City’s U21s were defeated by Coventry City in the PDL on Friday evening.
POST-MATCH | DARREN PURSE
“It wasn't a great performance. We couldn’t deal with their man-for-man press. We needed to play with a bit more composure and a little bit more control in what we do. When teams look to step onto us, we really struggle with it. The physicality of the game we really struggled with. We had a naivety about us tonight, when to stop the game, when teams are breaking on you.
“We conceded a really poor goal in the first five minutes of the game. We’ve got to deal with the corner a lot better. When you give teams, especially when you come away from home, and you get a one-nil lead, it gives you something to hang on to. We’ve got a habit of giving teams a head start or giving teams a leg up in the game.
"We like making it hard for ourselves to come back and try to win games from losing positions. We lacked energy, whether or not that’s because of two games in three days or not. Coventry were better than us. That’s the hardest thing you can ever say when you walk off a pitch that a team worked harder than you and were better than you on the night.
“We created a couple of half-chances, but we didn’t make things happen. You have to be decisive, have to be ruthless in the final third, be ruthless all over the pitch, and we weren’t tonight."
MATCH SUMMARY
The Bluebirds found themselves behind with only three minutes played. Victor Madu rose highest to head past the on-rushing Ewan Griffiths. City almost equalised when Noah Williams’ shot was saved, and the rebound fell to Luke Pearce, who reacted quickest and fired an effort goalwards. However, he was somehow denied by Oscar Varney in the Coventry goal.
The visitors doubled their lead five minutes after the break when Conrad Ambursley’s inviting cross was turned home by Aidan Dausch. Substitute Cody Twose almost hit back instantly for City, but his strike was cleared off the line. The Bluebirds created the final chance of the game when Sekou Kaba’s cutback found Pearce, who worked the ball but was denied by the visitors' keeper.
PRE-MATCH | DARREN PURSE
Ahead of the contest, U21 head coach Darren Purse said: “We’ll approach Coventry, and hopefully we can have a similar sort of performance [as Tuesday’s] and a positive result, it’ll be a good week for us.
“It’s tough for the boys, playing Tuesday, Friday and Monday, but that’s part and parcel of being a professional footballer. You have to run with the games when they come and we're looking forward to hopefully some more positive results from it.”
PRE-MATCH | DAN OLA
Striker Dan Ola added: “I think the win against Brentford helped our confidence because we’ve lost the last three games on the bounce. The win has helped us in training and the preparation towards Friday’s game, even around the changing room, it will be a lot more positive and we’ll just do the same things we usually do, prepare well, and I think we can beat them.
“We can’t dwell on the losses. They did have a bit of a knockback in the changing room because no one likes losing but we've had meetings, we’ve all spoken as a team, and we’ve learned from it.
"There will be no good dwelling on it. It will be good to have a positive mindset going into the next game.
“We treat every game as a tough game. It doesn’t matter where they are in the league. They’ll be a challenge but I think we can overcome their threats and we’ll punish them on the counter-attack.
"Nobody wants to be on the bench but it has built my character quite a lot, especially after my injury. I’m not just going to get back put back in, I have to fight for it. The players ahead of me are doing well at the moment so that’s giving me more of a push to improve and get into the team.”
LAST TIME OUT
City’s U21s picked up their first win of the new year on Tuesday afternoon, beating Brentford 4-0 at Cardiff International Sports Campus.
The first highlight came just five minutes in, when Brentford goalkeeper Reginald Rose was shown a straight red card for a foul on Luke Pearce. With no goalkeeper on the bench, defender Maxwell McKnight took on the role.
City dominated possession but couldn't find a way past the makeshift keeper. That was until the 41st minute, when Pearce headed home from Caden Voice's cross. Before the break, the lead was doubled, with Jake Davies' strike taking a wicked deflection on its way into the back of the net.
The Bluebirds' dominance continued into the second half with the third goal coming shortly after the hour mark. Charlie O'Brien's cross was flicked on by Pearce into the path of Mannie Barton, who nodded home at the far post.
The scoring spree continued eleven minutes from time as Dan Ola fired the ball into the roof of the net, as Darren Purse's side picked up all three points.
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.