Six decades of Cardiff City v Everton matches.

Posted on February 25, 2019 by The other Bob Wilson

One of those opponents we have not played enough of down the years to get many City related questions into the quiz, so this one will be primarily about Everton players – as always, answers to be added on match day.

60s. As far as I can gather, this Welshman only played sixteen senior matches before his death at the age of only twenty one. The first four of those appearances were for Everton and he scored a couple of goals in them before moving a long way south to a side that were on their way to winning a league title. The £10,000 transfer fee paid was a lot in those days for the division involved, but it seems that supporters who saw him play believe that they had got themselves a bargain with some, even now, saying he was among the best players they’d seen at the club, but who am I describing?

70s. Scottish striker Drew Busby started off his career at Third Lanark and netted the last goal ever scored by that club. The only English club he ever played for was Barrow, but what makes him unique in Everton’s history?

80s. This midfielder went to school with the founder of M People and listed Stalybridge Celtic, Hyde United and Al Hilal (where, apparently, he was asked to give up football by the club owner to become his lover!) among the clubs he played for before arriving at Everton where he became a regular in the first team for a while, earning a red card in a Merseyside derby in the process. After leaving Goodison Park, he turned out for Cork City, St Patrick’s Athletic and Bangor City among others – he won five full international caps (he made his debut against Wales), scoring once, can you name him?

90s. The player on the ball in the picture below started his career at Everton during this decade and was released from prison in 2015 having served three years out of an original seven year sentence for possession with intent to supply class A and class B drugs – who is he?

00s. The son of a part owner of a football club, he won exactly one hundred caps for his country. After initial success at Everton with a run of five goals in five games, injuries stalled his progress to the extent that he had only scored three more times in his next forty odd matches when he left them in 2002, but who is he?

10s. Name this member of an Everton squad which have faced City during this decade.

Answers.         

60s. Rhyl born Barrie Rees was killed in a car accident in 1965 that occurred as he was driving back to North Wales after playing for Brighton against Southport.

70s. While playing for Hearts, Busby scored the only goal of the game in a Texaco Cup (a competition which ran for five years in the early seventies) match against Everton at Goodison Park on 18 September 1973. With the return leg at Tynecastle ending goalless, Busby became the only player to score in a game involving Everton in a Texaco Cup tie.

80s. Eamonn O’Keefe.

90s. Michael Branch.

00s. Joe Max Moore’s father was a part owner of Tulsa Roughnecks. He scored twenty four times in his hundred games for the USA, but was unable to maintain a similar strike rate during his time at Everton between 1999 and 2002.

10s. Antolín Alcaraz.

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Careless Under 18s have lead at top of table cut.

Posted on February 24, 2019 by The other Bob Wilson

Last week I suggested that Cardiff City, in the form of their Under 18 team, would be winning a league title in 18/19. Well, they are still big favourites to do so with a lead of seven points over the two clubs, Millwall and Ipswich, who realistically are the only ones who could still overhaul them, but while their two rivals won today, City needed a last gasp equaliser to rescue a point in a 3-3 draw with last but one in the table Coventry City at Leckwith this lunchtime.

With such a commanding lead at the top of the table, City are now there as a target to be shot at in their remaining matches and they didn’t cope with that situation very well today as they turned in a display which has to be rated as below par judged by the standards they have set for themselves this season.

With central defender Joel Bagan and striker Dan Griffiths having, seemingly, been promoted to the Under 23 squad (they have featured for them in the last three matches I think it is), the Academy side has changed somewhat in the last month or so, but, having won their last two matches by scoring nine times with no goals conceded against Bristol City and Crystal Palace, they were not letting these absences effect them too much.

Today was different, after looking their usual solid self for nearly an hour, the defence fell apart somewhat in the latter stages of the game as Coventry suddenly began to find large holes in our rearguard. At the other end of the pitch, although Keiron Evans did well as attack leader, we lacked a focal point with Griffiths missing and Isaak Davies still out injured.

With Neil Warnock present to watch his son Will making what I think was his first start for the team on the left wing, City improved as a low key first half went on and at half time I thought that, with Coventry barely threatening, we would go on to win quite comfortably. The only goal of the opening forty five minutes came around the half an hour mark when City put together a move which showed the quality that was to prove to be so elusive on this occasion as the ball was moved fluently from their right to left and Harry Pinchard beat an opponent before sliding in Evans who neatly steered his shot beyond the keeper and into the net via a post.

It was Coventry who came out the stronger after the break though and although there was still little in the way of an end product from them, I began to feel a goal might be coming as they started to dominate in terms of second balls won. Coventry were now pushing us back and they duly leveled when their half time sub McParland shot past Jordan Duffey to put the appropriate finish to their best move of the match so far.

City tried to step things up after that, but their passing was slower and more laboured than normal and when they did score again just past the hour mark, it came completely out of the blue as Sion Spence, who otherwise had a quiet game, finished emphatically from fifteen yards after a cross from sub Sam Parsons found its way into his path.

With Coventry now looking more confident and dangerous and City not being able to fully snap out of their lethargy, a one goal lead was a precarious one to defend as the match entered its final ten minutes and Hunt’s sweetly struck shot had the visitors level again as Coventry began to look the fitter team.

The momentum was now with the visitors and in the eighty third minute they picked apart the City back line again to leave Lautaru with a simple task to finish off another good passing movement.

City looked to have nothing left at this stage and their responses were easily dealt with by the visiting defence until, from nowhere, Evans came up with an equaliser with the match well into added time. I must admit I cannot provide any worthwhile description of the goal because by now I had begun my walk to Ninian Park station to catch my train home – I was about two hundred yards away at the time and could only make out from their celebrations that City had scored.

Two goals for Evans was a deserved reward for the way he went about a pretty thankless task as the team’s central striker – normally a winger, he was quite a bit smaller than the centrebacks he was up against, but he was the major plus point for City on a day when they never really clicked into gear.

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