MONTHLY NEWSFILE
April 1999

Friday 30th April 1999

Ford injury worry.
Mike Ford is the main injury worry ahead of tomorrow's massive clash at Ninian Park. Lee Jarman could replace Ford if he is not fit. Craig Middleton should have recoved from a knock received at Scarborough last week. Apart from that there are no other injury worries.

Wednesday 28th April 1999

Cardiff City res 1 - 1 Plymouth res

Rob Earnshaw came off the bench to score for the reserves today. They are a point clear in the South West Counties League with two games to play.

Tuesday 27th April 1999

FAW PREMIER CUP SEMI FINAL 1st LEG
WREXHAM 3 - 1 CARDIFF CITY. Match report.

City went down to a well organised Wrexham team tonight. Its not all over though, the 2nd leg at Ninian Park (which will be televised live) could be anyones game. Wrexham will be favourites but City will have a full squad to choose from as the match is after the final league game of the season. Wrexham scored either side of the break to gain a 2 - 0 lead but substitue Chris Roberts scored with his first touch to close the gap but Wrexham extended the lead to two goals with a header from Connoly.

Nationwide review.
Cambridge have gained automatic promotion. The U's won at Rochale and thanks to defeats for Scunthorpe and Orient they have attained enough points to enter division 2. Its all good news for City though as well. The aforementioned defeats for Scunny and the O's mean that we need just one point from our last two matches to make sure we play at a higher level next season. What a party it will be on Saturday if we get the draw we need. I would like to see the team go out in style but I will be as happy as the next City fan if we manage to get the draw.

Division 2 is closer than ever. Be prepared for a sell out on Saturday, tickets are on sale up to 8pm on Friday. No tickets will be on sale on the day of the match.

For those of you who will be at the game yours truly will be presenting groundsman Wayne Nash with a bottle of champagne at half time for his efforts in producing a pitch worthy of some of the football we have seen this season. I feel it was crucial that the team kept on playing matches in the mid winter while we were in form. Those matches against Shrewsbury, Hartlepool and Darlington were all victories that have put us where we are today. If those games had to have been postponed we may have had to play them in our lean February period which could have cost us the imminent promotion.

Wrexham preview
This fixture tonight has not come at the best of times with City still trying to get a promotion place. I'm sure though that the Club will tackle the match in a professional manner and do all possible to give the team an advantage for the second leg on May 10th. Mike Ford and Craig Middleton will definately miss out tonight and I would think most of the players that will be required for Saturday will also be rested. It will though give a chance for squad players to come in and stake a place for the first teams last couple of league matches. Dai Thomas will be keen to get goals as he currently has 5 goals in the competition, if he goes on to be the top marksman he will earn himself £10,000. Expect to see Lee Jarman, Chris Roberts, Rob Earnshaw, Lee Phillips etc being involved. To add to the selection problems there is a reserve team match tomorrow as well, some players may be asked to play tonight and tomorrow as well. Good luck to the boys tonight.

Nugent selected as Frank Burrows' player of the year.
Kevin Nugent has been selected as Frank Burrow' player of the year. Congratulations to Kevin who is sponsored by this website. Kevin has been in terrific form this season banging in 21 goals so far and helping to keep City on course for promotion.

Nationwide round up.
There is plenty of 3rd division football tonight as well. The four other teams who can achieve a top 3 place in the league are all in action away from home. Second place Cambridge got to Rochdale, third placed Brentford to Darlington, fourth placed Scunthorpe to Halifax and 5th placed Orient to strugglers Hartlepool. Ideally I'd like all of the top teams to lose but if Orient fail to win and Scunthorpe fail to win then a draw on Saturday at home to Scunthorpe will be enough for the Bluebirds to clinch promotion. If Cambridge and Brentford drop points then the title challenge is back on. Cambridge have a very tricky run in, they are away on Saturday at Plymouth, then away next week at Swansea and then on May the 8th they entertain Brentford.

We cannot confirm promotion tonight but it could be made a little easier for us. Our destiny is in our own hands though. Whatever happens tonight if we beat Scunthorpe at Ninian on Saturday we go up.

Sunday 25th April 1999

FAW semi final second leg
City will play Wrexham at Ninian Park on Monday 10th May, kick off 7:15pm. The first leg is next Tuesday, April 27th.

