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Wednesday 10th |
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| Cardiff S. Kelly Cadette (P. Kelly 86) Skelly Jarman Davis Owen Bowen Middleton O'Sullivan Earnshaw (Roberts 63) Nugent (Harris 88) |
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Rhyl Smith N. Davies Morgan O. Jones(A. Davies 70) Simms (A. Jones 80) Leightwood Patterson Prior Hayder Urquhardt Millington (G. Davies 70) |
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| Report
from NigelBlues. Attendance: 832 Rhyl fans: 4 Pitch: Perfect Atmosphere: Nearly as good as on the moon Weather: Absolutely freezing Cardiff City, it seemed, didn't want to make any money tonight. Season ticket holders admitted free, too few canteen staff so people walked away, the bars in the Grandstand were closed and on the pitch City nearly threw away all the prize money too. However a late winner from Craig Middleton earned City a cool 16,500 (15,000 for winning the group and 1,500 for winning the match). All players on duty for Barnet were rested so that presumably means Dai Thomas will be playing whilst tonight's side including a number of youth players either starting or introduced as substitutes. I did no hear some of the names and did not recognise some players, mainly defenders. Apart from the financial reward, there were 2 bright spots for City. There was a rare first team outing for Robert Earnshaw who grasped it. He did not score but brought at least 5 good saves out of the Rhyl keeper, looked very sharp throughout and proved again how baffling it is that he does not feature on the substitute bench at least. He looked like he can easily do a job in the 1st team and also wore very fetching gloves tonight. The other positive was Jason Bowen who had an excellent 90 minutes playing in central midfield and who had some great runs and passes. He is getting closer to first team fitness all the time. City started brightly and should have had a 1st minute penalty when Earnshaw was blatantly brought down 5 yards inside the area. The ref not only gave a free kick outside the area but also on the opposite side to where his run took place. It was bizarre. Another penalty was denied for a handball later and then to compound it, Lee Jarman (dodgy '70's type perm tonight) was adjudged to have handled seconds later and a free-kick given the other way. To the shock of all present, including their own players, Rhyl opened the scoring on 3 minutes after an excellent weaving run and shot by their centre forward was saved by Kelly for their no 7 to score the rebound. These were their best players. City didn't get going for a while although Earnie battled away and brought saves from the Rhyl goalkeeper. The keeper had a blinder and, whilst City were far from outstanding, it could have been at least 6 goals if it were not for him. City's frustration was best expressed when Billy Ayre tried to blast a ball kicked towards him into orbit ... but missed it! However his anger got through as City scored seconds later. Jason Bowen, on one of his many mazy runs, cut throught the Rhyl defence and a tackle deflected the ball to Kevin Nugent. He dummied and forced the keeper to dive before slotting the ball home from 5 yards on 28 minutes. Three minutes later, City took the lead with an outstanding goal. A corner was played to the outside edge of the area and following a 1-2 move, Wayne O'Sullivan hammered the ball high into the opposite corner of the net from the angle of the area. It should have been the cue for more goals but they never arrived, mainly thanks to good Rhyl defending, outstanding goalkeeping and poor shooting too. On 66 minutes, Rhyl won a free-kick just inside their half and hit a long ball towards the corner of the Grange End. Their no 9 beat a slow Wayne O' Sullivan and moved into the area and somehow shot across goal and into the net from a near impossible angle. It took me a while to realise it was an equaliser as City should have been 2 or 3 clear. Earnie was withdrawn for Christian Roberts and other youth subs were brought on. City kept pushing forward but the elusive took a while. It arrived as late as the 86th minute after more outstanding work by Jason Bowen took him around the back of the Rhyl defence. He then clipped a perfect centre for Craig Middleton to bury a header from close range. It was not a pretty game to watch as the scoreline was much closer than is acceptable but it now means we have a home 1/4 final game versus Swansea. Rhyl played well, battled hard and must be pleased with their performance. They did not look like a lowly League of Wales side which is what they are. GROUP A FINAL TABLE 1st Cardiff 11 pts 2nd Merthyr 10 pts 3rd Bangor 7 pts 4th Rhyl 4 pts |
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