By Louise Taylor

• Hull ‘are not going to be relegated’, says manager
• Newcastle defence in need of shake-up after home defeat

Steve Bruce considered celebrating Sone Aluko’s exquisite winning volley with a José Mourinho-style knee-slide but swiftly realised much more than his tracksuit bottoms would be at risk of ruination.

“I was tempted, yes, I was tempted,” said Hull City’s manager. “But I couldn’t slide far enough on my knees or my hip would have gone.” He settled for an awkward technical area dance but came to a sudden halt once he realised the pain inflicted here three years ago had not quite been exorcised.

In October 2010 Bruce’s Sunderland were thrashed 5-1 by Chris Hughton’s Newcastle United on Tyneside and the scars remain vivid. “Listen, that defeat goes down as the worst experience of my football life,” he said. “Getting hit by five by Newcastle as Sunderland manager will haunt me forever, they’re the ones you remember. Victory here today was a little bit sweeter but, no, it doesn’t bury the memories.”

At least Tom Huddlestone ensured this was a happy return to Bruce’s home city. The former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder controlled large parts of the game, striding imperiously through central midfield, passing incisively and intercepting intelligently as visiting fans taunted Newcastle with chants of “are you Grimsby in disguise?”

Huddlestone may lack pace but his football “skill-set” is missing little else and the puzzle is why the man Hull play through was not in greater demand this summer. “I’ve always believed in myself,” said the midfielder pushed to the margins at Spurs but whose poise helped Hull recover from twice falling behind to opportunistic Loïc Rémy goals. “When you’re fit and training every day you want to play at the weekend. If that’s not the case you move on and prove yourself elsewhere.

“Steve Bruce has a lot of belief in me and hopefully I’ve implemented what he wants. I think we’ve shown we’re not one of those newly promoted teams who just lump it forward. We have good footballers who are all comfortable on the ball. Playing regularly is helping me find the rhythm and the sharpness you lose when you don’t play every week.”

Mathieu Debuchy is an automatic starter for Newcastle but, not for the first time, Alan Pardew’s France right-back lacked both sharpness and judgment. First he neglected to mark Robbie Brady, scorer of Hull’s first equaliser, and, later, was given the slip by George Boyd who proceeded to supply the pace-infused cross from which Aluko’s side-footed volley secured three points.

In between, a home defence in which Davide Santon proved the best of a shaky bunch seemingly fazed by Bruce’s bold 4-4-2 formation left Ahmed Elmohamady unmarked at a Brady free-kick. The Egypt international gratefully headed Hull’s second leveller.

Pardew must be strongly tempted to switch the right-footed Santon to right-back and introduce the highly rated local youngster Paul Dummett at left-back but Debuchy is best friends with the influential Yohan Cabaye – who, before hobbling off with groin trouble, had a mixed afternoon – so such a step could prove politically fraught.

After winning so impressively at Aston Villa the previous weekend Newcastle’s manager – who saw Hatem Ben Arfa increasingly frustrated by Hull’s double-marking – was left lamenting “a bad day at the office”, which had the added misfortune of unfolding in front of the club’s owner, Mike Ashley, and Joe Kinnear, the director of football, as, blank-faced, they sat side by side in the directors’ box.

Kinnear kicked off a regular column in the matchday programme by absolving himself of blame for failing to recruit anyone bar the exciting Rémy – (loaned by QPR) – this summer. It will not have cut much ice with Tynesiders who saw another disappointing attacking display from Papiss Cissé – without a goal in 11 games and, significantly, withdrawn with the score at 2-2 – emphasising why Newcastle desperately needed another new striker.

With only Rémy and Vurnon Anita – currently essential to Pardew’s attempts to install a proper passing game and keeping Cheik Tioté out of midfield on merit – really playing well for Newcastle it was Hull’s day. “We’re a confident team and know we can cope with the Premier League,” said Aluko, whose sister, Eniola, also scored in England Women’s 6-0 victory over Belarus earlier on Saturday. “Now other teams will see we’re a side to be reckoned with. We’re not going to be relegated. We can compete in this League.”

Man of the match Tom Huddlestone (Hull)