Reserves aiming for glory.
City's reserves are in pole position to win the South West Trophy League. The boys are top of the 5 team table on goal difference from Exeter City but they have a game in hand. There is 3 matches remaining for City all at home and they are, Wednesday April 28th, 2:00pm v Plymouth, Monday May 3rd, 12:00 noon v Bristol Rovers and Wednesday May 5th, 1:00pm v Bristol Rovers again. Each team will have played each other 4 times and this competitive reserve team action must have helped squad players get into contention for the first team. The 5th team in the league are Swansea, City have beaten them 3 times this season and drawn onece, the Swans have already won the wooden spoon in the table.

Saturday 24th April 1999

SCARBOROUGH 1 - 2 CARDIFF CITY. Match report.

City have gone top of the table and are now just inches from division 2. Jeff Eckhardt scored for City on 24 minutes and just as it looked like they would cruise the game Scarborough popped in an equaliser on 44 mins. The second half was end to end with both sides hitting the woodwork and raining shots on each others goal but the most crucial touch of the half came from Jason Bowen who managaged to nick an Andy Legg effort over the line via a post on 69 minutes. This mornings leader Cambridge were held 1 - 1 at home by Peterborough so City go two points clear. Brentford and Scunthorpe both won so promotion is not yet a certainty but whatever Scunthorpe do against Halifax on Tuesday a win next Saturday over the Iron will put us up. Cambridge have three tricky away games to come so the championship is still in the balance.

Friday 23rd April 1999

South West Counties League Cup Final
Cardiff City youth 0 - 1 Cirencester youth

City youth fell to a second half goal in the cup final at Ninian Park tonight. Bad luck to the kids but well done for being in the final in the first place.

Good luck to the youth team tonight. They are hoping to cap an excellent season by winning some silverware. Result and details to follow later tonight.

Scarborough / weekend preview.
A win tomorrow and we are virtually there. If other results go our way 3 points tomorrow night be enough for promotion anyway, it would require Scunthorpe to fail to win tomorrow at home to Barnet and fail to win on Tuesday away at Halifax. Should the unthinkable happen and we lose tomorrow and Scunthorpe win both games then we would be in a real scrap. Scarborough area a team in trouble, thay are in last place in the football league, 3 points behind the team above them. On Wednesday night they were beaten at home by Orient, City intend to do the same thing but at the moment we have a goal scoring crisis, we are not losing games but we are finding it hard to convert domination into goals. The game is spiced up more by 'Boro's manager. He is Colin Addison who missed out on the City job when Frank Brurrows was appointed boss. Surely he will want to prove a point as well as rescuing Scarborough from the Conference. Whoever is relegated will make way for Cheltenham Town who won promotion to the 3rd division last night. The other crucial matches to look out for this weekend are:-

The teams in bold are the only ones along with Cardiff who can achieve automatic promotion. Hopefully after tomorrows matches we can eliminate two or three of them from catching us.

The chatroom will be active during the match tomorrow, score updates from the other games will also be posted in the chat room.

Thursday 22nd April 1999

All quiet.
As far as City is concerned all is quiet. We are waiting for Saturday afternoon and hopefully 3 points at Scarborough. Last night Boro were beaten at home by Orient, the O's are now 8 points behind us with a game in hand, the same as Rotherham who also won away this midweek at Shrewsbury. Scunthorpes match at Halifax has been rearranged for next Tuesday, it is possible that Cardiff could be promoted on Tuesday without actually playing a league game (we are away at Wrexham though in the FAW semi final 1st leg), but only if City win on Saturday and Scunthorpe manage no better than a draw on Saturday and a draw next Tuesday and Rotherham and Orient fail to win on Saturday. More likely is that we will have to get a result against Scunthorpe on May 1st. Last night Swansea v Cambridge was postponed so the title is still very much undecided. All of my concerns are about Scunthorpe, but its possible that Brentford could slip up as well. We are in a good position, our destiny is in our own hands, a win on Saturday and a win on May 1st will see us promoted whatever anyone else does. We are currently on a seven match unbeaten run, 3 wins and 4 draws have kept us on course for promotion, we should have nothing to worry about but I cant help looking over my shoulder and seeing Scunthorpe a couple of lengths behind.

