Hull 0-1 Crawley Town
- Published
Matt Tubbs gave League Two Crawley a place in the FA Cup fifth round at the expense of Championship side Hull City.
Steve Evans's side were a non-league outfit when Manchester United knocked them out at Old Trafford last season.
At Hull, a confident second-half finish from Tubbs, his 18th of the season, was enough to put them in the draw again.
Crawley were well worth their win, with on-loan Sanchez Watt also hitting the woodwork against a much-changed Hull side.
But Crawley keeper Scott Shearer played his part, making key saves to ensure the League Two promotion chasers progressed.
Despite Crawley's rapid rise, 45 places still separate these sides, but at times that was hard to credit given the way Hull toiled.
Tubbs was quick to serve notice of the danger he posed when he sent home keeper Vito Mannone scrambling early on, while Watt - like Mannone, a loan signing from Arsenal - always causing problems with his pace.
Tubbs then steered an overhead kick just over the bar after a lofted pass by Sergio Torres, while Tyrone Barnett beat Mannone on the by-line but drilled his attempted cross at the legs of Daniel East.
Just past the half-hour, Tubbs almost reached Barnett's cross in front of goal, but was foiled by Joe Dudgeon's superb interception.
Hull's first shot on target arrived in the 39th minute when Tom Cairney tested Shearer, with the Crawley keeper then doing well to save Robbie Brady's deflected effort.
The decisive goal came before just the hour when Torres sent Tubbs clear and the prolific striker kept his poise to squeeze the ball under Mannone.
The goal sparked an immediate reaction from Hull, with Richard Garcia almost equalising only for Shearer to scoop the ball off his goal-line.
The Crawley keeper had to ride his luck when he raced from his box to reach a through-ball and was beaten to it by Hull substitute Aaron Mclean, who clattered his attempted lob against the keeper.
To their credit, the visitors refused to sit on their lead and Watt brought a point-blank save out of Mannone, and from the resulting corner the same player somehow hit the outside of the post with the goal at his mercy.
Hull's last chance to salvage an equaliser fell to substitute Mark Cullen in injury time but his swinging shot was blocked in a crowded box.
- Published28 January 2012