The Bluebirds secured their second win of the week at Bodmin on Wednesday evening, racking up a 11-1 victory over their Cornish opponents.
As was the case 12 months ago, Bodmin set out in a more structured way than their divisional counterparts Tavistock had two nights prior. The home team were more determined in the tackle, with striker Stuart Bowler up top looking to cause problems with his strength and guile.
But after a rather uneventful opening five minutes in front of goal, City soon found their stride. Danny Ward hit the bar, Kadeem Harris saw his goal-bound effort deflected and Josh Murphy had two low efforts saved; though in the ninth minute of the game it was Murphy who found Sol Bamba’s head from a corner and Bobby Reid who got the telling touch in front of goal to make it 1-0.
It was 2-0 six minutes later. This time, a patient build-up that began at the back found its way out to Harris on the left wing. The forward used Joe Bennett’s overlapping run to perfection, and it was the left-back whose telling ball found Nathaniel Mendez-Laing at the far post. With a touch in-field on to his left food, the forward found the top-corner.
Within a minute, City had made it 3-0 from the penalty spot. A great forward run by Danny Ward looked as if it found the striker too close to the by-line, though Ward was composed enough to drag the ball back to pick out Harris inside the area. With a shuffle on to his right foot, Harris was felled, though he would get his goal from the penalty spot thereafter.
In the 23rd minute, Josh Murphy got his first goal in City colours. The Bluebirds were too fast and powerful in defence when their opponents looked to counter, and it was from a smart Bamba interception that Jazz Richards found space to break forward towards goal. With a slide rule pass, Richards found Murphy, and the Bluebirds’ record signing executed a delightful chop inside before slotting home low and left-footed.
Kadeem Harris made it 5-0 in the 26th minute, though a plethora of players could have made claim to having a strike at goal. Smart link-up play down the right between Richards and Murphy saw the ball make its way to Mendez-Laing on the edge of the area; with Ward and Harris to his left, the forward played in the latter – Harris able to take a touch before stroking home with his right foot.
But in the 29th minute, the home side were handed a moment to savour. A long ball forward allowed Max Gilbert to beat the offside trap and nick the ball past the onrushing Alex Smithies. With the net gaping, the Bodmin midfielder was able to slide the ball home into a gaping net.
There was a lull in the scoring following Bodmin’s goal, though in the 37th minute, City were back at it. This time it was Danny Ward who was able to get on the score-sheet, registering with a deft header from a pinpoint Reid cross. The same man made it 1-7, two minutes before half time – making for three goals in two games following his return from a long injury lay-off.
Into the second half and seven goals quickly became eight – from the penalty spot, after 33 seconds, for the second time of the evening.
Harris was again the man hacked to the ground inside the area, and it was he again who stepped up and fired home with aplomb, completing his hat-trick in the process.
Bodmin couldn’t keep their discipline inside the area and, in the 56th minute, succumbed once more, to the pace of Harris. This time, it was Ward who stepped up to the spot to complete his hat-trick, duly dispatching into the bottom right hand of the corner of the goal to make it 9-1.
Murphy, with a disguised finish, made it ten in the 59th minute and Neil Warnock made changes a minute later. Onto the field came Gary Madine, Lee Peltier, Greg Cunningham and Bruno Ecuele Manga, replacing Bobby Reid, Josh Murphy, Matt Connolly and Joe Bennett.
There would be one more goal at Priory Park, thereafter, with Gary Madine the scorer in the 90th minute. What this lacked as a contest, was more than made up for by another tremendous, family-friendly atmosphere in the mid-summer’s evening sunshine.
Next up, it’ll be Torquay United on Friday night...
Bodmin Town FC: Wright, Ryan, Hambly, Timmons, O’Hagan, Gilbert, Colwell, Brokenshire ©, Bowler, Steer, Evans.
Cardiff City FC: Smithies, Richards, Connolly, Bamba ©, Bennett, Mendez-Laing, Damour, Reid, Harris, J. Murphy, Ward. Subs: Etheridge, Peltier, Ecuele Manga, Cunningham, Madine.
