Carlos and Lee

Your Two Stars

Bluebird Mark Sly goes to the all-Wales derby…

This Welsh derby was more important than normal given the respective league positions of the two clubs.

A Cork-less but rejuvenated Cardiff, under the astute management of Lennie Lawrence, had got themselves within touching distance of the play-offs while Wrexham's wretched season was approaching the 'Last Chance Saloon.'

An impressive crowd of nearly 16,000 made for a superb atmosphere, even though the away end was noticeably sparse. This was hardly surprising given some of the exaggerated rubbish that has been written about Cardiff's fans in recent articles in RP. Cardiff have averaged 12,000 this year and it seems that some sad RP contributors are quite happy to tar everybody with the same brush because of the actions of a few hundred idiots.

I was relatively confident before the match. I had the privilege of being present at the astonishing 7-1 win at Oldham and thought that if we could play half as well again we would be too strong for Wrexham. I know I am only judging on three live games on TV but Wrexham have looked a poor outfit this year, based on their performances against Hereford in the Cup, Cardiff in the league and Cardiff Reserves in the FAW Premier Cup, and I was amazed by a recent RP contributor suggesting that the team were only a couple of players off being play-off contenders this year…

Cardiff started like the proverbial steam train and a heavy win seemed on the cards. Two well-worked goals came in the opening 17 minutes from Young and Thorne. Wrexham were very physical in their approach but were getting totally outplayed. As Thorne hit the post and squandered another good chance, it seemed a convincing win was there for the taking. Trundle looked dangerous and forced a save from Alexander. I was impressed with Trundle all evening and can see with his ability and Roy Keane-like feisty attitude why he is such a Racecourse hero. However, for the first half-hour it was one-way traffic with Kavanagh and Legg dominating the midfield exchanges. Ferguson looked as if he had thrown in the towel on Wrexham and was certainly not displaying any of his father's well-famed desire and spirit.

Suddenly Wrexham were back in it with Falconbridge netting after poor City defending in the 35th minute. This seemed to galvanise Wrexham who were the better side for the rest of the half and they caused a few panics in the City box. A storming second half was on the cards.

The second half started in blistering fashion with Wrexham coming close. Then came Gabbidon's amazing wondergoal, following a mazy run and sublime curling shot which eased a lot of the tension for the Ninian faithful. The second half generally was not as eventful as the first half and was a bit disjointed at times. In fairness to Wrexham it was much more of a contest in the second half than in the opening 30 minutes, but Wrexham never really looked like getting back into the game. Carlos Edwards impressed when he come on as sub and looked the creative player that Wrexham were crying out for all game. Just as the game seemed to be petering out for a comfortable City win, Ferguson actually provided a worthwhile contribution in splitting open the City defence for Sam to calmly finish in the 88th minute. Wrexham bombarded the City goal for the next six minutes of normal and injury time, pinning a nervous City outfit into some desperate defending. Trundle had a blatant dive turned down and the Bluebirds held out for a nail-biting and tense win.
Over the whole match and on chances made, Cardiff were deserved winners. Having said this, Wrexham battled hard and played some good stuff after the initial torrid first half hour and deserve a lot of credit for making it such an entertaining and cliff-hanging match, and for the last hour looked a much better side than they portrayed in the TV games mentioned earlier.

I am writing this prior to the Easter period with both sides probably needing at least three wins to reach their respective goals. I genuinely have no pleasure in seeing a fellow Welsh club relegated and only hope that your probable stay in the dungeon is a short one.

Nevertheless, I have a feeling that, once relegated, Wrexham will become a regular Division 3 outfit over forthcoming seasons.