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Friday 5th |
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| Cardiff
City Hallworth Delaney Legg Mitchell Eckhardt Carpenter (Hill 52) Fowler  Young Williams (Bowen 64) Nugent Middleton (O'Sullivan 80) |
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Chester
City Cutler Davidson Cross Richardson Crosby Alford Flitcroft Woods Murphy Beckett (Wright 89) Lancaster Subs not used |
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| Report by
NigelBlues. Attendance: 7,526 Chester fans: 150 approx Weather: Cold but clear and still (after a sunny day!) Pitch: Perfect Let's be straight. City started superbly, ran out of ideas and fell away against a Chester side who came determined for a 0-0 draw and got it with some ease. In the first 15 minutes, City had 4 efforts cleared off the line from a Nugent shot and then header, a John Williams glancing header that some fans thought had crossed the line and a Scott Young point blank effort from 5 yards that was hit straight at he keeper. If any of those had gone in, Chester would have had to come out and play and City may well have gone on to get a few but we didn't. There were other first half efforts but the shots seemed to go straight into the midriff of the Chester keeper and after the superb opening, all of the efforts were from outside the box. Chester had 2 chances all match, both in the first half. One shot that went narrowly wide and a Nicky Richardson low drive from 25 yards which had Hallworth getting down smartly to save. In the second half, for all their possession and movement, I don't recall City putting a single effort on goal. John Williams headed poorly over from a superb Nugent cross early on and Mark Delaney sliced a shot following the best move of the match when 3 City players were queuing up in the area. It was the classic, "it had nil-nil written all over it" in front of another big but very quiet and subdued crowd and also, Aston Villa Manager, John Gregory who was apparently watching Delaney. If he came personally, could he swoop soon? Delaney had a solid if unspectacular match and amazingly got the sponsors match of the match award when City's best performers by far were Jason Fowler who looked class every time on the ball but sadly he never penetrated in the final third and Andy Legg who gave 110%, played exceptionally well and is surely set to keep Mike Ford out of the side. So much for the game, what were the positives and negatives to take away? On the plus side, we remain on course for promotion and never looked in any danger last night. City play as a team, have good spirit and won't get beaten much during the run-in. City kept their shape and rarely panicked. If this a bad patch, it's not as if we're losing. It was also our first clean sheet for 10 league matches and although Chester looked very limited, only Cambridge have scored more away from home than them. We'll still be fine. On the not so good side, the current run (4 points from 5 games) is not promotion form and as bad as we started the season. The good work done by getting a hard point at Rochdale is lost if we do not win at home. Stating the obvious but it is better to win one, lose one. The team have lost the winning habit and need to get a win quickly to keep confidence as much as anything else. The game was crying out for Fowler, Legg, Bowen, Hill to run through Chester but nobody tried it once. Nugent and Fowler looked very ordinary and workmanlike. With all that quality, how come we looked so awful in the final third and created next to nothing after the start? Williams looked particularly jaded after running himself into the ground on Tuesday, still want to tell me those FAW games are good for City? We must have had 20 corners and Legg long throws but did not win one header. Scott Young is totally out of form and does not look particularly fit. Let's hope Carpenter isn't injured and Fowler's booking means a suspension next week. Bowen is not a striker. He replaced Williams, looked lively but didn't get into the area once. The biggest problem is that, the squad needs strengthening and City don't look like doing it. Brentford have fortified their promotion bid by signing 3 players for more than 250,000 in the past week, Frankie is looking at loan signings only. We have known all season we need a striker and with just 3 goals in the past 5 games, it is glaringly obvious again. Frankie, I love you to death but please do something. And why have some baffling tactics? Taking Middleton off to push Legg inside along Fowler and Hill seemed bizarre in the extreme and did not work. In the madness theory are Friday night home games are just not good for players or supporters alike. 8 straight wins with goals aplenty then 2 Friday home matches, due to bleeding rugby, produces average performances, 1 goal and a dull atmosphere. Maybe playing Saturday afternoon or perhaps Sunday would have been better? My mad theory is that Cambridge going top may not be a bad thing. It may give City the biggest kick up the backside and inspire them and they rarely showed the arrogance of league leaders that Frankie is calling for. There are chances to make amends quickly. Supporters leaving Ninian last night were worried about Brighton but in losing 8 out of 16 homes, only Hull are worse, and City should expect to do well. Torquay at home next Saturday, barring Neville Southall miracles, should be 3 points too. And that's all we need, a couple of quick wins. Let's hope it's not too much to ask for. Not much of a match report but, there again, there wasn't much of a match to report. |
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