U18 Match Preview | Cardiff City vs. Bournemouth

Cardiff City’s U18 side continue their PDL campaign on Saturday, as they welcome Bournemouth to the Cardiff International Sports Campus, 1pm KO.

Having got 2024 off to a blistering start with a home win against Millwall, the Bluebirds backed it up with an away win at Ipswich Town last week. Dan Ola and Troy Perrett were among the scorers in a 2-0 win for City, meaning their league run stretches to seven wins in a row, making them the most inform side in the PDL South.

The result keeps Tom Hutton’s team in third place behind Bristol City and Watford, but they have three games in hand on the side above them.

This weekend, the Bluebirds welcome Bournemouth to South Wales. The Cherries currently sit in fifth place in the table, having won six and lost six. Last weekend saw Bournemouth record an impressive 3-1 win against second-placed Watford. In the reverse game, City claimed a 5-1 win, with Tanatswa Nyakuhwa and Ronan Kpakio bagging braces.

Ahead of Saturday's fixture, we caught up with goalkeeper Luke Armstrong, who has had an impressive campaign so far.

"We're seven in seven at the minute, which is a good record," Luke began. "We've had some good individual performances and collective performances as well, so as a squad, we're really happy. I feel like I've had a good season, I've played some good games and I've learned a lot. I'm just hoping that we can keep this consistency as a team.

"There's a good unity around the training ground. We've known each other for a long time and that reflects on the pitch with our performances. There are no individuals, we play as a team. There's no weak link in our team, we all play for each other and we all trust each other. 

"I'm expecting a difficult, physical game against Bournemouth. They had a good result against Newcastle in the FA Youth Cup, which was very impressive, but that's not going to affect us in any way. We're really looking forward to it. All the lads going into every game feeling confident and with the way we're playing at the moment, we're going into Saturday very positive."