Cardiff City's U21s made it back-to-back wins in the PDL, thanks to a 2-1 victory over Bristol City.
In tough conditions, neither side were able to play any sort of fluid football in the first half, but it was the Robins who had the better of the chances. Louie Derrick shot wide, Zack Ali headed straight at Ewan Griffiths, while Billy Phillips fired over the bar from a promising position. As far as City opportunities were concerned, the best fell to Jac Thomas, but his free-kick flashed past the post, as the half ended goalless.
At the start of the second half, Darren Purse's side broke the deadlock. Thomas' corner was headed back across goal by Jake Davies, and there to nod the ball home was Gabriel Keita. The Bluebirds could have added another just moments later, but Trey George's driven shot just missed the target. But midway through the half the lead was doubled, as Harry Watts' cross was slammed home by Noah Williams. The Robins did pull one back with nine minutes remaining thanks to Olly Thomas, but the Bluebirds held on to clinch all three points.
Cardiff City: Griffiths, Williams, Keita, Debono, Thomas (C), Apter, Watts (Kingdon 85'), George, Barton, Phelan (Hilaire-Clark 70'), Davies.
Subs: Higgs, Allmark, Tobin.
PRE-MATCH | DARREN PURSE
Ahead of the contest, U21 head coach Darren Purse said: "We’re expecting a similar game to Millwall but if we play as well as we can do, especially in possession of the ball and show our ruthlessness out of possession, it'll stand us in good stead.
"If we let our standards drop then we’ll give teams a chance, so for us, it's about keeping those standards and our non-negotiables that we talk about, with our work ethic out of possession.
"It gives us the base to go out and win another game, but we need to make sure we do the hard yards and the fundamentals right."
PRE-MATCH | JACK KINGDON
Having impressed since joining the Club, defender Jack Kingdon added: "We’re all feeling very confident. Training has been intense which helps bring it out in the game.
"We know it will be a tough game. They’ll come down and give us a challenge, but we have full confidence in each other in the squad."
LAST TIME OUT
City’s U21 side battled to a decisive 4-0 victory over Millwall on Tuesday afternoon.
The young Bluebirds got off to a great start, opening the scoring on the 11-minute mark via Trey George’s deflected effort just outside the area, looping into the back of the net. City doubled their lead on the stroke of half time, with Mannie Barton capitalising on a mistake from Lions defender Ed Payton to win a penalty, which was coolly converted by Will Spiers.
After the break, Barton got on the scoresheet himself with a low effort into the corner to make it three, before doubling his total for the afternoon minutes later with another strike past George Evans low into the left corner to make it 4-0.
The result pushed City up to third in the PDL South table and are now unbeaten in their last four matches in the league.
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.