Injuries and suspensions.
City will be without Jason Fowler on Saturday as he serves a one match ban after being booked at Orient. Jon Hallworth is out with his rib injury which will probably keep him out for the rest of the season, Jon is scheduled to have surgery in the summer on his knee. Scott Young is also out for the rest of the season with a hernia problem. Scott is going into hospital for surgery on May 1st and is aiming to be fit for pre-season training in July.

Carl Dale testimonial.
Carl's testimonial game is on Tuesday May 11th. The match is a City XI v an Aston Villa XI including Mark Delaney. Cardiff are hoping to field a slection of players past and present with many faces from the 93 promotion winning squad included. Tickets are on sale now at £8.00 / £4.00 for consessions.

FAW Invitation Cup semi final 1st leg.
Cardiff City Supporters Club are running  a trip to Wrexham next Tuesday, its open to members and non members, details from the Supporters Club.

Tuesday 20th April 1999

Halifax v Scunthorpe postponed.
Tonights match has been called off due to a waterlogged pitch. Now there is no way we can assure promotion this weekend.

C'mon Halifax.
While we know our fate is in our own hands (if we win our three remaining games we get promoted) its nice for other teams to do us little favours on the way. Our main threat Scunthorpe play at Halifax tonight, if Scunny fail to win then there will be a mathmatical possiblity of promotion on Saturday at Scarborough. It would require Scunthorpe failing to win at home to Barnet, and Orient and Rotherham not winning either, Cardiff would then to beat Scarborough to go up. Rotherham and Orient, in my opinion, are too far behind to be realistic threats. One win by City would leave them needing to win all their remaining 5 games, but while they can technically catch us they have to be included. Scunthorpe are 6 points behind with a game in hand. If they win tonight then nothing will be settled this weekend, even if City win and Scunny lose on Saturday they can catch us with two wins from their last two games, it would though mean a draw against Scunthorpe at Ninian Park on May 1st would be enough.

Its getting closer, I still think we will go up in an automatic spot, its the waiting for the next game that gets to you. Calm down now Michael, take deep breaths. Its all going to be OK.

Sunday 18th April 1999

CARDIFF CITY 0 - 0 SWANSEA CITY. Match report.

Cardiff missed the chance to go clear top of the table after a goalless draw at Ninian today. I suppose before the game a 0 - 0 was the most likely outcome, neither team could afford to lose. Cardiff created more chances and will rue poor finishing. All too ofter the cross into the box found Freestone in the Swansea goal, apart from collecting crosses he never made a significant save. Young Seamus Kelly in the Cardiff goal had even less to do, the shots Swansea did manage threatened the fans behind the goal rather than the net itself. John Williams missed the best chance after rounding the keeper he took too much time and allowed the Swansea defence to get in a saving tackle, Nugent missed with a header as did Williams, Jason Bowen nearly scored in the 90th minute but after doing the hard work he shot wide, Cardiff had one last chance when Swansea cleared off the line in the 93rd minute. Both teams needed to win but a draw for us is not the end of the world, hell we're joint top and still favourites for promotion. The crunch game will be at Ninian park on May 1st, whatever happens next weekend I think May 1st will be our day of reckoning. Scunthorpe are 6 points behind with 1 game in hand, they will be coming to Ninian Park where we are unbeaten since last October, hopefully it will be party day.

Saturday 17th April 1999

Other results today.
The division 3 results were again kind to Cardiff today. Leaders Cambridge only managed an away draw so they are only one point ahead with one game in hand. A Cardiff win tomorrow will put us two points clear. Brentford and Orient drew but the dark horse is Scunthorpe, they pulled off a 3 - 2 away win at Hull today, that after being 3 - 0 up. It looks to be a 4 horse race for the 3 promotion places, favorites are Cambridge, Cardiff and Brentford with Scunthorpe the outsider, two wins for Cardiff should be more than enough, esp if one of those wins is against Scunthorpe at Ninian in two weeks time. Its up to us now, win our games and we go up, simple eh!

Previews.

Preview from Total Wales.
THE Cardiff City v Swansea City promotion battle at Ninian Park tomorrow underlines the amazing transformation in both clubs over the past 12 months.

“The match is so different from last season when we were fighting for the fourth-bottom spot and Swansea for fifth-bottom place,” said City manager Frank Burrows.

“The turn-around by both clubs has been remarkable. It’s nice that Cardiff are chasing automatic promotion and Swansea a play-off place.

