Just over a year ago, Cardiff City’s Development team entertained Charlton Atheltic and, largely thanks to an Anthony Pilkington hat trick, came out winners of a game in which they had led 2-0 at one stage, then trailed 3-2, before clinching a 4-3 win -all this after having Mark Harris sent off with the match less than half an hour old.
History repeated itself at Leckwith yesterday afternoon when City’s Under 23 side overcame the dismissal of striker Ibraham Meite to record a 3-1 win in one of the better games I’ve seen at this level in the past twelve months – I say that not just because we won, but also because we played some good quality football.
Regular readers will probably be aware that I usually acknowledge how good Charlton tend to be at Under 23 and Under 18 level whenever we play them (they are the defending champions at the younger age group having won the end of season four team Play Off’s between the teams which fill the top two places in the Northern and Southern sections of the league), but, this time around, they are not doing as well as normal.
The Under 18’s are in the lower half of their league and the Under 23’s have struggled to the extent that yesterday’s match was between sides who had only won one game each at this level all season.
So, while it’s too early too early to talk about corners being turned or new eras dawning (that one’s for you Loramski!), victories are to be savoured in this season when sides I want to win (be they Cardiff City, Wales, Blaenrhondda AFC or Ton Pentre) whenever I watch them are, nearly always, failing to do so.
As for why yesterday represented only the sixth match that I’ve seen a win for “my” team in this season (that represents a win rate of something like thirty per cent I make with half of the victories coming from City’s Academy team), then I’d say it had a lot to do with the fact that local youth products Lloyd Humprhies, Jamie Veale and James Waite, supplemented by former Academy player Lawrence Wooton, were reunited in the middle of the park for what seemed like the first time in ages – I’m fairly sure it was the first time Humprhies had started a game this season and Waite has only just returned from an injury which kept him out for a couple of months following his selection for the first team in the pre season game at Rotherham.
Having a nucleus of players in the midfield engine room who knew each others game helped City exhibit some of the control that the Development team quite often used to play with before it became a stage for what seemed a never ending stream of trialists who, sometimes, would make up more than half of the starting line up.
There are signs that things have settled down to a large extent when it comes to trialists now, because the ones that the club regarded as worth persevering with have signed one sort of contract or another with them, but the improvement in results and performance levels that you would have hoped would follow had not materialised until yesterday and I think it’s more than a coincidence that as soon as we have more players in midfield who are comfortable with the ball at their feet than normal, a win follows.
That said, City had to come from behind as they conceded a shockingly bad goal in the twelfth minute when Paul McKay, who otherwise did a decent job at right back for someone who is really a centre half, was conspicuous by his absence as a long ball from back to front left Charlton’s Alfie Doughty free in acres of space.
City keeper Matthew Hall had already distinguished himself with a good low save made in the first minute of the game, but he would, surely, have been able to reach the ball before Doughty if he had committed himself to racing off his line to act as what is called a sweeper keeper these days, but, instead, he stopped after coming out about ten yards and so was in a kind of no man’s land as Doughty easily accepted the gift.
City’s response to falling behind was good as they went on to have the better of things for the rest of the first half despite Hall having to make another couple of decent saves to foil Charlton breaks. For most of the time though, it was City putting on the pressure with Charlton distinguishing themselves with some good defensive blocks to foil Ibrahim Meite and Waite in particular.
Occasionally, City didn’t help themselves with a poor final ball, but there was a definite feeling that a goal was coming and it was somewhat overdue when it did arrive a couple of minutes before the interval when Veale’s corner was half cleared back to him and the game of head tennis which followed his second cross was ended by Jacob Evans nodding in from point blank range.
The opening stages of the second half followed a similar pattern. Meite, still somewhat erratic at this level despite looking more at home in his striker role this season, was having a good game and, not for the first time in recent months, opponents were finding it hard to live with his pace.
City’s only previous win at this level, by 2-0 against a Barnsley side reduced to ten men, had featured an impressive goal by Meite as he outstripped the defence down the right before cutting inside to net with an assured finish and on fifty three minutes he scored a similar goal to finish off a counter attack to give City the lead.
Charlton’s response was to force a series of corners which City generally dealt with well and, with Humphries controlling things in a defensive midfield role, City had an assurance about them which suggested they could go on and win quite comfortably.
However, things changed with about a quarter of the game to play when one of Charlton’s centrebacks fell to the ground as he challenged for a ball around the half way line with Meite and the linesman on the far side from me immediately started waving his flag to indicate some sort of foul play. I’d not seen anything to merit a free kick being awarded, but, after having a very quick word with his assistant, the referee showed Meite a red card and the lack of protests from the player, his team mates and the City bench seemed to suggest that the decision had been a correct one.
From looking comfortable, City now, inevitably, faced a real challenge – the substitution of Humphries by Tyrone Duffus saw the previous domination of the midfield disappear, but Duffus’ experience as a central defender helped his team cope with the Charlton pressure which followed fairly comfortably and when the game’s fourth goal did arrive it was City who got it.
Charlton’s defence had struggled to cope with Meite’s pace while he was on the pitch, but that threat to them did not disappear with his dismissal because, with five minutes to go, Waite burst through in that right hand channel just like his colleague had done half an hour earlier and, although he needed a little bit of luck when the ball came back to him off a defender, his close range finish gave City the cushion of a two goal lead.
As I’ve mentioned a few times on here before, over the last season and a bit, City’s Under 23s have made a habit of blowing 2-0 nil leads, but with, so little time left, there was no chance that this failing might extend to 3-1 advantages and so the team had a deserved second win of the campaign to celebrate.
Finally, a word about Dan Martin who is someone I’ve seen play two or three times now for the Under 23s and have not mentioned before – the former Fulham and Leeds man played left back yesterday and, for me, was as good as anyone in the City team.
