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Sat 25th Aug 2001. |
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| Cardiff
City Alexander Gabbidon Simpkins (Low 34) Prior  Legg Hamilton (Brayson 74) Boland  Kavanagh Weston Fortune West Earnshaw Subs not used |
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Bournemouth Stewart Maher Howe Tindall Broadhurst Fletcher Purches (Huck 62) Feeney Hayter Foyewa (O Connor 36) Elliott Subs not used |
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Alan Cork said he was at a loss to explain how it happened but when he has more time to reflect, he must surely start by looking at why the same pattern is emerging every match? Cardiff City are fast becoming a team who fade in every second period of league matches this season. Why does he allow the midfield to play too deeply? Kavanagh yet again dropped back to playing just in front of the back four. Why didn't he use his final substitution in such stifling conditions? I couldn't believe that having put Nugent on the bench, he didn't throw him into the fray? Leon Jeanne isn't match fit but why he can't be on the bench for the final 20 minutes when he is setting up goals galore and getting rave reviews in reserve matches? He would have been ideal today. Cork must also seriously start looking at his squad, there are players who are not performing as they should who seem guaranteed a start while others who seem out of favour can't get a look in. There were no hints of what was to come in the first hour. City reshuffled the side slightly. Alan Cork always says that players who perform will keep the shirt but, not for the first time, showed it doesn't really hold true as Spencer Prior started in place of David Hughes who has been excellent for City. Everyone knew that would happen although Prior didn't have the best of games and, not surprisingly, looked a little short on fitness. He struggled with cramp in the closing stages. Josh Low, out of form and confidence, was dropped to the bench and with Jason Bowen currently injured, the midfield looked slightly disjointed with Andy Legg and Des Hamilton wide (neither really comfortable there even though Hamilton in particular played well again, our best player so far in my view) and Willie Boland plus Graham Kavanagh in the middle. Leo Fortune-West, who played as well as he can in a sub's appearence at Peterborough last weekend and in a full start at Millwall midweek, retained his place with Gavin Gordon dropped altogether and Kevin Nugent surprisingly called onto the sub's bench. The first half was admittedly a dull affair with Cardiff looking tactically naive although they were comfortably on top. Bournemouth packed their midfield and played three big central defenders to stop Cardiff playing. It worked too as City opted for mainly tedious Route One football. With midfield not really pushing up in support, Leo heading the ball in various directions and precious little service for Earnie, there was little entertainment on show before another huge Ninian crowd. The biggest cheer before the first goal was for a Des Hamilton shot just outside the area clearing the Canton Stand roof and probably landing in a Sloper Road resident's garden. The biggest "oooooo" was a Daniel Gabbidon far post header from a corner which bounced off the top of the bar. City seemed to have an unlimited number of Andy Legg throws which Bournemouth soaked up with ease. Defensively, Bournemouth posed next to nil threat and only looked dangerous when City mistakes which proved to be our downfall. Spencer Prior missed a ball on halfway badly which sent Foweya racing clear towards goal but he was hit by the tackle of the season as Michael Simpkins made an outstanding last man challenge. It was a hit of such impact that Foweya was immediately taken off and Simpkins himself departed later in the half, a shame as he does now seem to be settling well in the side after looking unconvincing pre-season and in early games. It needed some wizardry to open up Bournemouth and in Robert Earnshaw, we have the Harry Potter of football. Receiving a ball on the left hand touchline from Simpkins, it was sheer heaven as Earnie, with his back to Maher, back-heeled the ball past him, turned, left him for dead, cut inside and hit the perfect far post cross off the outside of his left boot for Leo to finish emphatically. A truly outstanding moment and goal that would have been raved about in the Premiership, never mind Division Two. The referee, has showed some poor decision making in the half ran to Earnshaw to tell him to remove a ring. Surely that should have all been checked before kick-off? Fletcher, the referee, seemed to be going out of the way to show he was no "homer" but ended up messing things up more. At one stage, he confused every player and his own officials by not making it clear whether he was awarding a throw or free-kick. When both sides expected the decision to go to Cardiff, he gave a free-kick to Bournemouth. Players seemed glad when one