“Both sets of fans can take heart that their clubs are starting to go in the right direction.

“All credit to everybody at Cardiff and Swansea for bringing about such a dramatic change.”

Promotion for both clubs would be a major double boost for Welsh football, though Burrows stopped short of wishing that his former club would be joining City in Division Two next season.

“I’ve complimented Swansea on the progress they have made over the past 12 months. That’s as far as I want to go,” he said.

“John Hollins is paid to talk about Swansea. I don’t live in the past. I’m focused on Cardiff City and trying to get three more points. It’s what we do on Sunday afternoon that counts.”

Hollins, his Swansea counterpart, said, “Of course, it would be good for the game in Wales if both clubs were promoted but that’s easier said than done.

“You have to work very hard for it. Cardiff are in a better position to go up than we are. We need to do a lot more hard work.

“But what Cardiff do is their business. I’m only worried about what we do in the remaining six games.”

The managers are playing cat and mouse by not revealing their starting line-ups until 30 minutes before the noon showdown, keeping it a closely guarded secret who will lead their attack.

Kevin Nugent, City’s 21-goal leading scorer, is likely to return from an ankle injury.

But John Williams staked his claim by scoring in each of the two games Nugent missed.

“It’s a nice selection headache to have. You can never have enough good players and John Williams has written his own ticket,” added Burrows.

Hollins must decide whether to recall robust striker Julian Alsop or retain Tony Bird, who impressed as his replacement in the midweek home win over Hartlepool.

“Tony has looked very sharp in his one-and-a-half games back in the side,” said Hollins, explaining he left out Alsop, captain Nick Cusack and winger Stuart Roberts because “they all needed freshening up”.

“I’ve been pleased with Tony. His first-team opportunities have been few but he’s a terrific professional who has worked hard at his game.”

Swansea, 2-1 winners over City at the Vetch Field in November, will be attempting to complete a first league double over their arch-rivals in front of a near-capacity 14,500 crowd.

Millions will watch it live on Sky.

“It’s a local derby and the rivalry will be intense. But there are rules on and off the pitch,” added Burrows.

“I want the supporters of both clubs to enjoy the game. But we have to make sure everybody gets home safely.

“It was only 10 years ago that 96 people went to a game and never returned home. It’s a sombre note to finish on, but that’s how I feel.”

Hollins said, “I’m sure the fans of both clubs will be as well behaved as they were for the league game at the Vetch Field and the recent FAW Premier Cup-tie at Ninian Park.”

TEAM CHECK

Cardiff City (from): Kelly, O’Sullivan, Legg, Mitchell, Eckhardt, Carpenter, Hill, Middleton, Fowler, Ford, Bowen, Williams, Nugent, Bonner.

Swansea City (from): Freestone, Jones, Coates, O’Leary, Smith, Bound, Appleby, Thomas, Bird, Alsop, Cusack, Roberts, Lacey.

Preview from todays Guardian.
Think of derby games and the usual
suspects spring to mind - the Old
Firm in Glasgow, the Merseyside
scrap, the clash of the north London
titans. Think of Cardiff versus
Swansea, however, and instinctively it
must be rugby.

Think again. Just a week after
Welshmen were united by Scott
Gibbs and Neil Jenkins at Wembley
the principality will be ripped asunder
by its fiercest division, not with an
oval ball but with a round one. The
Bluebirds versus the Swans: the
be-all and end-all, the ultimate derby.

This fixture is so inflammatory that
even mascots are banned. Apparently
the sight of Cyril the Swan or Barclay
the Bluebird would incite a return to
the ugly scenes of the early 90s.

"I had no real idea how much this
fixture meant," admitted Swansea's
manager John Hollins. "But we relish
matches like this. We will be playing
in front of as big a crowd as we can
get in this division and the supporters
want the three points as much as we
do."

Perhaps more so on this occasion.
Swansea have a chance of
completing a double over their rivals -
a feat neither side has managed in
almost 70 years.

Last year both teams finished in the
bottom five of the Football League but
this season they have fared better,
although the passion-driven fervour of
tomorrow's televised meeting may
render all skill and poise obsolete.

The Bluebirds have made their nest in
the top three and, under the former
Swan Frank Burrows, are destined
for a return to the Second Division.
They lost 2-1 at the Vetch Field to a
last-minute goal, scored by an
Englishman, and are smarting for
revenge.

