A young Bluebirds side were narrowly beaten by Newport County in the Vertu Trophy at Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday evening.
Brian Barry-Murphy made ten changes from the side that defeated Leyton Orient on Saturday, with international call-ups impacting the squad available to him. It was a proud moment for City's Academy as Rob Tankiewicz, T-Jay Parfitt and William Spiers made their debuts from the start. At just 16 years and 117 days, Tankiewicz became the youngest player in City’s history, breaking Aaron Ramsey’s 18-year record.
The visitors started brightly and forced the first chance of the match, as Bobby Kamwa fired his powerful effort over the bar. David Hughes’ side created another opportunity through Nathaniel Opoku, whose flick towards goal hit the crossbar from Lee Jenkins’ long-throw.
Despite City enjoying the majority of possession, it was the Exiles who created the clearer chances in the opening half hour. Kamwa came close to opening the scoring after finding space out wide, but his low cross flashed just beyond Michael Spellman and Opoku. Moments later, Opoku had two excellent opportunities to break the deadlock but was unable to find the back of the net.
On the stroke of half-time, Newport made their pressure count. A pinpoint cross from Kai Whitmore found Tom Davies at the back post, and the City Academy graduate headed home against his former team from close range to give County the lead.
City began the second half on the front foot. David Turnbull capitalised on a defensive error before playing a pass to Troy Perrett, whose low strike was saved by Jordan Wright. At the other end, Opoku’s curling effort was met by a superb stop from Matthew Turner.
Further moments of honour for our Academy came in the second half as the youngest ever player record was beaten for a second time when winger 15-year-old Axel Donczew replaced Tankiewicz. There was also a debut for defender Jack Kingdon.
The Bluebirds continued to push for an equaliser, with Ryan Wintle and Perrett both testing Wright. Midway through the half, Wintle’s cross found substitute Callum Robinson in the area, but his header drifted narrowly wide.
In the 80th minute, County thought they had doubled their lead when Whitmore fired in from close range, but the referee ruled out the goal for a foul on Turner in the build-up.
As stoppage time approached, Robinson looked to have rescued a late equaliser for City, only for the flag to go up for offside.
Despite their efforts to turn the match around, City were edged out 1-0 by the Exiles under the lights at Cardiff City Stadium. The Bluebirds' final Vertu Trophy group game against Arsenal U21s takes place next month, with the qualification spots still very much up for grabs.
FINAL SCORE: CARDIFF CITY 0-1 NEWPORT COUNTY
Cardiff City: Turner, Spiers (Kingdon 65’), Fish, Chambers, Parfitt (Bagan 72’), Wintle, Turnbull, Perrett, Tankiewicz (Donczew 65’), Salech, Kellyman (Robinson 72’). Subs not used: Trott, Apter, Keita.
Newport County: Wright, Ogunneye (Thomas 23’), Jenkins, Baker, Davies, Braybrooke, Antwi (Brennan 83’), Whitmore (Warner 83’), Opoku (Baker-Richardson 83’), Kamwa, Spellman (Evans 73’). Subs not used: MacDonald, Pugh.