Cardiff City’s U18s made it six league wins on the bounce after a 4-1 victory at home against Watford.
MATCH SUMMARY
The first half was quiet with only a handful of chances for either side. For the Bluebirds, the closest the came was through Jack Sykes, but his shot was blocked well by a Watford defender. For the travelling Hornets, they hit the post with two minutes remaining in the half, but the first 45 ended goalless.
Yet, just 15 seconds into the second half, City had the lead thanks to Sykes’ calm finish. Ten minutes later, Sykes and City had their second; a clever finish this time after the ball had been nodded back across goal. Tom Hutton’s team were cruising and bagged a deserved third with 20 minutes remaining. Jacob Hobson drove through the midfield before teeing up Harry Watts, who slammed the ball home.
The visitors did pull one back in the latter stages, but substitute Tiger Tobin rounded out the victory for City with a sweeping finish from Hobson’s cross.
Cardiff City: Higgs, Walsh, Reynolds, Parfitt (Prickett 90+1’), Cartwright, Hobson, Watts, Phelan, Hilaire-Clarke (Tobin 76’), Sykes (Yorke 85’), Allmark. Subs: Donovan, Davies.
POST-MATCH | TOM HUTTON & JACK SYKES
TH: “It was a really good game of football. What you saw today was two really good teams trying to play their own style of football, and credit to Watford because they asked questions and caused us problems in the first half in the way they pressed, but we found some good answers for that. We wanted to be more confident and show more conviction in the final third, and that was the message at half time. We did just that in the second half, and ultimately, that’s what’s got us the three points.
“With Jack, he’s been playing U18s football for around a year now. He stepped up for us from the U16s, and that experience has allowed him to come into the programme as a first-year scholar. Jack is a goal scorer, and people will always be drawn to the fact he scores goals. Today, he was in the right place at the right time twice, but it’s the work rate without the ball that pleases me. He’s willing to press and work hard, and that’s something we value in our centre forwards.
“We’re really proud of T-Jay. To make your senior debut at such a young age is a fantastic achievement. The message to him when he came back in with us was to take what he learnt from that environment and carry on being consistent in the U18s programme. I think he has learned a lot in terms of the speed of the game and the physicality, and we saw today he was trying to impose himself a bit more, he broke lines, hit those accurate diagonal passes. He showed his quality today.”
JS: “It was a very positive performance from the boys today. We really had to battle hard in the first half, but we were able to come out strongly in the second half and score the opener very quickly. I’m very happy for the team to be able to get another win on the board and even happier myself to get two goals and contribute.
“It’s great how so many of us have been able to go and represent our countries across so many different age groups. The Wales camp was another positive experience for me. There were a lot of things I was able to take out from it, plenty of things to work on, but it was a brilliant experience.”
PRE-MATCH | TOM HUTTON
U18 coach Tom Hutton yet again saw many of his players go out on international duty. Ahead of the game against Watford, he spoke about wanting to capture what his players learned while they were away.
“Whenever the lads get international honours, we’re really proud of them. To represent your country in anything is a proud moment, but we will always try and capture the learnings they’ve had on those camps. They’ve been able to play against different styles and different nations, so we want to try and capture what they’ve learned in order to help them grow as players.
“We always want to try and deliver a performance that we can be proud of. When you’re working with young players, we know they’re not the finished article, they’re not the polished version individually and collectively, and so we know we won’t always get consistency. We always look everything through the lens of the performance; where we’ve done well, where we need to improve, and then the games allow us to put those things into practice, but the lads are moving in the right direction.
“It’s always nice to win games of football. Being able to win five games in a row is an achievement and we’ve commended the boys for that, but for us, the performances underpin those results. What they have done is shown that, collectively, they can put in a performance to be proud of, and then it’s nice to have a result that goes with that.
“There’s a fine balance between blending the performance element of the game with trying to be competitive. Some of these boys have already made their debuts in the First Team with Brian, and there is more of a focus on the results of game. If we’re not helping the lads be competitive and learn how to win in a certain way, we maybe aren’t helping them take that next step into the First Team.
“It’s going to be a very challenging encounter with Watford. We’re aware of their strengths and the threats they have in their team. We’ve had the group back together towards the end of the week due to the international break, but the boys have trained well and they’ll be ready to go on Saturday.”
PRE-MATCH | OLLY REYNOLDS
Ahead of Saturday’s game, defender Olly Reynolds said: “It’s great to be with all the boys again after the international break. It’s really good to see the boys go away and represent their nations, but since we’ve been back the intensity has been really high. We’ve all enjoyed being back and we’re ready to go again.
“As the season has gone on, the dynamic in the squad has gotten better and better. We’ve integrated very well as a team and hopefully that will show in the game tomorrow like it has been throughout the season. On and off the pitch, everyone gets along well, everyone communicates well, and we want to show that on the pitch.
“At the start of the season the aim was to perform as well as we can, but with a good performance, results should come as well. We’re doing well at the moment, but we’ve got to stay grounded. We can’t get ahead of ourselves because there’s so long left in the season. We know we’ve got a lot more gears to go through, especially in big games like the FA Youth Cup. We want to do as well as we can in as many competitions as we can.
“Watford are a good side, and we’ve got to respect their quality. Like us, they’re doing well in the league and have only lost one game. We’ve got to play our game and play the way we want to play. We need to believe in ourselves, and if we do that, I’m sure we’ll put in another good performance and get the victory.”
RECENT RESULTS
In their last game before the international break, the young Bluebirds recorded an important 5-1 victory over Swindon Town in their second group stage game of the PDL Cup.
City found themselves two up inside the opening ten minutes. Hayden Allmark broke the deadlock with a smart finish before Riley Hilaire-Clarke added a second after rounding the goalkeeper. The third goal came from the penalty spot; Jack Sykes was fouled, and it was he who made no mistake from 12-yards.
Swindon did pull one back before the break, but Tom Hutton’s side found another two goals before full time. Both Hilaire-Clarke and Sykes secured their braces, as the Bluebirds put themselves in a good position to advance out of the group stages of the cup.
Attention turns back to the league this weekend, and City find themselves in a good run of form. Currently on a five-game winning streak, Hutton and his side are currently fourth in the table but could go top if results go their way this weekend.
TICKET INFORMATION
Entry for the match at Cardiff International Sports Campus will be free for all supporters.
REACHING THE GROUND
Supporters planning on attending should use the following address:
Cardiff International Sports Campus, Leckwith Rd, Cardiff, CF11 8AZ.
The ground is located an 11-minute walk away from Ninian Park Station and a 32-minute walk from Cardiff Central Station.