The Swans are not far behind. Last
Tuesday's win over Hartlepool thrust
them into a play-off position and they
too could be playing at a higher level
next term. Hollins' side will fancy their
chances in the pressure-cooker
atmosphere at Ninian Park. The derby
has taken on an incestuous nature in
recent times with Cardiff relying
heavily on former Swans. Andy Legg,
John Williams, Dai Thomas and the
manager Burrows have all made the
short journey from the Vetch.

This fixture means so much more for
the supporters, though. Bulletin
boards on both clubs' websites have
been littered with threats and
promises of "beating the scum". Cyril
and Barclay have a lot to answer for.

Violence in the early 90s led to a ban
on visiting supporters which was lifted
last season. Around 2,000 Swans will
be making the short journey, under
police escort, from the Vetch to
Ninian Park.

For 90 minutes at Sunday lunchtime
promotion will mean nothing and
beating the old enemy everything. The
management would not admit it but
an historic double might even be
more satisfying than promotion via
Wembley. "I'm always confident,"
concluded Hollins.

Friday 16th April 1999

Early team news.
Seamus Kelly will make his home league debut on Sunday. Top scorer Kevin Nugent has responded well to treatment and will be available for selection. Will Frankie change a winning team though?

Scarborough tickets now available.
Tickets for the game at Scarborough are now on sale at Ninian Park. City have been given 1352 seats, priced at £10.50 and £6.50 for consessions.

Thursday 15th April 1999

Frankie look to LOW for new striker.
Todays Echo says that City are set to sign striker Jamie Hughes from Connah's Quay. Hughes, 23, has played for Tranmere. City are expected to speak to Connah's Quay after this weekends derby with Swansea.

Billy Ayre signs contract extension.
Billy has extended his current contract by two years. He had 9 months to go on his current deal but Frank Burrows insisted that the board tied him down for a longer period. Billy had been the target of some 3rd division teams to become their manager. Now the board must do something to give Frank reason to extend his contract which runs to the end of next season.

Wednesday 14th April 1999

Exeter res 1 - 2 City res.
Danny Hill capped a fine performance for the reserves today with a goal. Youngster Matt Higginson scored the other.

Ticket news.
All tickets for the trip to Mansfield for the final game of the season on May 8th have been sold. City only received an allocation over just over 1,000 because of construction work at Field Mill.
City will have around 2,000 tickets for Scarborough in a match that could see us secure promotion.
Tickets for the game v Swansea on Sunday are on sale at Ninian Park. Latest purchase time is 2:00pm on Saturday. There will be no tickets available on the day.

Roberts returns.
Chris Roberts has returned from his loan spell at Hereford.

Tuesday 13th April 1999

SOUTHEND UTD. 0 - 1 CARDIFF CITY. Match report.

City edged a step nearer automatic promotion with a win at Southend tonight. John Williams cracked in the winner in the 70th minute. John beat two men and rattled the ball into the roof of the net from 20 yards. Jason Fowler later had a penalty brilliantly saved as was his rebound. City held on to win and had chances to extend their lead. With Cambridge drawing at home we go joint top again. Third placed Brentford won but Scunthorpe were held at home and Rotherham were beaten away. Its looking more and more like Cambrdge, City and Brentford for the move up.

The team tonight will be called Kelly's Heroes after young Seamus put in a Man of the Match performance to keep Southend at bay by pulling off some great saves. All this on his debut.

City suffer a massive injury blow.
Jon Hallworth has cracked two ribs and is likely to miss the rest of the season. Hallworth injured himself 15 mins from the end of the Orient game but did not realise the extent of his injuries until after the match. Seamus Kelly will step in and make his league debut for the Bluebirds tonight at Southend. Frank Burrow's has said that Hallworths injury will take weeks to heal rather than days thus leaving him doubtful for the rest of the season.

City's other major injury worry is Kevin Nugent, the 21 goal striker will miss tonights match and will be replaced again by John Williams. Williams with 17 goals so far this season deputised for Nugent at Orient and scored City's goal.

City are therefore like to field the following XI
Kelly, Ford, O'Sullivan, Mitchell, Eckhardt, Legg, Carpenter, Fowler, Hill, Willams, Bowen.

