have been one down when a dummy left Richard Garcia skating clean through on goal.

The visitors might have settled any nerves by grabbing a 25th-minute lead, but Dean Whitehead scuffed horribly wide from inside the area after Fuller had selflessly laid off Rory Delap’s ball from the right flank.

There was no such problems for Matthew Etherington in the 29th minute, however, when one long diagonal ball from Ryan Shawcross suddenly caught Hull leaden-footed and City’s left winger fleet-footed.

Etherington, armed with the confidence of his first league goal for Stoke eight days previous, bore down on goal from the left channel and ignored the square pass to Fuller before duly beating the keeper with a crashing effort inside his near post.

Stoke’s failure to twice clear their lines at the other end – a reminder of their defensive susceptibility – was almost punished when Garcia chipped back into the danger zone for Altidore to head wide of a beaten Thomas Sorensen.

And the visitors were grateful to Olofinjana when, having spun Shawcross to open up a clear scoring chance within sight of goal, he squared beyond his colleagues to graphically betray Hull’s lack of self belief.

Shawcross, not enjoying the his most distinguished 45 minutes of an excellent season, was already sitting on one yellow card by the time he was sweating over the prospect of a second after becoming needlessly embroiled in a game of shove with Stephen Hunt following the Irishman’s aerial collision with Sorensen.

James Beattie began the second half by walloping an ambitious free-kick over from long range as Stoke sought the second goal that would surely finish off their struggling hosts.

Hull then enjoyed an incredibly fortuitous escape when Anthony Gardner lunged at Etherington’s low cross from the left and saw the ball spin off his foot, then off his goalkeeper and then narrowly wide of the near post.

A genuine turning point as it proved. Robert Huth’s return to an otherwise unchanged line-up was marred by an inevitable booking in the 57th minute when, having tried to be clever on the ball, he lost possession to Altidore and was left having to clumsily tug back the American to prevent any kind of advance towards goal.

Olofinjana’s moment of magic then arrived in the 62nd minute when Hull finally found both accuracy and conviction within sight of goal.

The big man showed a deft turn – one that fooled two Stoke players just outside the area – and then half drove and half lofted a shot which may even have induced a slightly mis-timed dive as Sorensen was left helpless by his old team-mate’s fine finish.

Passions were suddenly running high and Faye, comfortably Stoke’s best defender thus far, became needlessly involved in some off-field afters with Nick Barmby to earn a what eventually proved a costly booking.

Stoke’s vulnerability at the back was still nagging them, not least in the 70th minute when a floated delivery was allowed to reach Craig Fagan who, having been half-foiled by a scrambling Sorensen, leapt back to his feet and saw a shot on the turn deflected behind by a mixture of goalkeeper and defender.

The visitors were having to match Hull’s renewed spirit, although it was a little more than mere spirit which saw Etherington crudely floored by Altidore’s deliberate, yet unpunished, collision.

Dave Kitson and Tuncay were forming a new-look strike partnership by the final 10 minutes, but it was Shawcross almost stealing a winner when latching onto Whelan’s floated free-kick with a header that looped over the keeper and bounced off the top of his crossbar.

The action remained piecemeal and disjointed as both sides creditably sought to advance enough ball and numbers to try to turn one point into three.

But the odds were dramatically tilted Hull’s way when Faye rather recklessly chucked himself at Barmby with both feet – again without good cause – to earn a second yellow amid futile protests.

That forced Tuncay’s withdrawal – after a mere seven minutes on the pitch – to accommodate Andy Wilkinson in a revamped back four.

Hull, with their tails up and every chance to go for broke, then saw Bullard shoot straight at Sorensen shortly before an additional four minutes of playing time were awarded.

And within seconds, Sorensen’s decision to punch clear Bullard’s long-ranger proved fatal as the ball dropped for Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink to ram home from close range.