CHAMPIONSHIP - Game 36/46 - at NINIAN PARK
CARDIFF CITY (1) 1
McPhail 2
HULL CITY (0) 0
If ever a cliche could prevent a couple of thousand word report and save everyone a lot of unnecessary reading, "After The Lord Mayor's Show" is the one.
If you want a longer version, Cardiff City beat hull City 1-0 at Ninian Park for their first league win in 6 weeks and 7 games, Dave Jones employed squad rotation for arguably the first time in his entire Bluebird stewardship, skipper Steve McPhail scored a beauty in 90 seconds as City were dominant and scintillating for 20 minutes before hull's ultra tame Tigers enjoyed possession and territory for the rest of the night but gave yet Peter Enckleman another easy 90 minutes to keeping his third successive clean sheet and we had a card happy whistle happy annoying ref also contributing to an overall unspectacular night but, oh yes, we're going to Wem-ber-lee. There you have it.
You're still here and want more??? Ok, in mitigation, Cardiff's fluency and rhythm really wasn't helped by Dave Jones' 3 changes and City looking understandably jaded while the game evolved with City having at least 1 out of position for much of the game and 4 players in the mix short on fitness and match sharpness. So to grind out a win in those circumstances against a play-off placed team who had only lost once in almost two months previously and scored in each of their last 16 matches was commendable and enough to send a bumper 17,555 crowd home happy.
Ah, the lure of that golden Wembley ticket! Good enough for many to suddenly (re)discover a love of CCFC proudly led by the vocal many who only last week vowed not to bother again this season after the Leicester shambles last home game. They were aided and abetted by our floating and "newbie Bluebirds" some of them needing full use of their SatNavs to find they way to Ninian Park and a programme to know our colours and player names! That famous cup win undoubtedly added 6,000 spectators bringing £100,000 extra into club coffers, the 200 or so hull fans quite right to parody it with their cries of "you're only here for your vouchers".
It was a big result too. The incredible F.A. Cup charge left City 2 or 3 games behind all rivals and when added to recent awful league form, play-off thoughts were diminished and the "R" was being quietly whispered as City started the evening just 4 points and 4 places above the League One drop zone.
The win restored our natural order. An amazing 6 place just took us back to what now seems to be a traditional end of season yawn. Certainly, a season Championship record now reading Placed 12th with 12 wins, 12 draws, 12 defeats, 43 scored, 42 conceded is the very definition of mid-table obscurity!
We could only muster 4 subs a fortnight ago, now we could chop and change at will. Dave Jones sent Rae to the bench, completely rested Ramsey, Hasslebaink and Darcy Blake. In to start were Riccy Scimeca and Trevor Sinclair (both badly needing game time) and the newly shaved Thommo while the bench featured the welcome sight of Joe Ledley and, for some, the equally unwelcome sight of Warren Feeney.
City started with Enckleman, McNaughton-Johnson-Loovens-Capaldi, Whittingham-McPhail-Scimeca-Sinclair, Parry-Thompson. Subs were Oakes-Feeney-Ledley-Purse-Rae.
Hull's shouty, jumpy, runny about boss Phil Brown, ironically(?) dressed in brown, selected an unchanged side from that which comfortably disposed of relegation threatened S****horpe last weekend with Myhill, Ricketts-Turner-Brown-Dawson, Garcia-Ashbee-Marney-Pedersen, Campbell-Fagan. Biggest threat was Man United loanee Fraizer Campbell but Loovens and Johnson were again imperious and he was out of the action long before the end. Their bench featured disastrous City loan man this time last season in Simon Walton but he never came on while veteran striker and menace Dean "WindyBum" was absent.
A few thousand "faith miraculously restored" City fans aka Wembley Wannabees is, of course, welcome but I can't really thank them for making queue outside to get in, miss my first home kick-off of the season and the only goal of the entire match - not easy when writing a report!