of them got injured as the other 21 would run to the dug-outs for water. The goal visibly lifted City and the roar was epic, it was a party in the heat. Moments later, City nearly doubled their lead as Disco Des Hamilton showed outstanding technique to control a high looping ball with one touch, cut inside and hit a superb shot which was flying inside the top corner of the far post. He was denied by an outstanding save. A boring half but those moments of magic made up for it and saw the team go off to wild applause. H/T City 1 Bournemouth 0 There was a second half reshuffle primarily with Andy Legg dropping to left back in place of Simpkins and Josh Low moved to right side of midfield (he was left side when he replaced Simpkins in the first half). Today was the first time that tv coverage of the games was relayed live in the bars around the ground. One advantage is that you can now see the teams come out for the 2nd half and sup up fast. Just as well to as we could have been denied seeing an outstanding 49th minute Earnie goal. City built up patiently and when the ball got to Earnie 25 yards out, Bournemouth laid off him. Earnie nudged the ball forward then hit a first time screamer across goal which flew in off the far post in front of the Grange End. Earnie loved it, it must be his longest distance first team goal. The customary celebration of the Earnie somersault was followed by him mock machine gun firing the Grandstand and turning to show the name on his shirt as if we don't know who he is! Brilliant. Two moments of brilliance from Earnie had won us the game, it seemed a case of how many more would we now score to most fans. Bournemouth just weren't in it and posed no danger and appeared resigned to their fate. The danger for City however was they slowly stopped playing. Kavanagh dropped back and pulled the midfield back with him. For an experienced player and leader, I don't know why he does this. He hurts nobody by simply laying off passes there. Other key players were letting City down, Andy Legg was not in the game, Prior was making errors too and although Josh Low was doing little earning comments and criticism from many in the crowd but he was never given the ball in space all match. Rhys Weston behind him is not playing well at right back either and hasn't all season really. The one player who stood out was Willie Boland getting through an immense amount of work and chasing everything. But there was still no hint at what was to come. The awakening happened on the hour. An innocuous looking through ball sent Feeney and Gabbidon racing against each other, they were both nudging and as they went into the area, both went down. Referee Fletcher had no hesitation awarding a penalty which seemed harsh. I've seen them given but I've more often seen the free-kick given the other way or just played on. The inadequacies of the referee then seem compounded as he went to his back pocket and clearly put his hand on the red card which was appearing behind him as he walked towards Gabbidon. He had obviously deciding that he was the last man and had stopped a player the clear opportunity on goal. He then noticed the linesman flag and after talks, downgraded his decision to a yellow card which he pulled out of his shirt pocket. It was astounding, what could the linesman have possibly said to get the card changed from red to yellow?? Many fans thought the linesman was saying 'no penalty' but the ref had already awarded it and wouldn't back down. It seemed very strange and bewildering, Prior argued and was booked too. Neil Alexander looked very cool and tried to psyche out Feeney by standing on the 6 yard line for ages then retreating slowly to goal but the shot beat him low to his right, he was a fraction away from saving it. From total control, City now looked in total panic. The experienced players should have been calming everyone but weren't really setting the example and four minutes later, City conceded a shocking equaliser. A ball thrown into the area should have been easy for Andy Legg to deal with but he allowed the ball to drop and then bounce over him, missing it altogether, Tindall moved in and stroked home from 10 yards, placing the ball wide of Alexander from 10 yards. The were 13,000 stares of disbelief. City almost scored straight from the restart as Andy Legg missed a volley which Kavanagh hit following up, an excellent save saw the ball pushed over the bar. That was City's only effort on goal in the final 20 minutes. Paul Brayson was thrown on for the tired Hamilton and nearly broke through with one mazy run. With other tired players on view or not performing well, Cork resisted the final substitution, a strange decision. Bournemouth now looked the more likely winners and nearly nicked it when Josh Low, his confidence shot, missed a ball defending 10 yards out. A Bournemouth player put his effort wide, a little surprised that the ball had fallen to him, when he should have done better. I'm glad he didn't! The final shock, and confirmation