Hull City 2 Stoke City 1

The Premier League game between Hull City and Stoke City at the KC Stadium on Sunday Nov 8, 2009.

Hull City manager Phil Brown's touchline celebrations said it all as he punched the air with delight following a stirring recovery that saw Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink strike a stoppage-time winner.

Brown had been calmness personified in the technical area at the KC Stadium until the Dutch substitute's dramatic late intervention who had the final say against a Stoke City side who had taken command of the game through Matt Etherington's opener.

That was before Seyi Olofinjana came to relegation-threatened rescue today with the equaliser that eased the pressure on the Tigers manager whose cause was boosted by a huge amount of good fortune and the sending off of Stoke's Abdoulaye Faye.

Brown had been given assurances over his long-term future by new club supremo Adam Pearson before this game and then his chairman saw his judgment vindicated thanks to his charges' revival.

"It's quite simple - the chairman came to join us last night in the hotel and we sat down again, chewed the fat about the future," Brown said before this contest. We are talking long term, we're not talking about one game, we're not talking about two games. We're talking about the long-term survival campaign obviously and the long term future of this football club."

Brown was subjected to "sacked-in-the-morning" taunts by Stoke fans at the KC Stadium after Matt Etherington's first-half goal intensified the club's relegation worries before a stunning turnaround.

Jimmy Bullard had made his long-awaited home debut for Hull in the heart of Phil Brown's midfield and did his best to make up for lost time early on with a low 25-yarder that skidded just wide of Thomas Sorensen's right-hand post as his team began brightly.

The £5 million record signing was one of five changes Brown made to his starting XI following a 2-0 defeat at Burnley as he sought the win that would dampen the speculation over his future.

Despite Bullard's long-distance efforts and clever promptings, it was not long before Stoke imposed themselves with Rory Delap's long throws causing consternation in the Hull defence and Matt Duke had to pull off a decent save to keep out Ricardo Fuller shot from distance.

Right-back Bernard Mendy posed the greatest attacking threat for Hull and he set up American striker Jozy Altidore who shot just wide and then he threaded a pass through to Richard Garcia who was denied by Ryan Shawcross's last-ditch challenge.

If Mendy, selected ahead of Paul McShane, could defend half as well as he attacked then Hull would not have been in such a mess.

The former Bolton winger was caught ball-watching when Shawcross's hoof forward was nodded on by James Beattie when he beat Kamil Zayatte and Etherington latched on to the ball before darting goalwards and thumping a rising shot inside Matt Duke's near post.

It had been coming because Hull's back four creaked every time Stoke went forward as Etherington gave Mendy the runaround before his 29th minute strike.

New Hull chairman Adam Pearson was left shaking his head in the directors' box after fans started chanting "You Don't Know What You're Doing" when Seyi Olofinjana ended his team's best move of the game with a loose pass inside the penalty box.

Stoke almost gained an unassailable lead shortly after the start of the second half but Brown's luck changed for the better. This time Etherington outsmarted Mendy to cross low across the six-yard box and Anthony Gardner diverted the ball goalwards only to see to safety off Duke.

The pair could afford a grin but had been precious little for Brown to smile about until Olofinjana struck in the 62nd minute.

Hunt cut in from the let-flank and found the Nigerian midfielder who wrong-footed his markers before curling a delightful shot beyond the reach of the outstretched Sorensen from 20 yards out.

Brown remained impassive but he would have been forgiven for performing cartwheels minute later when Sorensen spilled Mendy's cross but Craig Fagan's close-range shot was diverted wide as Hull dominated their opponents.

Stoke almost regained the lead late on when Ryan Shawcross headed Dean Whitehead's free-kick on to the top of the crossbar before Abdoulaye Faye was sent off for his second bookable offence following his second tangle with substitute Nick Barmby.

That prompted Tony Pulis to haul off substitute Tuncay just seven minutes after he entered the fray to send on defender Andy Wilkinson, prompting the Turk to head straight down the tunnel.

Hull went for the kill and Bullard's 25-yarder could only be parried by Sorensen into the path of Vennegoor of Hesselink who calmly applied a finishing touch.