FA Premier Academy League, South 
   Tyn Y Wern Playing Fields, U. of Glamorgan
       Saturday 3rd November 2007, 11am

        CARDIFF CITY    v       SPURS   
         (All Blue)          (All White) 
           4-4-2                4-4-2
 
            1(0)                 3(2)

          Josh Herring  1 David Button (C)
             Zak Evans  2 Takura Mtandari
           James Bloom  3 Yuri Berchiche
          Aaron Morris  4 Yasser Kasim
    Anthony Acheampong  5 Callum Butcher
      Brad Middleton(C) 6 Chris Casey
          James Upcott  7 Kyle Fraser-Allen
         Jack Carlisle  8 Dean Parrett
           Rafiq Kaeed  9 Alex Olsen
         Tyrrell Webbe 10 Jonathan Obika
        Paul Gallagher 11 Andros Townsend

           Craig Mason 12 Mark Clare
         Josh Magennis 13 Jamie Dalton
        Travis Wheatle 14 Ryan Mason
             (7)70Mins.   (9)46Mins
         Rees Kelleher 15 
            (10)42Mins
          Kyle Edwards 16 Cox     
                          (4)84Mins

Scorers:-
    Carlisle 79, pen      Townsend 36
                          Berchiche 42
                          Fraser-Allen 88
Coaches:-
             G.Twose      A.Inglethorpe

Referee:-
    S.Hames

It was another warm sunny morning in the Welsh valleys as Cardiff entertained Spurs at the University Sports ground just north of Cardiff. A small crowd of around sixty were here to see Spurs playing in such good weather.

Spurs lined up with Button in goal wearing the Captain’s armband and Casey and Butcher at the back with Mtandari at right back and Berchiche at left back. Kasim and Parrett were in central midfield with Fraser-Allen on the right wing and Townsend on the left. Obika and Olsen started up front.

Spurs kicked off attacking the north end and quickly got on top of the home side with Herring having to save from Townsend in the first minute. Parrett took a free kick two minutes later on the left which went right across the goal without any Spurs player getting a touch. With the Bluebirds having to put in plenty of effort in trying to close down play in the middle of the park, the visitors dominated the game with play down both flanks.

The passing was letting Spurs down with the weight and bad control contributing most in keeping the scores level for so long. The closest the home side came to scoring was a third of the way into the half when Upcott received a diagonal ball over the top but fluffed his kick from ten yards.

Berchiche put an effort wide and Obika had a shot saved before Spurs finally scored in the 36th minute when good work on the left by Obika and Townsend allowed Berchiche to centre for Townsend to drive low past Herring. The keeper saved from Obika before having to save at his feet at the expense of a corner. Olsen had been falling over looking for free kicks throughout the half before finally winning one as he was tripped running at goal just outside the area. Parrett touched the kick into the path of Berchiche who drilled it to the right side of Herring to extend the lead.

Mason came on for Olsen at the start of the second half playing behind Obika in a five man midfield. Cardiff had their first strike five minutes in when Kaeed fired wide from 20 yards. Mason hit an effort well over and Townsend hit one across goal before Wheatle fired wide for the home side.

With less than fifteen minutes left, a Cardiff attack down the right produced a good cross which found Wheatle on the far post. Mtandari was penalised for pulling his shirt as he turned away from goal. Carlisle stepped up and put the ball to the right of Button. David got across to block the kick but it spun up about three feet and dropped behind him in the goal.

Five minutes later and Acheampong headed a free kick wide with Cardiff's last chance to grab a point. Because of Kasim’s drop in recent form Inglethorpe replaced him with Cox to stabilise the team to the final whistle. With a couple of minutes left a long kick from Button was helped on by Obika to Fraser-Allen who had time to control it before beating Middleton and rounding the keeper to put the seal on the game.

In truth Cardiff were a poor side and despite Spurs not play particularly well, this was an easy victory to repair the damage of losing to MK Dons the previous week. The best play was from Townsend and Fraser-Allen on the wings with Obika in the centre. Butcher and Casey were dominating in the heart of the defence with the two full backs able to attack thanks to the wingers. Today Parrett and Kasim struggled to make much headway in the middle and even when Mason came on, Spurs failed to dominate.

Next week the U-18’s are at home to Watford at the Lodge. Before that the Reserves will be playing Aston Villa at Walsall’s ground on Monday evening.

Ray

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