U18 Match Report | Swansea City 1-4 Cardiff City
Cardiff City’s U18 side earned an impressive derby day victory over Swansea City, sweeping them aside 4-1.
After going behind to a Josh Carey strike, the young Bluebirds responded in style, as in-form striker Tanatswa Nyakuhwa scored a hat-trick, while Japhet Matondo also scored one to record an impressive win.
Steve Jenkins was boosted by the returns of Josh Beecher, Cody Twose, Luey Giles, and Troy Perrett, who had been representing Wales U17s against Israel.
There were early chances for Cardiff, but Trey George could only drag his effort wide after running onto a through ball, while Nyakuhwa was unlucky to hit the crossbar from a free kick. But the Bluebirds were dealt a sucker punch on the half hour mark as the hosts took the lead. Carey on hand to tap home after a shot from Aimar Govea hit the bar.
City were only behind for seven minutes, however. speedy winger Matondo took an all comers down the wing, before cutting inside and curling his effort past the keeper.
From there on, City never looked back and began to turn the screw. A slick counterattack led to Nyakuhwa being played through and he finished cooly into the bottom corner to give City the half-time advantage.
Five minutes into the second half and Nyakuhwa had his second. After a succession of shots were cleared off the line, the striker was in the right place at the right time to put the Bluebirds 3-1 up.
The Swans reacted well after the third goal and had chances themselves, but Joe Thomas and the defence were more than capable to deal with the threats posed to them.
The Bluebirds would have the last laugh, as Nyakuhwa grabbed his third, and City’s fourth, five minutes from time, as he rounded the keeper and finished calmly. A day to remember for the young striker.
The result keeps City in third place in the PDL South and still in touching distance of the top two, Millwall and Charlton Athletic.
City will next be in action on Saturday (04/03), as they take on Ipswich Town at Cardiff International Sports Campus, kick off at 11am.
U18 FINAL SCORE: SWANSEA CITY 1-4 CARDIFF CITY
Cardiff City: Thomas, Spiers, Keeping ©, Giles, Lawlor, Barton (Twose 60’), Fleming (Perrett 71’), Ware, Nyakuhwa (Philips 85’), George, Matondo (Beecher 85’). Subs not used: Armstrong.
U18 Head Coach Steve Jenkins gave his thoughts on the match, saying: "I said the lads had found the previous couple of games tough, but there's no better game to have than a derby, and what a game it turned out to be. The boys were fantastic in terms of our work ethic and our press, and we totally deserved a derby win.
"We've had results lately that we wouldn't have wanted, so confidence wasn't high, but the actual mentality to go and win a football match, and an important match like that, really impressed me. We looked hungry, we were aggressive in our press and scored one or two goals off the back of that."
