With Seven Utd pulling away at the top of the league, today's game was vitally important with us, Plough Albion and BG Dragons all fighting for 2nd..
Match report by Howl Williams
It’s been almost a month since I last saw County take to the field in Radyr, and looking at the tiny, appalling pitch at Caedelyn Park that would host the game this morning, I was half expecting a similarly turgid game. The word on the street is that Plough Albion get their name from the recently refurbished public house in Whitchurch, but it is quite obvious that it is in fact from the real life horse drawn plough that they run up and down their pitch the night before matches.
The game got off to quite an open start. Possession was difficult to keep hold of due to the mini-pitch creating a pressure cooker midfield where no one had any time on the ball. Following a back-and-forth opening five minutes, County turned that pressure cooker to their advantage, and it only took ten minutes for them to bag his first goal. Good work from Frankie out on the right won the Greens a throw in, and following a scrappy few seconds of defenders and attackers both trying to get the ball under control in the box, it popped up to none other than Jimi Hewett who struck a lovely left footed shot…that was heading out for a throw in before Pingu kindly interjected by way of a left foot volley. A good early goal to calm the nerves.
As scrappy as the first goal was, somehow, County managed to play some incredibly good football on the ground for the entire first half. Every man from the back four up to the lone striker got in on the act with Frankie and Phil both enjoying lots of the ball out on the flanks. Albion grew increasingly frustrated by their lack of possession and chances as the packed midfield of green shirts danced a mocking, nimble foxtrot around them. And yet…the second goal was proper route-one stuff. Mikey George’s absence (which thankfully turned out to be a precautionary rather than emergency trip to the hospital) left Jamie Matthews to fill the void between the sticks. With the ball from hand, he smashed an angry clearance well into the opposition half (possibly imagining the ball was the French Bulldog his girlfriend has just tricked him into paying a grand and a half for) that the Albion defenders left to bounce. A big mistake with a goal-hungry Pingu around. He caught hold of the ball and skirted round a flailing tackle before coolly slotting it past the keeper for his second after only half an hour.
He didn’t have long to wait before finishing off his first-half hat-trick either. You’d think the Plough defence would have learned a lesson from a few minutes earlier, and yet a ball from Phil Williams on the left down the central channel was again left uncleared for the nippy striker to control and dispatch. And that was all she wrote in the first 45.
Half-Time: Plough Albion 0 - 3 Cardiff County
At this point, I’m just realising that my second half dictaphone recording has corrupted, so I’m going to have to go from memory, which could be interesting as mine is about as reliable as as a 1993 Fiat Panda.
Barring a sloppy Plough goal relatively early on, the first 25 minutes of the second half went much as the first 45. Good, energetic pass-and-move from CCFC and frustration from Plough. County’s fourth was a real peach from Tom Hulland. Goalscorer turned provider when Pingu delivered an enticing, lofty cross from the right where the waiting Hulland rose like great white with a seal in his teeth to send a crashing header past the helpless keeper.
Pingu took his well deserved rest at about 65 minutes replaced by Dai Thomas who was eager to make an impression. And that he did, as after 5 minutes, he was stepping up to take a penalty that would seal probably the fastest hat-trick of the season. Frank Mortimer provided him with the supply for both his first and second clinical strikes within the 18 yard box. The spot kick was awarded for a handball that seemed a bit harsh, but given that the ref had missed an earlier penalty infringement – a classic knock on – it seemed just. Dai, being the selfless altruist that he is, missed the penalty on purpose as he didn’t want to create a “who gets the matchball” situation at the final whistle. At 6 – 1, County were cruising by this point and didn’t need to get greedy. Or so we thought…
Plough broke from the missed penalty to score a second. From there, the Greens seemed to stop trying, almost daring Plough to make a comeback. They got as far as 6 – 4 before the ref had enough and blew up. A very odd last 20 minutes to what would have been County’s best team performance of the season, and had it not been for a couple of good reaction saves from Jamie Matthews, the changing room could have been painted with blood by Coach Matt Redd after the game. The three points ensured an important four-point cushion to third place, putting the Greens’ promotion bid firmly in their hands. On to the next…
Full-Time: Plough Albion 4 - 6 Cardiff County
Goals: Chris Pengelly (x3), Dai Thomas (x2), Tom Hulland
Man-of-the-Match: Chris Pengelly - A 1st half hat-trick coupled with a tireless display up-front gave Pingu an overwhelming vote of man-of-the-match from his team mate. Full of running, hassling opposition players into mistakes and deadly finishing. Brilliant performance!