Subs Dai Thomas, Middleton and Bonner.

The only changes I can see to that is maybe Hill will be on the bench with Bonner starting after Hill struggled to find good form on Saturday.

Take over speculation.
Rumblings are starting about a possible take over, messages left on the messageboard and through the mailing list are suggesting a £2m bid to buy out Kumas is being lined up. The main backer is David Sullivan and has has already agreed a 3 year contract with Dean Saunders to come to City initially as a player but then to be groomed for management. Also Matt Brazier has agreed to sign in the summer.

City director Steve Borley responding on this website has denied that any bid has been tabled and suggested a high wages player like Saunders (£6-8K per week) would not be appreciated by the other players who earn far less. Steve also said lets leave the speculation to the silly season after we get promoted. I agree with that, promotion has to be aim no.1.

I have just given some insight into the speculation, none of this article is confirmed, none of it has any factual substance, it is purely speculation.

Saturday 10th April 1999

ORIENT 1 - 1 CARDIFF CITY. Match report.

City threw away what would have been a promotion boosting victory when Jeff Eckhardt deflected a corner into his own net. It was a cracking corner and its harsh to blame Jeff but it was a lapse nontheless and 2 points were lost. City took the lead in the 42nd minute when John Williams converted his second effort after the keeper had blocked his first shot. City need to steady the ship for 15 - 20 mins and they could have blocked the O's out but the goal came as a sickening blow only 4 minutes into the second half. City looked like the only team capable of winning. I cannot recall Hallworth actually saving a shot. The O's keeper on the other hand produced fantastic saves to deny O'Sullivan in the first half and an incredible diving save to scoop the ball off the line from an Eckhardt header. City lacked the cutting edge though, the quality in the players is undoubted. Mike Ford played a superb game, Legg played well but it was upfront we were lacking. Fowler was not firing on all cylinders and he was booked for throwing the ball away thus ensuring a one match ban. He will miss the trip to Scarborough on Apr 24th. Danny Hill produced some good runs and Carpenter was solid enough, he probably missed City's best other chance when he shot wide form 20 yards with only the keeper to beat. Danny Hill was booked after a bizzare sequence, Hill was running after the ball and shielding it from the O's midfielder, from where I was sitting Hill seemed to be using raised arms to keep him at bay but the referee deemed it legal and then gave City a free kick from the attention being paid to Hill. Hill then walked away only for the O's player to raise his arm and hit him. A sending off surely, not according to this referee, a booking for the O's player for the hit and then a booking for Hill for play acting I think. Williams was not sharp and Bowen is not big enough to be an out and out striker, both players were well checked by the O's defence. Kevin Nugent failed a fitness test and was not available, how we missed him today. Orient nearly took all three points away with the last kick the game, as the referee was about to blow his whistle an Orient striker fired a shot across goal the ball rebounded off the far post and back in to Hallworths hands. As Hallworth caught the ball the final whistle went.

Once again though, other results have gone in our favour, Cambridge won and I have no doubt they will win the title but the next seven teams below us all drew as well this weekend, so one more game down and they have not closed on us.

Friday 9th April 1999

Orient preview.
I went through some permeatations earlier in the week. The bottom line though is we need to win. A draw or a defeat does not put us out of the promotion race, far from it, but a win would strengthen our promotion attempt. We have a injury free team, Young will not be risked and Nugent will play. Probably the same XI that played last week

Thursday 8th April 1999

Plymouth res 2 - 0 City res.
Ex City loan stiker Glen Crowe bagged a pair as the reserve team went down to Plymouth. City coach Billy Ayre was disappointed with the all round performance but was happy with the performaces of John Williams and Craig Middleton.

Congratulations to Rob Earnshaw.
Rob has returned from a 10 team International Under 18 tournament in Italy where he helped Wales into the semi finals. Rob scored 3 goals in the competition and walked away with the prestigious Player of the Tournament award. He also celebrated his 18th birthday this week as well. Excellent news.

Nugent to play.
Kevin Nugent should shake off a thigh strain and play against one of his former teams this Saturday. Kevin played 125 times for the O's scoring 30 goals. Scott Young is the only other injury worry, he will need groin surgery at the end of the season but will be in contention to play. John Williams and Craig Middleton who played well for the reserves yesterday are also in the squad.

