As will always be the case, it’s Cardiff City’s first team that will get the headlines and, deservedly, they’re complimentary ones at the moment – City are in form and on an unbeaten run spearheaded by an “interim” manager who is getting a tune out of a group of players the previous bose was steering towards all sorts of “worst ever” records.
However, the senior team’s improvement still trails some way behind our under 21 side which is making such a good start to theit 24/25 season. As of today, they are top of their division having pkayed two games less than their second placed Charlton, they’re in the Semi Finals of the Nathaniel MG Cup, in which they’re competing against men’s teams, and they top their League Cup group ahead of their visit to Everton on Friday night.
Yesterday at Leckwith, they gave a demonstration as to why their record is so impressive as they initially struggled against a Bristol City team which ended the game well beaten by 4-1 – the scoreline may have been a bit harsh on the visitors, but, having, possibly, been the beteer team in the first half, they could have few complaints about their comprehensive defeat after ninety minutes.
Bristol were quite a bit bigger than us and this showed in their tendency to come out on top in most tackles early on. They gave City little time on the ball, passed it well themselves and we were struggling to stay on terms for half an hour during which the visitors’ left back missed a great chance to open the scoring.
City were grateful to some very good defending by Tom Davies in particular during this time and began to show signs of improvement in the minutes leading up to the break as Cody Twose forced goalkeeper Grande into the first of a series of a good saves. The goalkeeper could do nothing to prevent City taking the lead a minute before the interval though when a fine pass by Dakarai Mafico put Luey Giles free on the left and his pinpoint cross was headed home in classic style by the unmarked Kion Etete from about twelve yards out.
Etete, playing his first game after missing the first three months of the season with a hamstring injury, was withdrawn at the break having taken a successful first step back towards first team contention and replaced by Mannie Barton.
Nothing against Etete, but Barton’s introduction probably strengthened the team because he was more familiar with their patterns of play and his higher level of fitness meant that he was able to contribute more to a pressing game which went a long way towards turning the game in our favour in the second half.
Before then though, there was a wurzels equaliser as, having made a strong start to the second period, City were undone in disappointing style as they failed to deal with a long throw and sub Charlie Filer netted from eight yards.
An injury break a few seconds after the restart meant that there was very little time between City conceding and going ahead again through Trey George as their effective pressing prompted a poor pass by Grande which Michael Reindorf intercepted before pulling back a low pass to the onrushing George who finished very confidently from fifteen yards.
This signalled the game switching strongly in City’s favour and they were to play some lovely stuff in the last quarter as their superior skill combined with their opponents tiring enabled our superior individual talent to come through. Barton and Twose were denied goals by fine saves, but when the former robbed the last man to set Tamatswa Nyakhuwa free, the winger, who I thought had an excellent game, ran on to nudge the ball home and double City’s lead.
There was time for Luke Armstrong to make a good save to deny the wurzels a consolation and for Reindorf to score a somewhat fortunate fourth as the ball skidded off a defender’s head to play the forward onside and he controlled and shot impressively all in one movement from fifteen yards.
I’m posting a link to the club website’s match report because it contains a link to the match stream – it’s well worth a look at if you have an hour or two free during today.
Now on to the object of the exercise, the quiz! Here’s the usual seven questions dating back to the sixties.
60s. Born in a village not too far from his local team, this forward had a Haalandesque scoring record for them after signing for them as a youngster. He was a member of the team which won an unlikely title and was past thirty when he eventually joined his second club who were probably the closest London team to the place where he’d played until then. A season later, he moved, briefly, to Luton and then to Essex to play in blue – his goalscoring rate at his last three clubs wasn’t quite as spectacular as at his first club, but it was still perfectly respectable. He next moved to an island to become player.manager of a club he’d played against while scoring four times in a two leg tie against them in European competition and, after staying for a season, during which the team won two trophies, he returned to England to play non league football. Can you name him?
70s. This winger cum midfielder did not experience a win or a defeat in his three meetings with City as a Luton player. He doesn’t have a Wikipedia entry, but the Luton site I looked at described him as possessing pace, skill and a fierce shot, but an inability to grab the game by the scruff of its neck meant that he was something of a bit part player during his four years or so at the club. Luton had paid a fair sized sum for him by the standards of the time at the beginning of the decade and, at that time, the colours he wore would not have changed from those of his first team (the design did though). His time at his first club was much like it was at Luton as he failed to impose himself in a First Division side, despite an early breakthrough into the first team. Subsequent moves saw him wear blue near a border and then he became a wild Rover. A leg break did nothing for his cause and he left to play in America representing a city which will definitely vote blue in today’s election, but can you name him?
80s. Trump initially has a view of sheet and finds future Bluebirds manager! (5,5)
90s. Name the defender who made a total of eight hundred and thirty three league appearances (scoring over a hundred goals in the process) One hundred and fifty of those appearances were for Luton during this decade and he went on to win forty international caps. He’s also currently with his seventh club as a manager if you count his spell as a caretaker boss for the team he played most games for.
00s. He played for Luton through most of this decade and the first three letters of his surname did not contain a vowel or a letter Y. Who is he?
10s. Old Swansea left back currently a Rover in the north.
20s. Naval man, from land locked country, once used to turn out at Highbury but he’s currently without a club.
Answers:
60s. Ted Phillips scored one hundred and sixty one goals in two hundred and sixty five league games for Ipswich Town between 1953 and 1964 and was part of the squad which won the First Division title in 1962. Phillips played for Leyton Orient, Luton and Colchester after leaving Ipswich and had a spell as player manager of Maltese team Floriana – Phillips had scored four in the two leg tie they’d played against Ipswich in the 62/63 European Cup.
70s. Gordon Hindson played some first team football for Newcastle before his move to Luton for nearly £30,000 in 1971. Hindson’s three encounters with City as a Luton player ended in draws before he eventually moved on to Carlisle and then Blackburn. He also has a spell in America playing for the Hartford Bicentennials.
80s. Steve White had a spell as manager of Chippenham Town (the Bluebirds) around twenty years ago..
90s. Graham Alexander is currently manager of Bradford City – he played for Luton between 1995 and 1999.
00.s Croatian midfielder AhmeT Brkovic played just short of two hundred league games for Luton between 2001 and 2008.
10s. Jack Senior played ten times for Luton in this decade then dropped into non league football, only to return to the EFL last year with Doncaster Rovers.
20s. Zimbabwean international Admiral Muskwe played twenty odd gamers for Luton (he was also loaned out to Highbury residents Fleetwood Town while at Kenilworth Road) and is currently without a club after being released in the summer.