In a game of very few chances, Cardiff City ground out what these days is often called a statement win by scoring only the third goal Stevenage had conceded on their own ground this season to clinch a 1-0 win over the team that stood third in the table before kick off.
It was also Stevenage’s first home defeat of the campaign and to go to the first thing that struck me when I switched to the coverage of the game, you have to give them credit for what has up to now been a genuine challenge for an automatic promotion place when they’re watched by such tiny crowds. The home club’s Broadhall Way ground has a capacity of 7,000 I believe and with City’s traveling support of 1,300 filling the away end, I was thinking in terms of a capacity crowd for this top of the table tussle.
Instead, the huge gaps in the home stands indicated that the locals are just not buying into their team’s efforts to reach the Championship for the first time in the club’s history. A crowd of 4,428 meant that almost a third of the attendance were City fans with just over 3,000 there to support Stevenage.
Based on this evidence and their record this season (best defence in the league and one of the worst attacks), I suppose the people of Stevenage want to be entertained more – tonight, they had two shots, neither of which were on target. The best chance they had came in the second half when the ball dropped to their centre back Freestone stood about fifteen yards out, but he sliced his shot well wide – I can’t recall their other goal attempt.
Stevenage were apparently missing five first teamers through injury and so that may go some of the way towards explaining their lack of a goal threat, but despite fielding a seventeen year old making his debut at right wing back, they did show why they had only conceded eleven goals in sixteen league games before tonight.
Because Stevenage were able to keep us at arms length for the majority of the time, there was always the chance that they could pinch the one goal which always looked like it would be enough to take the points. However, having shown an ability to battle for a win at Northampton in their last away game, City again showed that they’re not the soft touch I sometimes suspected they were when facing big, physical League One sides.
City made three changes from the side that defeated Huddersfield on the weekend in a completely different type of game as Calum Chambers, Alex Robertson and Joel Colwell came in for Dylan Lawlor, David Turnbull and Omari Kellyman. They soon settled to their task in front of a not so full away end as the kick off was delayed fifteen minutes in an effort to accommodate those who had been delayed by a mixture of traffic congestion and bad weather.
Actually, the weather relented before kick off and it was dry throughout a game that was played on a pitch in very good condition.
With Stevenage very much playing a set piece orientated game with plenty of battling for second balls, it was to City’s credit that throughout the first period, it was they who tended to emerge with possession from such situations..
Apparently, the home side had the goal attempt i can’t remember in the first half, but City were the ones who provided what little goalmouth action there was as Perry Ng burst on to a long pass and shot across the face of goal to send the ball a yard or two wide.
Joel Bagan, possibly our best player on the night, also provided a great cross which Yousef Salech headed wastefully wide from eight yards after getting in front of his marker.
That was it really as far as the first forty five minutes was concerned and the early signs after the break were that we may have missed our chance somewhat as the home side now seemed to be the ones winning the fifty fifties. However, City then managed to piece together a fluent move down their left which saw Bagan pick out Colwill whose improvised shot rebounded off the crossbar and over.
City swapped Kellyman for Colwill, but delayed other substitutions until the seventy fifth minute when Turnbull, Isaak Davies and Callum Robinson came on for Alex Robertson, Chris Willock and Cian Ashford.
Once again, a triple substitution saw City up the ante as Chambers forced home keeper Marschall into a diving save with the first on target effort of the night.
Nevertheless, although City were now pressing for the win, it looked like a 0-0 all over thoiugh until Robinson’s took a hand with his first involvement of the night.
Luck was on City’s side as Kellyman’s attempted pass deflected high into the air and dropped to Robinson, who controlled with his left foot and then adroitly volleyed across Marschall and into the net from just outside the penalty area.
It was a fine finish of a type you felt Stevenage could not match and they never really troubled us in the ten minutes or so that remained. With Bradford’s game at Pirt Vale a victim of the weather, we have stretched our lead at the top to four points and this is all beginning to look very promising all of a sudden. It was said that by some that we would improve throughout the season as the players became more used to BBM’s methods and it’s beginning to look like they may have had a point.
For me it was a case of Warnock ball Vs entertaining football. It’s the reason Stevenage will be up there at the end if injuries don’t intervene and probably the reason for a low home crowd.
Proof, if needed, that Barry ball trumps Warnock ball everytime.
See what I mean Paul? It took a long time before the team finally felt desperate enough to ‘distance shoot’ on target, and then Chambers and Robinson got the message.
That Stevenage outfit were a team of bruisers, and we did well not to let them rattle us.
