‘ Six-goal thriller ‘

Cardiff City rounded off their pre-season campaign with a six-goal thriller against Swindon Town, running out 4-2 winners at the County Ground.

By Glen Williams



The Bluebirds were tremendous in the first half, when Max Watters, Andy Rinomhota and Ryan Wintle all found the back of the net. It was a bit of a different story in the second half as the intensity dropped ever so slightly and Swindon pulled a couple of goals back, however Sheyi Ojo's well-taken ensured the victory was in the bag.

There was a lot of anticipation leading up to the announcement of team news, with many believing Steve Morison would name as close to what he believed was his best starting XI as possible. And it looked like he did just that.

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Roma837ine Sawyers, who looked like he was playing a different sport he was so much better than his Swindon counterparts, was named at the tip of a midfield three, while Mahlon Romeo and Jamilu Collins were the full-backs of choice.

And the Bluebirds utterly dominated proceedings from the off.

Sheyi Ojo found joy constantly down the right-hand side and drifted infield to cause a bit of menace, too. It was that movement which prompted the first chance of the half when he struck a clean shot from 20 yards to force Sol Brynn into an acrobatic save.

Cardiff were emboldened by Swindon's passive defending and gained total control of the match.

The first goal came courtesy of some lovely build-up play from O'Dowda, who skinned his man on the right-hand side of the area before rolling a perfectly-weighed pass into Watters' path. The striker tapped home the easiest of chances.

Just two minutes later it was a horror show for the hosts' defence when Cian Harries sold his goalkeeper short with a poor pass back, allowing Rinomhota to pounce. He closed down the keeper, took the ball and passed it into the net, as easy as you like.

The ex-Reading midfielder should have doubled his personal tally, too, 10 minutes later. Ryan Allsop hit Max Watters with a laser-like pass on halfway, before the striker turned and slotted in a neat ball behind the defence. Rinomhota was one-on-one with the keeper, but dragged his shot wide.

The Bluebirds really stepped it up then, though, and Swindon couldn't live with them. The third goal was inevitable, it was just who was going to be the name on the scoresheet.

Well, it was Ryan Wintle. Some rapid build-up play resulted in Rinomhota turning a brilliant pass around the corner and Wintle shifted it on to his left and struck it into the corner of the goal to make it 3-0 before the half-time whistle blew.

While Allsop generally had very little to do, Ben Gladwin found enough room to fire off a sweetly-struck volley from a tight angle. He struck it well and it was sliding into City's near post, but the Bluebirds stopper did well to react and palm it away from danger.

However he was unable to keep a clean sheet for the entirety of the match. In the second half, the Robins enjoyed more possession and chances and converted one 15 minutes from time when Tyrese Shade slotted home a low, driven shot.

But Cardiff were not to be deterred and marched straight up the other end to score and restore their three-goal cushion. Mark Harris, with his first touch, intercepted a pass, turned and slotted a nice pass into Ojo, who took the chance well with his right foot.

There was, however, time for another goal as Jacob Wakeling struck late to cut the deficit to two goals.

A couple of disappointing moments in that second half, granted, but, largely, it was a positive performance from the Bluebirds and one from which Steve Morison will have learnt a lot.



Swindon Town XI: Brynn (Ward 45); Shade, Brennan (Kanu 82), MacDonald (Wakeling 72), Harries (Baudry 45), Hutton; Gladwin (Clayton 72), Reed, Williams (Darcy 72); McKirdy, Adeloye (Khan 72).

Subs: None.




Cardiff City XI: Allsop; Romeo, Ng, Kipre, Collins; Rinomhota, Wintle, Sawyers (King 81); Ojo (Tanner 78), Watters (Harris 75), O'Dowda (Whyte 78).

Subs: Alnwick, Phillips, Campbell, Bagan, Nelson, Denham, Sang.

1. Did we deserve it? Absolutely
2. Were Swindon poor? Absolutely
3. When we click we look great, but plenty of heart in mouth moments again from defenders.
4. Collins overlapping looked very good today
5. We were gifted two goals
6. We gifted them a goal
7. Strikers of note would make a huge difference
8. Ojo was stand out as against Shrewsbury and looks like he has something to prove
9.Ref Simon Cooper at his Simon Cooper anti Cardiff best

Without getting carried away remember the opposition and the fact Cardiff conceded2 goals against them

Without getting carried away remember the opposition and the fact Cardiff conceded2 goals against them

I'd rather win 4-2 playing the way we did than scarpe a 1-0 with hoofball.

Just enjoy the football, this is what we wanted for a long time. It's the start of a brand new era for the club and personally I'm loving watching City at the moment.

Big test next week, we get something out of Norwich who imo are the best team in the league on paper and City will believe they can beat any side.

I'd rather win 4-2 playing the way we did than scarpe a 1-0 with hoofball.

Just enjoy the football, this is what we wanted for a long time. It's the start of a brand new era for the club and personally I'm loving watching City at the moment.

Big test next week, we get something out of Norwich who imo are the best team in the league on paper and City will believe they can beat any side.

I just hope that if we lose to Norwich, which is more than a possibility, we all give the team a chance before slagging them down. I watched them v Swindon today and I though we were excellent for 45 mins. Yes the opposition were poor but maybe we made them look awful. It’s a million miles from the football that we were playing last season, particularly at the start. .

Another Good Run Out For The Boys