It don't sound right hearing a goal roar outside and when Ali announced Steve McPhail had scored it, I thought the freshly created ghost of Jeremy Beadle had arisen! I'm reliably informed City advanced down the left, a move started by McPhail, Capaldi played a diagonal touchline pass to the edge of box as McPHAIL continued to, in one movement, chest down, turn and hook a superb shot over Myhill and in off the underside of his Canton Stand end crossbar. I've not seen it at all so feel free to tell me if I've been wound up and fallen for it. It was only McPhail's second goal in 86 City appearances and, I believe, only the 9th of his entire career - almost as rare as a Cardiff City F.A. Cup semi-final appearance.
From this point, there's not a great deal to add. City threatened to take hull apart as for the opening quarter, they outpaced, outplayed, outthought and dazzled but created then failed to take the opportunities to add to that lead. Parry and Thomson in particular went close, the latter bringing a good stop from Myhill.
Then, City appeared to take their foot off the gas and gradually lost their shape too leaving entertainment reduced to singing "Wem-ber-lee", reminding hull's Welsh international misfit Sam Ricketts than not only did he once play for Swansea but may not know his father either but he was one of two hull men to give Enckleman work albeit with shots at him then increasing frustration with the ref which turned to derision long before the end.
Don't want to talk too much about Ref Probert - the type of ref who gives knobs a bad name - as he continually stopped play to punish while missing bad fouls and handballs and letting far worse challenges go without notice. He booked 5 players (3 for City, 2 for hull) with some crazy decisions but none worse than when a hull forward ran straight into Loovens, the Dutchman's fault apparently yet some highly dubious challenges from Hull men scything Capaldi, Scimeca and Thommo from behind either didn't get an award or a word said.
Capaldi's booking is perhaps the most worrying as he's now 1 card away from a ban. You do wonder if he's thinking about getting it this weekend to be ok for Wembley. Awful, awful ref and a linesmen who didn't seem to fully understand how offside operates added to it but at least he was bad for both sides in both halves as they attacked.
Just before half-time, a scare for City as Kevin McNaughton, who passed a late fitness test on a hamstring strain, went down by the Bob Bank as though shot. The physio ran across but who was the other bloke looking like an undertaker who dashed over the pitch as well? I thought it was John Motson in his thick coat. Early news is that it's not a concern but on came Joe Ledley, his first game for a few week after his own hamstring pull, and Trevor Sinclair dropped to right back. It was already plainly obvious that second half would be a backs to the wall job, nothing we haven't been used to in man Ninian Park games since late last year.
Half-time: CITY ONE, HULL NONE
Request or not, I'm not sure inflicting Pink Floyd at their darkest and hallucinatory experimental fayre was the greatest half-time music choice although Whistling Bob Harris bearded devotees ... I wonder if they anyone was nodding along in a CCFC tank top? Joe Ledley stayed out all interval to be ready for the second half.The least said about it, the better.
Barked on by Phil Brown, hull tried to intensify their efforts but City resisted. It was ugly and uncomfortable but, being frank, they had few problems dealing with it and even had what few good chances there were anyway. The defensive effort was helped by Loovens and Johnson being on top of their game and along with Capaldi, they were the only ones to reproduce weekend form.
It helped of course that Hull had few ideas went they got close and resorted to lumping long balls forward, meat and drink to our central duo.Not that City were any better. Scimeca was tiring fast and making errors, Sinclair only marginally better at right back where I don't think he won a single challenge but got away with it, Ledley was easing his way back and also looking rusty while Thommo and Parry were starved of service and playing too far apart to be effective anyway.
Just after the hour, Scimeca made way for Gavin Rae but it remained one way traffic although, despite scares, I got to the stage where I felt tense but also hull were just never going to score. They played the final quarter with three, sometimes four, up front but Johnson, Loovens and co won every header and every challenge.City nearly finished it late on with Sinclair's powerful rising angled drive beating Myhill but also his far post while the keeper made a superb reflex action point blank stop from Thommo with Joe narrowly missing to follow up.
Cheers at the end as Peter Whittingham firstly produced two outstanding pieces of skill and showboating in the Grange End/Grandstand corner, jeers (some anyway) as the hapless Warren Feeney came on for Parry in the 3 minutes added time then cheers again as final whistle blew, a welcome three points and we could sing Wembley one more as happened for the entire final minute. Never has such a dull game and stuttering performance been so cheerily celebrated at Ninian Park, crazy happy times
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