Cardiff City will face Southampton in their penultimate home game of the season with a side missing as many as twelve first team squad members tomorrow. A combination of illness and injuries had Erol Bulut fearing that Jamilu Collins, Josh Bowler and Callum Robinson could join those ruled out for the final weeks of the season in missing the match against a team which must be quite fancying its chances of making the top two after all, given the mess Leicester, Leeds and Ipswich are making of things lately.
Bulut confirmed that Perry Ng, who has been carrying some sort of niggle for weeks, has played his last game of the season and went on to make it sound like he’s also played his last game for the club, As I’ve seen Ng named as the best right back in the Championship by people who aren’t City fans on a couple of podcasts this season, it’s no surprise that he has been coming to the attention of other clubs and it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if we received bids for him in the coming months – he’s our current Player of the Year and would be my nomination for that award this time around as well.
A couple of midweek age group games to mention – the Under 18s trailed QPR at Leckwith by 1-0 at half time, but then turned things around completely after the interval to emerge 5-2 winners. Jack Davies and Louis Phillips scored two apiece and Osian Rees got the other one. The Under 21’s became the third City side not to suffer defeat in a game at St. Andrews Birmingham this season on Monday night when they came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Cian Ashford, who looks likely to make his first league start for City tomorrow scoring both of our goals, the second one from the penalty spot.
One thing I should have done more of this season is report how the club’s women’s team have been doing. Having wrapped up another league title in a campaign where they were only beaten once, City faced Swansea in the Final of the Adran Trophy (which I think is the equivalent of the League Cup) on Sunday and fell behind after about twenty minutes. They were still trailing at half time, but, in a second half showing to rival that of the Under 18s, Megan Bowen, Molly Kehoe, Rhianne Oakley and Eliza Collie (2) all scored unanswered goals to record a 5-1 victory- the team now have the chance to make it a domestic treble when they take on Wrexham at Rodney Parade in the Welsh Cup Final on 5 May.
On to the quiz, here are seven Southampton related questions, the answers to which I’ll put on here on Sunday.
60s. With a surname which sounds like a bit of a pointless exercise to me, this Londoner played his first football on loan for a place which I only know of as a training venue for the team he was contracted to. Upon returning from his loan, he spent the next dozen years playing over three hundred and fifty games for the club’s second and third teams. It’s no surprise therefore that he only made sixty seven league appearances in that time. He played even less first team football in his two years with Southampton, but this time a knee injury which eventually forced him into retirement was responsible for his lack of game time. His one encounter with City as a Southampton player ended with honours even, but who is he?
70s. Gareth Bale played for Southampton at Ninian Park as a seventeen year old, which international footballer did the same for the Saints during this decade – the score in both games was the same.
80s. Was he a squatter I wonder?
90s. Ex Saint, he smiles on request. (4,4)
00s. Saints address maybe.
10s. He once scored a hat trick for Southampton in a game against Portsmouth and, having gained three caps for Scotland Under 19s, he switched his allegiance to England (he was born in Devon) when his Scottish born father died – he then went on to play three times for England under 19s and four times for their under 20s. His one Southampton appearance against us ended in defeat and, currently, he’s playing in the Championship for a team of nomads, but can you name him?
20s. Name the fifty five times capped international who scored a hat trick in the biggest away win in Southampton’s history?
Answers
60s. John Hollowbread was loaned by Spurs to Cheshunt FC when he was an amateur in 1951, but he turned professional soon afterwards and stayed at Tottenham until 1964 when he signed for Southampton – he was in goals for Southampton in a 1-1 draw with City at the Dell in February 1965.
70s. Six times capped by England, Steve Williams made his debut for Southampton as a seventeen year old and played against Cardiff at Ninian Park in November 1976 in a game they lost by 1-0= Gareth Bale was the same age when he played for Southampton at City in their 1-0 loss in October 2006.
80s. Nick Holmes.
90s. Neil Moss.
00s. Andrew Surman.
10s. Sam Gallagher had a big future predicted for him as a teenager and the hype only grew after he scored three in a 7-0 Youth Cup win over bitter rivals Portsmouth. Gallagher has never really lived up to such expectations though and six months after appearing as a late substitute in Southampton’s 2-1 home loss to us in January 2019, he signed for Blackburn Rovers where he still plays,
20s. Norwegian midfielder Mohamed Elyounoussi scored three times in Southampton’s 8-0 win at Newport County in the Second Round of the League Cup in August 2021.
