Tuesday
5th January 1999
FAW PREMIER CUP

Belated but for those of you away from South Wales, here's a brief account of
the game from the minimal coverage it has received.

Rhyl (0) 0 Cardiff City (2) 4
Dai Thomas 20, 28, 90
Rob Earnshaw 83 minutes

Attendance: 302
Pitch: Decent at start but cut up badly during game.

LINE-UP
S. Kelly
G. Mitchell L. Jarman J. Eckhardt ©
L. Phillips A. Legg
M. Bonner R. Carpenter D. Hill
D. Thomas C. Roberts

Subs: M. Delaney (90) G. Stoker (76) R. Earnshaw (68)
Replacing: Eckhardt Carpenter Roberts

Cardiff City won a one-sided clash and will have left Rhyl slightly
disappointed to have secured a 4 goal victory. Rhyl , last but one in the
League of Wales, were described as very poor and Cardiff spurned half a dozen
relatively easy chances and had plenty more opportunities during the 90
minutes.
Only 3 players who started against Yeovil were in the 11 as City gave run outs
to players not recently featuring in action. Richard Carpenter, sorely
missing in midfield against Yeovil due to flu, made a welcome return. Another
flu victim, John Williams, was missing for the first time this season from the
starting line-up or substitutes bench.
Of the fringe players, Seamus Kelly, made a couple of smart second-half saves
but had little to do. Mark Bonner recovered after a poor start to the match
and was looking a very useful and fit player by the end. Andy Legg again had
an excellent match with his crossing being a feature of the game. It may not
be long before he starts a full match for City.
Christian Roberts did not take his opportunity and was replaced by Rob
Earnshaw who again showed his abilities with a goal and close misses. Lee
Jarman had his best City match for a long while and was far more authoritative
than usual. Most pleasing return however was Gareth Stoker featuring in his
first City 1st team match for nearly 12 months since he suffered cruciate
ligament injuries. In fifteen minutes, "Busy" showed that he had lost none of
his battling midfield qualities.
The star of the night was Dai Thomas. He now is much much fitter and
stronger, scored a hat-trick, could easily have had more and his all round
contribution to City's performance was outstanding.
The final score was 4-0 but at least 5 easy chances were spurned. As far as
the goals were concerned;

20 minutes 1-0
A suicidal defensive back pass in a goalmouth scramble found Lee Jarman in
front of the Rhyl keeper. Jarman passed across goal for Dai Thomas to stroke
the ball into an empty net from 2 yards for the easiest goal imaginable.

28 minutes 2-0
A Richard Carpenter corner kick was partially cleared. It found Dai Thomas 15
yards from goal and he sweetly volleyed it back with interest as it flew into
the net.

83 minutes 3-0
After shooting wide minutes earlier when racing through and then having
another effort saved, Rob Earnshaw finally scored with a low shot easily
beating Rhyl's stranded goalkeeper.

90 minutes 4-0
Dai Thomas' hat-trick. A cross-field ball found Mark Bonner. He coolly and
calmly chested down for Dai Thomas to hit an immaculate volley into the corner
of the net from 18 yards. Both of his volleyed goals were described as very
impressive.

Rhyl return to Ninian Park on January 19th for the final Group A game.
Victory by Cardiff City seems certain and Rhyl must already be fearing the
likely margin of defeat. Victory is important to City as the group winner
collects 22,500 pounds prize money and are guaranteed a home draw in the last
8 knockout phase of the competition.