Mannie Barton

U18 | Cardiff City 2-0 Birmingham City

City's U18s side defeated Birmingham City on saturday afternoon to continue a winning start to the pdl campaign.
Sam Jones
REACTION | OSIAN REES

After the win over Birmingham City, Osian Rees looked back on the game and his performance.

“We’ve trained really well over the last couple of weeks. We got the result we wanted last weekend, and it showed again this week how hard we’ve worked. Individually, I thought I played well today, and it was really nice to top it off with a goal, and I’m hoping I can score a few more this season.

“Coming in towards the end of last season really helped me to understand the physicality and the pace of U18s football. Now this season, I can really push hard and try to stand out more.

“It’s really important for us to stay humble as a group and not underestimate any team. You never know what’s going to happen at this level, but if we can carry on this run, we’ll be ready for anything.”

REACTION | TOM HUTTON

After the game, U18 manager Tom Hutton reflected on another victory for his side.

“We were good value for the win today. We started really well, but they had a good spell towards the back end of the first half. At half time, it was about becoming a little more compact and having a little more structure in our press, so we tightened up and that probably drew them onto us a little bit and allowed us to counter on them, which is where the second goal comes from.

“We can cast our minds back to last season and some of these boys were first year scholars and they were finding the challenge of U18s football difficult. The change that’s happened over the last year in them has been good. Things are coming to fruition, they’re learning, and they’re getting better. It’s always nice to get three points, but collectively and individually, there’s been improvement from where we were last year.

“It’s only two games gone but we’ve got two wins, and it’s about taking that momentum and continuing it. The performances, as well as the results, have been positive, and that will be our focus this week and to train as hard as we can. We always believe we can do that and if we show a Cardiff City performance, the results will follow.”

Mannie Barton
MATCH SUMMARY

The young Bluebirds made it two wins from two at the start of their PDL campaign, as they defeated Brimingham City 2-0.

After a couple of half chances, City took the lead on the half hour mark through Osian Rees. Birmingham hit the post as they tried to pull one back, but they went in behind at the break.

Despite the Blues making a stronger start to the half, it was City who stretched their advantage, as Lennon Talbot found the bottom corner with a sumptuous volley.

The Midlands side tried to come back into the game, but struggled to get past a stout City defence, and they preserved their clean sheet and picked up all three points in the process.

The young Bluebirds are back on the road next weekend, as they make the trip up to face Coventry City at the Coventry City Academy. Kick-off is at 11:30am. 

TEAM NEWS

Here’s how the Bluebirds line-up for their PDL home opener.

Cardiff City: Jones, Edwards ©, Debono, Reynolds, N. Williams, C. Williams, Rees, Davies, Talbot, Ola, Barton.

Substitutes: Watts, Higgs, Walsh, Allmark, Phelan.

Tom Hutton
Pre-Match | Tom Hutton

Ahead of the contest, U18 head coach Tom Hutton said: "It's important that we try and take forward the positives from the win over Fleetwood, which there were a lot of. We've had a good week of training, some of the boys have had exposure to the U21s, which has been great, so we're looking to build towards another positive performance on Saturday.

"We had a friendly on Tuesday for the lads that didn't travel to Fleetwood. At this stage in the season, we've got to make tough decisions with our squad selection and we're trying to maintain everyone's fitness and get our players as much gametime as possible. We were able to do that on Tuesday and from a fitness point of view, we are in a really good place."

Dan Ola
Pre-Match | Dan Ola

City striker Dan Ola, who netted our first league goal of the 2024/25 campaign, added: "We were all buzzing with the win last week. It was a good start to the season for us and I was happy to score the first goal. We had a positive week in training leading up to it and that showed in the game. We've had another good week this week, so we're hoping we can take that into the Birmingham game on Saturday.

"I can't wait to be back playing at home. With the team we've got, we're hoping to continue a good start. We can all see in training that there is a lot of positivity and we're all excited to play."

Ticket information

Entry for this Saturday's match at Cardiff International Sports Campus will be free for all supporters.

Reaching THE GROUND

Supporters planning on attending on Saturday should use the following address:

Cardiff International Sports Campus, Leckwith Rd, Cardiff, CF11 8AZ.

The ground is located an 11-minute walk away from Ninian Park Station and a 32-minute walk from Cardiff Central Station.