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.