that City weren't going to win, was another barnstorming Boland run through midfield. Unfortunately, he touched the ball too far and went in hard and committed for a 50/50 challenge with a Bournemouth counterpart. My reaction was bad challenge on Boland but ref Fletcher had other ideas and showed Boland his 2nd yellow, then red card. He never spoke to the Bournemouth player whose challenge was equally bad but with all their subs used, he limped badly in the final 5 minutes. Alan Cork, back on the touchline having completed his latest ban, was screaming from the side. Sam Hammam went behind the goal in a stewards jacket but neither could get the desired result from the team. It was an astounding turnaround in the game but it is clear that there are problems which need to be addressed and I'm sure they will be, it is still early days. Bournemouth seem to be a bogey side to City, we have only beaten them once in the last 11 league meetings. It really should be twice, City can only blame themselves for not taking an easy three points. Bournemouth were organised but I expect to see them struggling towards the foot of the table. They came to Ninian Park with no goals and no points, it was easy to see why. Make no mistake, this was a bad result. The worst thing for City is that they have now fallen to 11th and have no game for a fortnight. The next game is a very tough fixture at Reading. and they are not at home for almost a month. It is very likely that City will be in the bottom half of the table themselves and some way adrift of the promotion/play off positions before the next home game which, in turn, could impact on current attendances. It's only 3 games into the season but the top of the table already features teams you expect to be there - Bristol City, Reading, QPR, Stoke, Huddersfield and Notts County. Cardiff are adrift because they should have won at Peterborough but didn't and should have beaten Bournemouth with ease and didn't. Reading away in a fortnight is already shaping up to be a very significant match this season. City have two weeks to get out of their bad habits, let's hope they use it well. Report from Wales On Sunday More than 13,000 Bluebirds fans were left dismayed and shocked after Cardiff stormed into what looked like an unassailable two-goal lead - and then stopped playing. Leo Fortune-West and Robert Earnshaw scored City's goals as they swept Bournemouth's young team aside and looked set for a big win. Even Bournemouth manager Sean O'Driscoll was shocked at the final result as two goals in eight minutes left the Bluebirds gasping. Warren Feeney smacked home a penalty after Daniel Gabbidon had pulled him down and then Jason Tindall fired home the equaliser after a blunder by the normally so dependable Andy Legg. "We were lucky," said O'Driscoll. "We could have been standing here talking about no points and no goals. Instead we might even have won it." Cardiff's terrible day was completed when Willie Boland, a fiery competitor in midfield, was sent off for a second bookable offence. To be fair, Boland and Bournemouth skip-per Eddie Howe both went in hard. Only Boland was booked and that may have seemed harsh, but it was tough to criticise referee Mike Fletcher for booking the Cardiff man. "Both players went in for the challenge and the referee made up his own mind," said a diplomatic Cork, who has just completed a nine-match touchline ban for comments about referees. For almost an hour, Cardiff City looked certain winners. Bournemouth set out to frustrate, packing midfield, and they did it well until Earnshaw lost his marker wide on the left with a dazzling turn. His cross was inch perfect, the sort of service big strikers love, and Fortune-West buried his header. Soon after half time, Earnshaw lashed in a second. His dipped shot from 20 yards flew past startled goalkeeper Gareth Stewart and into the net. At that moment it seemed nothing could stop Cardiff City earning all three points. After all, the experienced Spencer Prior was marshalling the defence on his league debut for the Bluebirds and Bournemouth still hadn't scored a goal this season. The truth was that O'Driscoll's men didn't do much themselves to alter that situation. Their two goals were down to defensive sloppiness from Cardiff players. First Gabbidon, so sure, so solid this season, got into a tangle with Feeney when City failed to deal with a long ball and both went down. The penalty was given, Gabbidon was booked and Feeney jumped up to score from the spot with 59 minutes gone. Another long ball into the penalty area was allowed to bounce by Legg and Tindall, totally unmarked, darted in behind him to fire home after 67 minutes. Suddenly City's game plan had fallen apart and Bournemouth looked capable of winning a game even they had felt they had little chance of earning any reward from. "We conceded two sloppy goals," said Cork. "We should have dealt with both balls into our penalty area. "For a fourth successive game this season a team has failed to create many chances