' Good Win for Cardiff City '

FINAL RESULT

CARDIFF CITY U23'S 3-1 COVENTRY UNDER 23'S TONIGHT AT CARDIFF CITY STADIUM


HT 2-0



Half time at Cardiff City Stadium and its 2-0 to the hosts with goals from Semi Ajayi and Macauley Southam




TEAM NEWS: Cardiff City U23 v Coventry City U23 - Ben Stevenson returns for City's Development side


Nicky Eaden takes charge of Coventry City's U23s side as they travel to Wales to face Championship side Cardiff City Under 23's.



Corey Addai continues in goal, while Jacob Whitmore, Jack Finch and Cian Harries form a back three. Devon Kelly-Evans and Bilal Sayoud will operate as wing-backs, with Callum Maycock and Ben Stevenson, returning from suspension, as the midfield pairing.

Jodi Jones starts in behind front the front two of Jack McBean and George Thomas.


Teams


Cardiff City U23: Murphy (GK), Rees, John, Weymans, Ajayi, Blaise, Southam, Wharton, Harris, O'Sullivan, Kennedy.

Subs: O'Reilly (GK), Abbruzzese, Waite, Coxe, Spence.


Coventry City U23: Addai (GK), Whitmore, Finch, Harries, Dev. Kelly-Evans (C), Stevenson, Maycock, Siyoud, Jones, McBean, Thomas.

Subs: Scuza (GK), Thompson, Bayliss, Shipley, Ponticelli.

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GOAL!!! Semi Ajayi puts the hosts ahead, volleying in Marco Weymans' cross (1-0)

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YELLOW: Theo Wharton receives an early caution for a foul on Thomas.

Coventry City go close as the 'keeper initially palms Jones' effort before Kelly-Evans flashes it wide on the rebound. 1-0.

39 mins - CHANCE: Tommy O'Sullivan heads over the bar from six-yards out. 1-0.

43 mins - GOAL: Ball played through the Coventry City defence and Macauley Southam applies a lovely finish into the top corner. 2-0



43' mins | GOAL!!! Tommy O'Sullivan plays in Macauley Southam with the outside of his foot and the winger fires it into the top corner (2-0)

Half time at Cardiff City Stadium and its 2-0 to the hosts with goals from Semi Ajayi and Macauley Southam

We're back underway... 2-0

McBean slips it around the corner to Sayoud, who hits it into the side netting. 2-0

Sub for @CardiffCityFC
Off- Marco Weymans
On- Sion Spence

YELLOW: Devon Kelly-Evans goes into the book for a foul on Declan John

Sub for @Coventry_City
Off- Bilal Sayoud
On- Jordan Shipley

72 min - GOAL! Coventry City get a goal back as Cian Harries goes on a mazy run past multiple defenders before squaring it for Thomas! 2-1.

76' min | GOAL!!! Mark Harris taps in the rebound after O'Sullivan's long-range shot was saved (3-1)

YELLOW: Late tackle from Declan John sees the defender booked.

CHANCE: Declan John looks to be in behind the Coventry City defence... Addai saves well to deny him! 3-1

FULL TIME: @CardiffCityFC 3-1 Coventry City U23s.

' Match Report '

U23/DVP | CARDIFF CITY 3–1 COVENTRY CITY

Tuesday 20th December 2016

Cardiff City’s U23 development side defeated Coventry City, 3-1, at Cardiff City Stadium on Monday, 19th December 2016.

Cardiff started the game brightly with Dylan Rees causing trouble on the right side. The Coventry back line stood firm throughout this early period of pressure until a Marco Weymans cross found Semi Ajayi unmarked at the back post and the big centre-half volleyed the ball in to put Cardiff ahead.

CovReport_169
Coventry had an excellent chance to level the game on the 20-minute mark as Jodi Jones made a powerful run down the wing before firing a low shot at Brian Murphy in the Cardiff goal. The goalkeeper parried the ball out as far as Devon Kelly-Evans but the attacker volleyed wide.

Kelly-Evans continued to look dangerous for the away side and displayed wonderful skill and pace as he dribbled from the half-way line before firing a shot just wide of Murphy’s goal.

The Bluebirds started causing Coventry problems down the left wing as Macauley Southam played in a number of teasing crosses towards Mark Harris. One of these found Harris unmarked but the striker headed just over the bar.

Minutes later another Southam cross fell to Harris, who managed to dribble around Coventry keeper Corry Addai but was unable to find the back of the net from an acute angle.

