Late Friday night it transpired that Chris was unable to come to Cardiff as planned since one of his staff had gone down with Covid and he needed to cover the shift. Jack said he was going to come but despite my best efforts it was too short notice to offload the spare tickets. Little Seb couldn’t make the trip understandably so it was to be Jack and me only. The train departure times meant that I was able to get one or two things done including repairing a puncture to my wheelbarrow wheel and getting in a trip to Screwfix for a new staple gun; such are the banalities of life in the life of Bazza. Mrs Bazza wanted to go to Reading so we departed for the station in plenty of time to get the 11.33 only to find that it was running late and I was probably going to miss my connection at Reading. As fate would have it, the train driver managed to catch up a couple of minutes which made all the difference as I ran for and got the Swansea train with about a minute to spare.
I haven’t been to a game since the Coventry defeat. That game did my head in given the manner in which Blues capitulated especially the fourth goal which I’m still smarting about. Players standing about watching whilst others try to prevent the opposition scoring does not sit well with me and as for the Blackpool game, I have no words. I couldn’t go to the Millwall match as arrangements for my son’s forthcoming wedding took precedence. I wasn’t particularly sorry but the 2-2 draw yielded a point I wasn’t expecting and it could have been three save for a pretty soft penalty awarded to the South London club deep into stoppage time. In the final analysis it doesn’t matter to the final outcome of what’s been a dire season with in all probability a further struggle next term. I have zero expectations at this stage and will continue to have none all the time we are owned by the present regime about whom we know so very little.
I met up with Jack just after half past one and walked the mile or so to the ground where having got in grabbed a pint and a burger before making our way to our seats. I have to say that Cardiif City Stadium is one of the more enjoyable venues to visit where the catering service is fast with no waiting around. The toilets are clean, spacious with running hot water and hand driers that not only work but do the job they are intended for. The powers that be at St Andrew’s would do well to take note!
Lee Bowyer selected the side that drew with Millwall last week and started brightly and could easily have taken the lead in the first few minutes when lovely intricate passing following excellent work around the box by Juninho Bacuna presented Lyle Taylor with the first chance. His turn and swivel was on target but Taylor was unable to generate the power in the shot. The result was not as crisp a finish as the Blues man would have liked and Dillon Phillips was able to save relatively easily. For Cardiff, Tommy Doyle got in a little too easily down our left flank and Blues had Marc Roberts to thank for snuffing out the danger with a sliding block for a corner. The game was end to end and entertaining with Blues just having the edge of the exchanges.
Hernandez was causing the Cardiff defence trouble and carved out a decent chance for Baccuna who tested Dillon from 15 yards. Gary Gardner curled a shot just over from the edge of the area when perhaps he could have done better. At the other end Perry Ng forced Etheridge to save from range. Blues took the lead on 22 minutes with a beautiful goal from Jeremie Bela. Bacuna who received the ball in midfield steered a gorgeous pass inside the defender whose desperate lunge failed to stop the ball getting to the on running Bela whose pace was too much for Cardiff. His last touch in the inside left position teed up a sumptuous finish across Dillon into the bottom corner. Cardiff although rattled tried to react immediately with further shots from Ng and Drameh but Etheridge was equal to both attempts. Cardiff had plenty of the ball but were playing in front of Blues’ stubborn rearguard and high press. Half time came and a very satisfactory 45 minutes completed.
The second half started brightly for Blues and Gary Gardner had a good chance at the far post from an early cross but it was straight at Dillon. Onel Hernandez then picked up the ball out on the left and with a drop of the shoulder and the pace to get away left three Cardiff players in his wake. One of them, Mark McGuinness with a spiteful swiping scythe at knee height demonstrated the frustration of the home side. The game threatened to boil over as representatives from both sets of players gathered round. The referee quickly calmed things down and called McGuinness over to him. A yellow card was brandished which arguably on another day could have been red. It was a horrible tackle and the Cardiff man has Hernandez to thank for getting up quickly and not making too much fuss. Gardner headed just wide from the resultant free kick as Blues sought the goal to kill the game. It was Cardiff who then found the net through Jordan Hugill but the forward was clearly offside six or so yards out, dampening the enthusiasm on the home terraces to the derision of the travelling fans. However, the impetus for the first time seemed to be with Cardiff and only resolute last ditch defending prevented Hugill from equalising from an inviting cross from the right which Nico Gordon just managed to divert away from the danger man.
However, it was Blues who were to carve out the best chance of the half on about 72 minutes. Onel Hernandez used his pace to get away from Oliver Denham and got to the byline and into the area. A weighted cut back to Jordan James gave the young substitute a first time shot which he elected to take using side foot precision. The Blues fans collectively held heads in hands as the ball scraped the wrong side of the post with Dillon beaten. This was the turning point of the game in my view. 2-0 there and it was all over since I could see not way back for the Bluebirds. As so often this season two points escaped from a winning position when a clipped ball over the top of our defence threatened to put Max Watters in but to be honest the trajectory of the pass was going away from goal. Neil Etheridge elected to go for the ball and sadly clattered into the Cardiff man for a clear penalty. The other substitute, Will Vaulks took it and like a bullet out of a gun dispatched it into Etheridge’s top left hand corner. There could have been three keepers standing on the line and none of them would have got to it. Despite six minutes of time added on neither team were able to settle it and the spoils were shared. A good performance from the team that really should have been rewarded with a win.
The Good: The company of little Jack. Excellent facilities at the Cardiff City Stadium. Fast efficient service, no waiting in endless queues waiting for inadequate numbers of staff to pour the beer, tell you there are no pies left and then be unable to take your cash because the till has malfunctioned like at St Andrew’s. One of the better away trips in my opinion.
The Bad: The fact that Chris and little Seb were unable to join us.
The Ugly: The tackle by Mark McGuinness on Onel Hernandez early in the second half. The perpetrator could have had no complaints if the colour of the card had been red. It was a shocker.
Cardiff City: Dillon Phillips 7, Cody Drameh 6, Curtis Nelson 6, Perry Ng 6, Oliver Denham 7, Ryan Wintle 6 (Will Vaulks 45, 7) Tommy Doyle 6 (Max Watters 77, 6) Eli King 6 (Rubin Colwill 45, 6) Jordan Hugill 6, Mark Harris 6.
Subs not used: Aden Flint, James Collins, Jai Semenyo, Rohan Luthra
Goals: Vaulks 82 (pen)
Yellow cards: McGuinness 48, Drameh 57, Nelson 67, Vaulks 76.
Birmingham City: Neil Etheridge 6, Marc Roberts 7, George Friend 7, Nico Gordon 7, Maxime Colin 7, Ivan Sunjic 6, Gary Gardner 6, Jeremie Bela 8 (Jordan Graham 75, 6) Juninho Bacuna 7 (Jordan James 64, 7)
Subs not used: Ryan Woods, Scott Hogan, Lukas Jutkiewicz, Connal Trueman, Troy Deeney.
Goals: Bela 22.
Yellow cards: Gordon 58, Etheridge 82.
Referee: John Busby: 7; I thought the referee had a good game. Absolutely no complaints from me or anyone else regarding the decisions.
Attendance: 21,395
Bazza KRO
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