and scored goals. "Bournemouth had three chances - and scored two goals." The Bluebirds now have a two-week break without a Second Division match and Cork said: "That's bad. If other teams around us win they'll have points and the table will give a false impression. "I'd much rather we were playing over the next fortnight." There were moments of magic from Cardiff City: Earnie's beautiful turn and cross for the first goal and a powerhouse shot from Des Hamilton saved by the flying Gareth Stewart just two of them. But there were also moments of sloppiness which proved so costly. And City's failure to win is certain to mean that owner Sam Hammam, back from his trip to San Francisco and watching from the stand, will talk to Cork this morning about stepping up the search for new talent. A front man is needed and a wide right player - if Jason Bowen takes time to recover from his hamstring problem. Hammam won't waste time - and the two-week break will give him the chance to act. Several players - Rhys Weston, Andy Legg and substitute Josh Low among them - failed to get to grips with a match played in stifling heat. Gabbidon fell below the standards he has set for himself. Overall, City were pretty good for a long time - and awful for a crucial short time. Michael Simpkins did well before he went off injured, having suffered a small tear to a hamstring. In attack, Earnshaw, as always, was lively and pacey. Fortune-West, too, did well and Paul Brayson sharpened things up when he went on for Des Hamilton. It should have been a day to savour for Prior, the £700,000 signing from Manchester City who was making his debut. Instead Prior, his teammates and every City fan went home bitterly disappointed with the result. Cardiff City are still unbeaten, but it doesn't seem that way. Five points from three games, five out of nine, is not good enough for a City team aiming high. Goalscorer Fortune-West said afterwards: "When we looked at our first three games we felt we were capable of winning all of them. We might have been top, but we have failed to make the most of our chance." Report from www.sports.com The Bluebirds, with goals from Leo Fortune-West after 38 minutes and Robert Earnshaw four minutes into the second half were looking completely in charge against a young Bournemouth side that had failed to earn a point or score a goal in their first two NationwideSecond Division matches of the new season. But a controversial penalty, awarded for a foul by Danny Gabbidon on Warren Feeney in the 60th mnute, proved the turning point. It looked a harsh decision by Worcestshire referee Mick Fletcher and Spencer Prior, making his Cardiff debut after recovering from a cracked cheekbone suffered in a pre-season training accident, was booked for making his feelings known. Feeney picked himself up and ignored all the fuss that was going on around him before beating Neil Alexander's dive to the right with a perfectly struck spot kick. It was the start of a nightmare few minutes for Cardiff who completely fell to pieces and allowed Bournemouth to run the show. Even so, there seemed little danger when Eddie Howe lifted a long ball from the middle of his own half towards the Cardiff penalty area, more in hope than expectation. But central defenders Gabbidon and Prior were nowhere to be seen and Andy Legg's desperate attempt to cover the gap bordered on the farcical. Legg completely mistimed his jump at the bouncing ball and Jason Tindall had all the time he needed to control it well before beating Alexander from about 15 yards. "I certainly hope my players learn their lessons for some very sloppy mistakes," Cork said. "For some reason I can't explain, we went through ten minutes of absolute chaos and need to raise our concentration levels." "We now have a two week break from league action because of our Wales under-21 international calls and that is bad for us as it wll put extra pressure on my players when they return to action, especially if we have slipped into the bottom half of the table by then." Cardiff seemed to be coasting to their second home win of the season. Earnshaw set up their opener when he cleverly rounded Shaun Maher close to the Bournemouth byeline before sending a pin-point cross to the far post where Fortune-West outjumped his marker to head powerfully home. Twenty year old Earnshaw appeared to have wrapped up the points for Cardiff just four minutes into the second half. He collected a short pass from Graham Kavanagh and was allowed to take it on several paces by the retreating defence, He then struck a fierce right-foot shot just inside Gareth Stewart's right-hand post. But Cardiff then fell away badly and Bournempouth came back in to the picture in some style. To end a bad half hour for Cardiff, midfielder Willie Boland, already booked for an earlier foul, was sent off for a second bookable offence in the 85th minute when he brought down Howe with a lunging two footed tackle. Report from www.botw.co.uk |
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