How Hull nullified Delap's throw.
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Hull boss Phil Brown hailed his side for their inventive approach to ‘nullifying’ Rory Delap’s throw-ins.
During the 1-1 draw at The Britannia Stadium on Saturday, Hull tried a variety of methods to prevent the Ireland midfielder providing any more assists from the touchline.
Goalkeeper Boaz Myhill opted to kick the ball out for a corner rather than a throw-in as he came under pressure, while Dean Windass received a booking for unsportsmanlike behaviour as he repeatedly obstructed and distracted Delap as he warmed up as a substitute.
But, given that Windass famously received three red cards in one game while playing for Aberdeen in 1997, Brown was unsurprised by his unusual approach.
"He's a man who's been red-carded three times in one game, so anything can happen with Dean Windass," he said in The Daily Mirror.
He added: “There’s been a lot said about Rory Delap and the way Stoke played, but I thought we nullified that to a big extent.
"We stood up to everything that came into the box and I was very proud of my defenders on Saturday.
"We had a gameplan and I thought it worked."
Brown also felt that Delap was guilty of time-wasting as he repeatedly used towels to dry the ball before taking throws.
That led Hull defender Paul McShane to mock Delap late in the game by drying the ball himself and then throwing the towel into the crowd.
But Brown admits there was genuine frustration over referee Keith Stroud’s failure to punish Delap for his antics.
"The whole point for me is that from the first minute we were getting told to hurry up our goal-kicks," he said.
"Rory Delap took 30 to 35 seconds with every throw-in, trekking from the left wing to the right wing to take them – and he didn't exactly bust a gut to get there.
"Then, when he got there, he made sure his nail varnish was right and all the rest of it.
“That's their gameplan. I've got no qualms with that, but why tell our keeper to hurry up without telling Delap to hurry up?"
And, although Brown felt Stoke striker Ricardo Fuller was ‘very theatrical’ in going down to win the penalty that saw the hosts equalise, he was pleased that his team did not allow themselves to be bullied.
"No-one has come to Stoke recently and stood up to them so I’m proud of what we’ve done,” he told The Hull Daily Mail.
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Windass in action...