Hull 2-1 Stoke

Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink helped ease the pressure on Hull boss Phil Brown with a stoppage-time goal to secure a crucial victory over Stoke.

The hosts looked set for an eighth league defeat when Matthew Etherington drove Stoke ahead from an acute angle.

But former Potters star Seyi Olofinjana equalised with a curling effort before Stoke's Abdoulaye Faye saw red.

Vennegoor of Hesselink then slotted home at the death after Thomas Sorensen failed to hold Jimmy Bullard's shot.

The result lifted Hull out of the relegation zone - a point clear of both West Ham and Wolves - and sees Stoke remain ninth.

Visiting manager Tony Pulis will rue his side's failure to hold onto their lead and Stoke have now thrown away 11 points from winning positions this season - but Hull were good value for their only their fourth league win of 2009.

Whether it is enough to keep Brown in his job remains to be seen but the 50-year-old will feel hard done by if he is sacked after such a spirited performance by his players.

Hull went into the match without a goal in their previous three games but, spurred on noisily by a near sell-out home crowd, they made a confident and committed start.

Apart from a scare inside the first minute, when referee Mike Dean ignored Stoke appeals after Etherington's cross was blocked by the arm of Bernard Mendy, the home side looked fairly comfortable.

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Bullard, making his full debut, went close with a fizzing 30-yard drive and Jozy Altidore dragged wide from the edge of the box.

Stoke seemed content to soak up Hull pressure and rely on counter-attacks, but both Etherington and Dean Whitehead skewed shots horribly off target from promising positions.

As more chances came and went for Hull - Glenn Whelan got back to deny Richard Garcia with a fine challenge before Garcia headed straight at Sorensen from Stephen Hunt's cross - there was a feeling of inevitability about Stoke's opener.

Hull had committed unnecessary numbers forward and were holding a worryingly high a line at the back when Mendy inexplicably missed a Ryan Shawcross punt upfield, allowing Ethrington to race in from the left and lash a powerful near-post finish past Matt Duke.

The goal came against the run of play and, to their credit, Hull continued to press forward, dominate possession and take the game to Stoke.

Altidore headed wide from a Garcia centre and then, having been played in by Bullard, opted to square the ball to nobody instead of shooting from a central position 12 yards out.

Desperate to see his side convert their dominance into goals, Brown replaced the ineffective Garcia with Nicky Barmby shortly after half-time and Hull immediately began playing with a greater sense of urgency and belief.

They were, however, fortunate to survive when Anthony Gardner poked a low Etherington cross towards his own goal and the ball trickled inches wide off of Duke's elbow.

But Hull were otherwise in the ascendancy and deservedly levelled matters through Olofinjana, who collected possession from Hunt, turned past two Stoke players, opened his body and unleashed a curling strike that left Sorensen clutching at thin air.

Despite the qualiser, it felt for a time as though Stoke were the more likely to go on and get a winner and Shawcross came round the back to head Whelan's free-kick against the bar.

But Faye's dismissal - shown his second yellow card for a reckless challenge on Barmby - prompted one final Hull rally and their reward was forthcoming after Bullard stepped inside and shot fiercely.

Sorensen dived to block but failed to divert the ball out of harm's way and it fell straight into the path of Vennegoor of Hesselink, who made no mistake with a straightforward finish.

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