Cardiff City mauve and yellow army.

Something tells me that you are not going to see Cardiff City’s first team making much, if any, use of the new law in the game this season which enables goal kicks to be taken to team mates stood inside the penalty area, but their Under 23 side did it in this afternoon’s first competitive match of the season against Sheffield United at Leckwith.

While the first team have stuck to a long ball game for most of this decade at it comes to its end, the sides below that level have favoured a more considered passing style with the ball kept on the deck most of the time.

Therefore, you would have thought the new law would be right down the Academy and Development team’s street. Maybe it still is for the Academy, who play their first home game of the season against Crewe on Saturday, but on this evidence, a decision has been taken to get the Under 23s to play in a way which is more in keeping with what you see from the senior team.

That short goal kick came late in the game with City, unsuccessfully, trying to come back from a 3-1 deficit and was one of the few concessions made to the methods so many of today’s team had grown up with (apart from captain Ciaron Brown, Jacob Evans, Shamar Moore and Danny Williams, all of the fourteen players used have played Academy team football for City).

The tactic today was to hit long balls into the channel for Moore to chase (something he did to good effect – he was our best player, showed neat control, an eye for a defence splitting pass and generally had the beating of both Blades centrebacks when it came to foot races and trials of strength), while throw ins in the attacking third saw full backs Cameron Coxe and Brown hurling them in long and their central defenders and Coxe were a danger from corners and free kicks.

I’ve made my feelings clear on the approach City have used as a matter of course in recent years often enough on here, but even a critic like me can see that there is a logic in the side below first team level playing in a manner which closely resembles the way they go about their business. However, the new new approach did not bring about a change of fortune because our Under 23s have lost more than they’ve won in the last couple of seasons and this one finished up in an ultimately pretty comfortable 3-1 win for the visitors.

In many ways, the goals told the story of the game. Apart from first half efforts from a free kick by Broadbent which came back off the crossbar and a shot by Omperon which Warren Burwood did well to keep out, the visitors didn’t have many chances to score bar their goals – two of which displayed a quality of finishing City just couldn’t match despite having more opportunities.

For the first early in the second half, United broke swiftly down the left before a good cross found Young who calmly beat a man and clipped his shot neatly past Burwood. The second one came from a similar finish by York as the visitors quickly exploited a turnover after Evans carelessly lost the ball just inside his own half.

Such business like finishing was in contrast to City who found themselves being foiled by a combination of wayward shooting and heading, some desperate, but effective, last ditch tackling and the occasional good save from Dewhurst the Blades keeper.

The desperation to keep their goal intact from United was even evident in City’s goal which levelled things at 1-1 and, predictably, came from a set piece where they had constantly posed aerial problems for the visitors – the goal was credited to Laurence Wooton, but it was a scrappy affair with the linesman signalling the ball had crossed the line before being scrambled out.

Unfortunately, that desperation was missing at the other end of the pitch on 81 minutes when Young fluffed his first chance, but was given enough time to fire home with his second effort because no defender was near enough to close him down.

City had fought hard and the game was theirs to win when they equalised so quickly and began to get on top, but, ultimately, their opponents were better at both ends of the pitch I’m afraid.