A single Robert Koren goal was enough to send Portsmouth to a diabolical, optimism crushing defeat at the KC Stadium yesterday following one of the worst performances of recent years.
Pompey could not muster a single shot on target in over 90 minutes of football which is simply unacceptable and the fans who spent the whole day travelling to Humberside and who paid their money to watch that abomination deserved better.
Joel Ward replaced Liam Lawrence in an otherwise unchanged lineup and the best chance for Pompey came early on when Benjani headed over Erik Huseklepp's cross.
But the hosts dominated after that and they found the back of the net when Koren's shot hit the post and Martyn Waghorn turned in the rebound. Fortunately, the assistant referee ruled the goal out for offside but that would be the only decision he would give to Pompey in an otherwise poor showing from him.
Pompey didn't learn from Koren's warning shot and the Slovenian struck a long range shot that it looked like Ashdown would tip around the post but instead found the corner of the net. Sitting from behind the goal, it looked like a mistake from the goalkeeper and most expected him to save that.
The home side then took complete control of the game, carving open the Pompey defence at will and had they taken their chances they would have been 3-0 or 4-0 up before the break.
Steve Cotterill's men couldn't string more than two passes together as they were often wayward and when there was a neat move building up it was always ended by a player losing the ball or someone hoofing the ball aimlessly.
It was extremely disappointing to see Pompey return to the dire route one style of play after playing some positive, attractive football last week at West Ham. Hull's defence are particularly strong in the air and so I have no idea why the manager decided this tactic would work on Humberside.
Cotterill claimed in his post-match interview that Pompey improved in the second half but I didn't see that as it was Ashdown who had to produce two good saves to give the fans hope of stealing an equaliser.
That hope was ended when Luke Varney was given a straight red card for what looked like a dangerous challenge on James Chester. Marko Futacs came on late on but Portsmouth could not find a goal in desperation and got exactly what they deserved for such a wretched performance.
Where do I begin when it comes to assessing this woeful excuse for a performance? Let's start from the back, shall we?
Ashdown may have kept Pompey in it with two good reflex saves in the second half but I felt he should have saved Koren's effort. He was probably our best player on the day which tells you all you need to know.
Ben-Haim was guilty of losing the ball too often but not as much as Mokoena whose passing often resulted in his team-mates struggling to receive the ball unless it went straight to the opposition.
Halford and Pearce weren't organised as Hull's players could have walked through the centre of the pitch so many times yesterday. The midfield didn't help either as Mullins lost out to his Hull counterparts, Norris couldn't get hold of the ball and Ward didn't seem to know where he was supposed to be playing.
As for the forwards, Varney wasn't given any space to run at their defence, Huseklepp faded quickly and Benjani spurned the only two attempts at goal that came Pompey's way.
All in all it simply wasn't good enough and you can tell that Steve Cotterill is feeling the pressure by his tone in his post match interview. Fans are calling for his head and those calls are only going to get louder if such a disgraceful performance is going to be repeated against Blackpool next week.
Pompey Player Ratings
Jamie Ashdown: 5 - Should have saved Koren's strike despite two good second half saves. Distribution is still poor.
Aaron Mokoena: 4 - Lost the ball constantly.
Greg Halford: 5 - All over the place at times.
Jason Pearce: 4 - No organisation.
Tal Ben-Haim: 4 - Out of position more often than not.
Hayden Mullins: 4 - Outfought by Hull midfielders.
David Norris: 4 - Not in the game at all.
Joel Ward: 4 - Has lost his way.
Erik Huseklepp: 5 - Faded quickly.
Luke Varney: 4 - A shadow of last week's performance.
Benjani: 5 - Missed Pompey's two real chances of the game.
Substitutes
Stephen Henderson
Ricardo Rocha
Ryan Williams (Mokoena 77): N/A - Should have came on earlier, perhaps?
Kanu (Huseklepp 62): 5 - No influence.
Marko Futacs (Benjani 87): N/A - Desperate last throw of the dice.