Suspension news.
City currently have 6 players who are one booking away from a 1 match ban. Jason Fowler, Dai Thomas, Graham Mitchell, Jeff Eckhardt, Richard Carpenter and Andy Legg would miss the trip to Scarborough if they get booked v Orient. If however they all come through the game without a booking they will not receive a ban if they are booked again later this season. The threshold for suspensions is on Sunday, any player reaching the bookings limit after Sunday is reprimanded but not banned.

Ticket news.
Cardiff City Ticket Office - (01222) 222857 / 222858

Orient away - All ticket for City fans. As of 1400 hrs today around 600 tickets left.

Southend away - pay at the turnstile.

Swansea home - All ticket for all fans. Swansea will have the Grange End.

Scarborough away - No details yet.

Scunthorpe home - City fans to get the Grange End. Tickets now on sale (not sure if it will be all ticket though but I suspect it will be).

Mansfield away - All ticket. Last league game of the season. City have been given the following allocation. 517 terrace tickets priced at £8 / £3. 564 stand tickets priced at £10 / £5. Tickets go on sale to season ticket holders only on Monday 12th April. Only one ticket per season ticket holder. Please bring proof of season ticket and address with you.

Wednesday 7th April 1999

Cambridge go back top.
Cambridge won 3 - 1 at Brighton last night night to go back to the top of Div 3 on goals scored.

With two games in hand you would expect Cambridge to now go on and win the title, I'm happy with that, I'm happy if we only finish third, we must though get automatic promotion. A win at Orient would go a long way to securing that with third and fourth place (Brentford and Scunthorpe) playing each other this Saturday. In my view the ideal scenario would be for us to beat Orient and for Brentford to beat Scunthorpe. That would give us a 14 point cushion over the O's and even with their two games in hand I cannot see them overhauling us even if they were to get within 8 points by winning the spare games. A Brentford victory would keep them 4 points behind us with two games in hand as well but more importantly it would leave Scunthorpe 9 points behind with only one game in hand, we have to play Scunthorpe at Ninian on May 1st, hopefully by then it will be academic.

The permeatations are endless I know, what about Rotherham I hear you say, again they have a realistic chance to catch us, they are 10 points behind with 2 games in hand. We cannot do anything about their results though, we just have to keep our noses ahead and hope they drop points. (I would rather have a 10 point lead than be under pressure to win the matches).

But this Saturday we can eliminate the challenge of Orient and Brentford could nigh on kill off Scunthorpes chances, provinding we beat them at Ninian in a few weeks then they are history.

Thus leaving my prediction as the three promoted sides as Cambridge, Brentford and Cardiff. (Not in that order mind, Cambridge and Brentford have to play each other and both teams as well as us have to play Swansea who are desparate for points to make the play offs).

If we lose I will come up with another optomistic prediction but we are close, very close. We must do it we must.

Monday 5th April 1999

CARDIFF CITY 1 - 1 HULL CITY. Match report.

The result does not do justice to the spirit in team and the support of the fans. City went a goal down in the first half to a cracking strike from Colin Alcide. The tempo was upped by City in the second half and they dominated the game but could not hit the back of the net, eventually persistance paid off when City were awarded a penalty which Kevin Nugent cooly despatched to level the scores. Hull were reduced to 10 men when Warren Joyce was sent off but Cardiff could not find the winning goal.

Saturday 3rd April 1999

CAMBRIDGE UTD 0 - 0 CARDIFF CITY. Match report.

The battle of the Abbey ended in a goaless draw but Cardiff and Cambridge showed why they are top of the table. A game with few chances saw Cardiff edge it on possession and quality. I write this a couple of days after the game and as you will see from the above news items Cambridge have taken advantage of Cardiff's draw on Monday to win at Brighton and go back to the top of the table. Look forward though to both these sides being in Div 2 next season.

Friday 2nd April 1999

Cambridge / Hull previews.
City go into the Easter weekend top of the table. Two goods results would put us with touching distance of promotion. City have a full strength squad going into the two games. Two wins would be fantastic but I think a draw at Cambridge would be classed as a good result. We must be careful on Monday when Hull come to Ninian Park. They are still fighting at the bottom of the table and have put together a good run of results lately.

I will be away until next Wednesday. I will try to update the news scoller after each game but that will be all. A full site update inc match reports etc will only be available on Wednesday 7th April.