I didn't get into the ground early enough to savour any pre match atmosphere because I was in CostCo stuffing my face with the biggest pizza slice in the world, followed by a massive cup of ice cream, as nice as it was it did made me feel slightly ill, I won't be doing that again, well not until a week next Saturday anyway, quite the hedonist I know. I arrived in time to see the teams coming out to 'I'll be there', a charity single by celebrity city fans/musicians, aimed at raising money for a statue of Bluebirds legend and 1927 captain Fred Keenor (http://thelonegunmanblog.blogspot.com), couldn't really tell if it was any good, but it's for a good cause nonetheless.
From the off there was a noticeable change from last season, if only a slight one, it was great not to see us doing our tedious pass the ball back to the centre back who smashes it up to Jay Bothroyd routine, however it didn't take long for the ball to get to Jay, who was on the deck by the 11th second (yes, I did check), not that much has changed over the last couple of months then.
Sheffield United looked the sharper of the two sides during the opening stages and although City had the ball in the back of the net first - disallowed due to an unnecessary foul by Chopra - it was the away team who took the lead, with none other than Welsh international Ched Evans breaking the deadlock after 24 minutes. It was shoddy defending and reminiscent of the awful defending in the play off's against Leicester and Blackpool, Jones really does need to sort it out as soon as possible, but I'm confident he will, sort of.
The complexion of the game changed completely on the 34th minute when Sheffield United defender Matthew Lowton got sent off for a reckless challenge on McNaughton. It looked late at the time and having seen it again on television replays it certainly deserved the red card, it was a potential leg-breaker, but luckily Kev survived unscathed.
The first ten minutes of the 2nd half progressed without incident, changes needed to be made and Jones did just that. One of Jones main criticisms over the years has been his perceived passivity, his refusal to make tactical changes until it is often too late, but ten minutes after the break the ineffectual Rae was brought off for McCormack. Whittingham moved into the centre dropping deep to collect the ball and started controlling the game straight away, it's a role that suits Whittingham in those circumstances, may not work against a 'busy' midfield with 11 men but when we are in control like today he proved what good vision he has.
Soon after the substitution was made City equalised, it was Whittingham who put Chopra through, who took the ball around the stranded Sheff Utd keeper Simonsen and crossed for Bothroyd to expertly volley home, I've seen it described as a tap in, but he still had work to do with 2 defenders on the line. City pressed but were unable to find a winner as Simonsen redeemed himself for an earlier mistake with a string of impressive saves. It does feel like we have dropped 2 points today, but I think we would've taken a 1-1 draw with 30 minutes gone.
Next up Burton Albion in the Milk cup followed by a trip to Derby next Saturday, look out Savage, we're coming to get you.
Result - Cardiff City 1 Sheffield United 1
Scorers - Sheff Utd: C.Evans (24) City: J.Bothroyd (62)
Attendance - 20,573
Fans man of the match - Kevin McNaughton
My man of the match - Kevin McNaughton. After a frustrating year he seemed back to his old self, tirelessly bombed up and down the left wing all day, let's hope he stays fit for the majority of the season, because when he is he is a class act.
Villain of the day - Jamie Ward (no.18). The lad was an annoying little prick, I'd love to be able to word it differently, but there isn't any other way to describe him, or at least the way he acted today. He somehow took 2 minutes to get back into his own half after they scored, got booked for time wasting and went down with cramp, which summed up his lack of professionalism. With regards to the booking I've never seen a referee look so pleased to book anyone in my life.
No comments:
Post a Comment