This top of the table clash saw the two remaining unbeaten sides meet away at Bridgend.

Cardiff started brightly and won numerous short corners and it wasn’t long before they took the lead when on form skipper Rich Stokes finished neatly at the left hand post from a well worked short corner. 

However Bridgend’s strikers began to find space and holes appeared in Cardiff’s defence, Comfort made important stops to prevent the equaliser coming but the pressure finally took its toll and Bridgend scored shortly before the break. 

The second half saw Cardiff produce a fine passage of hockey, Ifty held the midfield together and allowed Mo space to make great runs through the middle with the support of Paul Betts and Axel. 

It wasn’t long before Cardiff scored a second when Mo was put through by Ian and finished with a crisp reverse stick strike.

Cardiff managed to kill the game off ten minutes later with another short corner when Sam Wiggins finished on the right hand post from Walid’s second assist of the game. A seemingly well taken fourth goal for Cardiff (and second for Sam) was ruled out by the umpire who was unable to spot the deflection in the D.

Cardiff’s defence held firm for the remainder of the game with good tackling from Stock, Howey, Ruan, Kev and Walid.

All in all a good performance from Cardiff who will aim to remain the only unbeaten team in the league when they take on Whitchurch this Sat at Cyncoed.

 

3rd November 2007 Sophia Gardens, 11.30am.

Cardiff continued their season of early morning starts on a sunny day at Sophia.  This was a game that encapsulated every aspect of the Cardiff team; lots of goals, great passing coupled with poor passing, thunderous tackling coupled on occasion with a certain keystone cop-esque quality about defending and the frustrating ability to only find fifth gear when necessary.

After dominating the first 10 minutes Cardiff found themselves surprisingly 1-0 down by a well worked break away goal by an experienced Whitchurch team.  There is an old adage that says the best thing to do after conceding a goal is to score one straight away which is what Cardiff did on two occasions to find themselves 2-2 (total time elapsed for both goals from pushback to whistle was about 40 seconds!!!!)

At times Cardiff played some fantastic hockey with seven goals being scored by Matt Millard (2), Sy Dovey (2), Steve Sparkes, Jamie Smith and Mark Shelton (with his weekly short corner; if you’re interested I’m sure he’ll tell you all about it in the bar).  Whitchurch did however score a consolation goal from a well taken drag flicked short corner deep in the second half.  Praise must go to Jamie Smith who had a very good game.

Not to be confused with the other Whitchurch team in the same division, Whitchurch E are a very experienced team with several players that like a bit of argy bargy.  Unfortunately for them, this Cardiff team is made of sterner stuff than most and with the likes of skipper Mark Shelton and defender Steve Way leading from the front (both too long in the tooth to be beaten at that type of game), a very physical encounter ensued culminating in Nick Jones and a Whitchurch player getting a yellow for a bit of rough and tumble.  Don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t as bad as Sharpe and the South Essex’s attack on the walled city of Badajoz in 1812, but if Danny Dyer (of International Football Factory fame) was watching, he’d have called a few of the challenges flying in as ‘very naughty’.

Never have I played in a game where there were so many umpires on the pitch, and the away side enthusiastically ‘voiced’ their opinions throughout the match.  Nearly 40 years ago Corporal Jones famously coined the phrase ‘they don’t like it up ‘em Mr Mainwaring’. 

After today’s efforts I think it’s fair to say they still don’t.