UNARGUABLY the biggest indication of how relieved table-topping Hull City were to take maximum points at the KC Stadium on Saturday was 18,000 home fans baying for referee Michael Atkinson to blow the final whistle.

The Tigers' supporters realised their expensively-assembled team were fortunate to equal a 55-year club record and register a seventh straight victory and their manager Peter Taylor echoed the same level of respect afterwards.

Former England caretaker-boss Taylor believes Chris Brass' side, built on a relative shoestring, have provided the Tigers with their toughest tests in that sequence which started with a 2-0 win at Bootham Crescent on Boxing Day and has since included victories over fellow championship-chasers Doncaster and Oxford.

In fact, if the Minstermen's makeshift striker Lee Bullock had not shot wide at 1-1 on 72 minutes with only home goalkeeper Boaz Myhill to beat then Brass' men could have become only the second side - after Mansfield - to enjoy a eague victory at the impressive 24,000-seater stadium.

Bullock's glaring miss proved the game's turning-point with home substitute Jon Walters - a recent £80,000 capture from Premiership Bolton Wanderers - heading in clinically at the other end just two mintes later.

It was a cruel blow for City, who had seen top scorer Lee Nogan's 66th-minute header cancel out Danny Allsopp's opening goal.

A victory at Hull would have been the perfect end to an uplifting week in which the club announced that it had reached a long-term deal to stay at Bootham Crescent.

That seemed a little too much to hope for before kick-off and perhaps even a little greedy but City went so close to rewarding their supporters with the away win Brass was so clearly desperate to achieve.

City's player-manager even moved into midfield and reverted to a three-pronged strike force for the last ten minutes as he endeavoured to earn a point, which was the minimum his team deserved after a spirited second half display.

Neither goalkeeper had a save to make before half-time but Australian international Allsopp did illustrate why he has scored 13 goals in 20 Division Three starts this season.

City defenders Chris Smith and Richard Hope had to be alert to block goalbound Allsopp efforts in the first ten minutes and the former Manchester City striker - once a target for the Minstermen when managed by Neil Thompson - also fired over twice after showing an almost telepathic understanding with attacking partner Ben Burgess.

Allsopp also provided the cross for Stuart Elliott to head over a goal that Mark Ovendale had left unguarded on the half-hour mark.

At the other end, Darren Edmondson and Bullock both fired shots out for throw-ins after promising openings and Mitch Ward sliced a 20-yard effort wide.

Hull went ahead on 55 minutes with the first on-target effort of the afternoon when Burgess dropped deep to collect the ball before floating a pass over the head of Brass for Allsopp to chase.

The Tigers' top scorer then poked the ball past an onrushing Ovendale to score for the third successive match.

But Nogan levelled the scores with City's first on-target attempt and his eighth goal of the season.

The player-coach had bemoaned the quality of a cross by Dave Merris just seconds before the former Harrogate Town wing-back swung in a second centre that was perfectly aimed.

Nogan, 34, had peeled off his penalty box marker and displayed all his experience to cooly find the bottom corner with his close-range downward header.

Hull's opening goal had been the signal for City to prove, as they had done in the first half of their previous outing at Southend, that the team are capable of putting home sides under pressure in the final third of the pitch and, after Elliott sent a glancing header wide for the Tigers, the visitors' more adventurous approach forced a mistake that should have proven costly.

Bullock seized on Hull defender Marc Joseph's poor header and raced clear on goal with only Myhill to beat.

City fans held their breath as the highly-rated 22-year-old looked certain to score but Bullock went for power instead of precision and drove a firm shot wastefully wide when a more composed sidefooted finish would have been more advisable.

Two minutes later, Hull had regrouped and taken the lead with Stuart Green also forcing a save from Ovendale in between the game's two most significant moments.

The second saw Walters, who had only been on the pitch for four minutes, ghost in front of Brass to meet Lee Marshall's perfectly-delivered right-wing cross and plant a firm header across Ovendale into the bottom corner.

But City ensured Hull's fans stayed nervous until the final whistle and almost grabbed a second equaliser just two minutes later when Hope's sidefooted close-range shot was cleared off the line by Andy Dawson after Ward's corner had caused a frantic scramble in the home box.

Jon Parkin was then sent on to join earlier replacement Lev Yalcin as the visitors reverted to a 4-3-3 formation and the latter went closest to getting a second City goal.

Captain Edmondson fired a low cross into the box but Yalcin's improvised injury-time back-heel lacked the power to beat Myhill.

Hull City 2 (Allsopp 55, Walters 74); York City 1 (Nogan 66)

Ovendale 7, Smith 8, Brass 7, Hope 8, Edmondson 7, Walker 7, Ward 7 (Parkin 80min), Dunning 7, Merris 7, Bullock 7, Nogan 8 (Yalcin 75)

Key: 10 Faultless, 9 Outstanding, 8 Excellent, 7 Eye-catching, 6 Good, 5 Average, 4 Below-par, 3 Dud, 2 Hopeless, 1 Retire

Subs not used: Porter, Fox, Cooper

Star Man: Richard Hope - solid as ever and also went close to an equaliser

Hull: Myhill, Marshall, Joseph, Delaney, Dawson, France (Walters, 70), Ashbee, Green, Elliott (Holt, 88), Allsopp (Hinds, 83), Burgess. Subs not used: Musselwhite, Forrester.

Yellow cards: None

Red cards: None

Referee: Michael Atkinson (West Yorkshire)

Rating: Decent display

Attendance: 19,099.

Weather watch: Windy, but dry

Game breaker: Bullock's costly miss two minutes before Hull's winning goal

Match rating: Entertaining game, especially in second half, but very cruel result for Minstermen

Updated: 09:28 Monday, February 09, 2004