I was particularly grateful that they took 59 minutes to bring on their number 8, the 24 year old Daniel Philips. He may have been no goal threat – he has never scored a goal in his EPL and SPFL playing history – but he sure ‘put himself about’ with some gusto. Looked like he could fight for the Middleweight Championship of World Boxing.
I am completely in agreement with you Paul on your Man of the Match. Mind you, this season it is a rare game when Joel Bagan is not. Betcha that BBM is getting the message back to Dublin so that our boy becomes an ever-present in the ROI team.
As for a January bid for Yousef… I’d be equally worried that a bid comes in for our left back.
And talking of someone who stood in for us in that position not so long ago, what did you make of Joe Ralls in his first Plymouth press conference (after the Bradford defeat)? Quite impressive I thought. https://tinyurl.com/5ajx4wck
And talking of ‘impressive’: how I loved this video where the Plymouth squad (amongst others) join in the chorus. So well made, with great editing and use of Plymouth scenic backdrops:
https://tinyurl.com/4snr4rta
No wonder the recording is played before every home game to get the crowd animated.
It has not worked so well this season, but Wycombe gave them a silly soft winner last night: maybe their luck is changing. I sincerely hope so.
TTFN,
Dai.
Thank-you, Paul, for your musings on the Stevenage (a) game.
Some three decades or so ago I attended a concert at St David’s Hall in Cardiff given by the Drummers of Kodo
[ https://youtu.be/C7HL5wYqAbU?si=QcD2NtNCkVy_MPb2 ].
For much of this game I thought I was back there as Sky, in their infinite wisdom, placed a microphone within yards of Broadhall Way’s very own nascent Far Eastern drummer. The first 9 mins of the game were played out against non-stop thumping. After the respite, the soundtrack again punctured the game. Musical it certainly was not.
Set against a backdrop of terrible road/rail delays and windy conditions, few expected it to be a game to remember. Stevenage gave a more than passable impression of a group of rugby league players who had never seen a football. There was not an ounce of football in them. Apart from a couple of short, isolated periods City were like the boxer who used his left jab to continually keep his opponent at bay whilst a few occasional right hands had him on the ropes but could not deliver the knock-out blow.
After 31mins Sky broadcast that City had 144 completed passes whilst Stevenage just 29. Daniel Phillips (on as a substitute for the hosts put in an abrasive 30 mins’ work) and committed one awful challenge on Fish which went unpunished.
Throughout, the Bluebirds were composed, and, taking in to account the conditions, gave the perfect away performance. The winning goal, although late on, was expertly dispatched by Robinson from 20 yds and worthy to win any game.
Earlier in the season a game like this would have ended up posing many problems, as did the Port Vale game. Thankfully yesterday’s encounter resulted in a win.
For those interested in taking in the Drummers of Kodo they may do so next March at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Readers of this blog, who may prefer a cheaper option, may well care to take in Stevenage FC’s ground with a pair of ear plugs.
Thanks all for your replies. Ian, I’m in agreement with you, although I’ll always qualify any criticism of Warnock’s style at City with a recognition that in his first season with us and for a few months at the start of the promotion season, I really enjoyed watching his team play (essentially, it coincided with Kenneth Zohore’s hot streak).
Dai, I think some credit has to be given to the Stevenage defence for restricting us to just the two on target shots, but “bruisers” is a good word to use to describe their approach and I agree completely about Phillips.
As for Joel Bagan, I read on a messageboard somewhere that he was out of contract in the summer – I can’t believe that because I’m sure we would be hearing a great deal more about by now if it were true, but, if it is, my contempt for the people running the club will return to former levels after a spell where, as always happens when the team is doing well, my attention shifted away from Tan and co.
Jpe Ralls did talk a lot of sense in that link you posted, but did you see that he wasn’t even in the squad for the game at Wycombe? That must have been down to injury and I’m afraid that’s what you get with Joe nowadays, but you would have thought having someone around the place with that amount of common sense has to be a positive. Plymouth have won their last two away matches 1-0 (three if you include the Virtu Cup) and that should be a sign of them turning a corner, but, strangely, they continue to struggle at home – I see they’re playing Rotherham at Home Park tomorrow and that has to be a game they win (I think theu will).
Steve, your boxing analogy is a good one – if the game had finished 0-0, we would clearly have “won on points”. Also, you’re surely right to say that earlier in the season it would have have been a much tougher assignment for us. Watching the Port Vale game in the second half, I had no hope of us scoring, it was just a case of whether we could hang on for a 0-0 or not. Similarly, I had no hope of us equalising at Stockport and when we did score, it came as a total shock. By contrast, I thought we could score at Stevenage and wasn’t too surprised when we did – in fact, having started watching the game thinking that I’d take a point if it was offered now, I would have been disappointed if we hadn’t scored.