This attacking pressure from Cardiff paid off soon after that Harris chance, as Tommy O’Sullivan played a delightful through ball to Southam with the outside of his foot. The Cardiff-born midfielder then fired the ball into the top right corner of the net to give City a two-goal lead going into the break.

After coming on at the break, substitute James Waite was soon involved, dribbling past an opponent before striking an effort from outside the box which was saved well by Addai.

Belgian U19 international Weymans had a fantastic chance to extend Cardiff’s lead but he couldn’t quite get the power behind his header and it was comfortably saved.

Just past the hour mark Cardiff brought on sixteen-year-old Sion Spence(pictured below) to make his U23 debut. Midfielder and Welsh youth international Spence has been a key player for the U16 & U18 teams this term, and continued his impressive 2016/17 with a strong start to life at U23 level.

Spence_169
Coventry managed to pull a goal back with fifteen minutes to go as a low cross from Cian Harries found George Thomas in the box to tap in.

City’s two-goal advantage was restored soon after though as Harris reacted fastest to tap in after O’Sullivan’s shot was spilled by Addai.

Cardiff ended the game comfortably to see off the visitors and continue their fine form this season with another high-scoring victory.

U23/DVP FINAL SCORE: CARDIFF CITY 3–1 COVENTRY CITY (Ajayi 8’, Southam 43’, Harris 76’; Thomas 72’)

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I have been wondering lately who could replace Warnock if he leaves in 2 years??? Hmmmmmmm


Bellamy looks on as Development team go second in their league.
Posted on December 20, 2016 by The other Bob Wilson


Cardiff City’s Under 23 team started their season playing home matches at the club’s training centre in the Vale of Glamorgan, but since mid September the games have been shared at the Leckwith athletics facility and Cardiff City Stadium.

Last night’s game with with Coventry at the latter venue continued a strange trend which has seen results and performance vary greatly depending on where the team were playing. I’ve seen all three matches at Leckwith, with City’s displays getting progressively worse as they’ve drawn two without scoring and lost the other one 1-0 – believe me, if you had sent a naughty young son or daughter to watch one of these matches on a Monday afternoon and then told them they’d go to another one unless they started behaving themselves, you’d soon have a perfectly behaved little cherub or angel on your hands!

When the game is at Cardiff City Stadium though, it’s a different matter completely. After a draw against Sunderland in a match where the Under 23s were always the better team, there have been 3-0 and 4-0 wins over Palace and QPR respectively and now they have a 3-1 victory over a lively Coventry side who could feel that the margin of defeat was harsh on them.

In those earlier conclusive wins over the two London sides, City put out very experienced sides by Development team standards, with a sprinkling of first team squad members involved, but this latest match saw something in line with the sort of selections that have been the norm in recent seasons.

You would have thought that only Declan John out of last night’s ten outfield starters would have a chance, albeit a very slight one, of playing Championship football for us in the short to medium term. Therefore, to beat a Coventry side whose record at this level is a lot better than you would expect from a club where the first team look like they could well be relegated to the Fourth tier this season, was more of an achievement than it may at first appear.

When City rubber stamped their early authority with a goal after eight minutes as Semi Ajayi fired home from close range after Marco Weymans’ precise cross. I felt the game was going to be a very one sided, but, instead, Coventry had grounds to feel that they could, and should, have been in the lead after thirty minutes play.

City did get sloppy during this time, but that wasn’t the only reason for the away side taking control and visiting captain Devon Kelly-Evans should have equalised after Murphy, who had already made one or two decent saves, could only palm a shot out to him standing just six yards from goal, but the resultant effort flew wide when it looked easier to score.

Kelly-Evans was more impressive with a run past two or three opponents and then a shot that went just wide and the visitors then had what looked like a good shout for a penalty turned down after Jordan Blaise barged into George Thomas, only for a referee who was an odd mixture of let them get on with it laissez-faire and officious clamping down on harmless looking tackles, to award a free kick on the edge of the penalty area for another offence.

City needed to raise their game if they wanted to hold on to their lead and, to their credit, they did. Centre forward Mark Harris probably should have done better with a header from about six yards out and then a fine pass from Ajayi found the otherwise quiet Matt Kennedy, who crossed low for Harris to sidestep keeper Addai, only to see the ball roll out harmlessly for a goal kick as he ran out of room.

