The Premier League football match between Hull City and Portsmouth at the KC Stadium on Saturday Oct 24, 2009.
The Jimmy Bullard injury jinx struck again as Hull's relegation worries deepened here at the KC Stadium in this dire goalless draw that saw Phil Brown's side booed off at full-time.
The club-record £5-million signing, out since last January with knee trouble, missed out on a belated home debut in somewhat mysterious circumstances ahead! of a game that was described as the worst since Hull reached the Premier League last year.
Bullard had been identified as Hull's potential saviour by manager Phil Brown in the build-up to this game but he was nowhere to be seen having taken a knock in a reserves game at Wigan on Tuesday night.
How this game could have done with Bullard's vitality in this so-called relegation six-pointer because what the sides managed to served up breached the trades description act.
Thanks to a deep-seated anxiety and lack of competence this contest rarely reached the heights of being anything like a Premier League fixture.
Tommy Smith wasted a decent chance to become bottom-of-the-table Portsmouth striker to score this season early on following a mistake by Anthony Gardner (Hull's seventh skipper th! is season), racing clear only to drive a low angled drive w! ide.
Like Pompey, third-bottom Hull, without American striker Jozy Altidore who apologised via his Twitter account after being dropped for turning up late, lacked a cutting edge.
The nearest they came to seriously troubling David James during an insipid first half came when Dean Marney tested his luck from distance but his shot soared well over the crossbar.
Smith missed another chance to open his Portsmouth account in the 40th minute when the Hull defence was at sixes and sevens following Aruna Dindane's cross but he miskicked in embarrassing fashion.
Hull's woes increased after the half-time whistle as Boaz Myhill and Seji Olofinjana had to be separated by colleagues following a spat only to make up at the start of the second half.
Brown's side raised their game after the break but Portsmouth should have taken the lead on the hour but spurned two excellent chances.
First Dindane saw his shot pus! hed away by Myhill when he should have been far more clinical and then Hassan Yebda was denied by the Wales goalkeeper when he diverted Younes Kaboul's cross goalwards from close range.
That passage of play was a rare moment when this game rose above the mediocre although it was Portsmouth, watched by director of football Avram Grant, who looked more menacing.
In contrast, Hull fans turned on Brown, booing his decision to take off Stephen Hunt and then taunting him with a rendition of the 'You don't know what you're doing' chant.
Things went from bad to worse for Brown as Myhill was booked for fouling.