Captain Tommy O’Sullivan’s performance had tended to mirror his teams with a strong start being followed by some careless stuff, but he then provided a moment of the sort of quality that had many thinking they were watching a probable first teamer of the future when he first played at this level about five years ago. O’Sullivan’s lovely ball found the lively Macauley Southam whose crisp shot gave the pass the finish it deserved.

City, who probably owed their lead to the fact that they were that bit more assured in front of goal than their opponents, were watched from the technical area by two more members of what seems to be a huge cast of coaches/assistants lately.

I think it was Matthew Bloxham who was the “main man” this time, but alongside him was Craig Bellamy, the newly appointed Player Development Manager. Bellars was lower profile than his colleague, but occasionally gave instructions to the players when he felt it was required. However, based on this evidence, if he ever does become our manager, those who like their bosses to be shouting, jumping about like a jack in the box and waving their arms about constantly on the touchline, are not going to be impressed!


Semi Ajayi puts us 1-0 up.*

Maybe the Bellamy influence was felt most in the choice and use of substitutes because, in what was the most interesting aspect of the night to me, we saw the sort of players the club must have had in mind with the “revamp” of the Development team talked about last week, given plenty of game time.

The replacement of Kennedy by Under 18 team regular James Waite at half time did not appear to be a the result of an injury for the winger and the way Bloxham spent time talking to him on the touch line for a minute or two just before half time gave the impression that it was a planned move.

Whatever the cause of Waite’s early introduction, he immediately looked confident and was soon getting away a well struck shot from twenty yards that caused Addai few problems.

On the hour mark, it was the turn of sixteen year old Sion Spence to get his first taste of football at this level. Spence, who started the season in the Under 16 team, has done well since becoming a regular in the Under 18s and his introduction in place of Weymans, hopefully, represents the best example so far of the “fast tracking” into the level below the first team that will become a fairly regular occurrence under Bellamy’s watch.

Again, the substitution was almost certainly a planned one, but when Under 18s captain Cameron Coxe came on for Blaise for the last fifteen minutes or so it was because of an injury.

Coxe, a full back/wing back who I’d never seen play centre back before, slotted seamlessly into the middle of the defence and did a good job, while the two lads in midfield did not look out of place at either. There was the odd misplaced pass, but the way Spence and Waite combined to set Declan John free for a late shot that was turned around the post by Allai was a delight, with the former showing his trademark appreciation of what’s going on around him to slide a precise pass out to the latter, whose cheeky backheel put the full back in on goal.

With Coventry unable to fashion as many threatening positions as they had managed in the first half, the game was fizzling out somewhat, but then a run down the left past a few City defenders by a Coventry player produced a low cross which left Thomas with a tap in from a few yards out.

Having got the goal they deserved and set up what could have been a very interesting last quarter of an hour or so, Coventry, or rather their keeper, then proceeded to shoot themselves in the foot – while I didn’t mean that literally of course, Allai was pretty lucky not to have damaged his foot in another way.

When O’Sullivan took aim from about twenty five yards out, he produced another well struck shot, just like Waite’s had been, and although the save was more difficult this time for the Coventry keeper, he should have done a lot better than knock the ball out to the advancing Harris who had a simple task to restore City’s two goal lead from the edge of the six yard box.

Allai knew he was at fault and, like plenty of goalies before him when they have conceded a goal kicked one of the posts in frustration, but, this time, it was done with such force that the clang on contact echoed around the stadium – he really could have done some serious damage to himself, but the ironic thing was that his kicking, which had been pretty erratic, seemed to improve significantly after this!

As this table shows, City end the year four points behind Charlton (who usually win this league) in second place and travel to face the league leaders in their first match after the mid season break.

On the face of it, we look well placed to become one of the two sides to take their place in the end of season Play Offs. It’s not a new situation for us either because we have been regular contenders near the top of the league since the current format was introduced in 2012 I think it was.

However, the almost complete lack of youngsters breaking into the first team in that time rather backs up the notion that results at the levels below the first team are not that important, it’s about developing players who are good enough to make an impact with the seniors. Hopefully, they’ll then either have a long, successful career at Cardiff or earn them the sort of transfer fee that enables clubs to undergo the sort of rebuilding job that so many of our rivals did last summer.

Therefore. if the presence of the likes of Coxe, Spence and Waite in the Under 23 team helps brings about a decline in results that sees us miss out on a top two finish, it will still be for the best if it means that our Academy will eventually again be doing what it hasn’t been for far too long.

*picture courtesy of http://www.cardiffcityfc.co.uk/