Cardiff City’s U21 side marked their return to playing at CCS with a dominant performance against the Posh on Tuesday afternoon.
Cody Twose got City’s first goal of the afternoon, before braces from Joel Colwill and Tanatswa Nyakuhwa put the young Bluebirds in an unassailable position at home.
Against the early run of play, the visitors put themselves ahead in the opening ten minutes, as Hisham Chiha took advantage of a loose ball before finishing from close range.
City wasted no time in responding, and were level through Twose five minutes later, thanks to Twose’s neat strike from Colwill’s neat cut-back pass from eight yards out.
The Bluebirds threatened for a further twenty minutes before taking the lead, as Colwill got his name on the scoresheet ten minutes from half-time, finishing well before Nyakuhwa doubled the lead a minute later.
Joel bagged a brace before the half was out, striking home from Morgan Wigley’s low cross into the area.
Following the interval, City coped well with the Posh’s early attempts at finding a way back into the match, with Dylan Lawlor and Freddie Cook pairing up nicely in the backline to keep the visitors at bay.
Faring well against the initial pressure, the Bluebirds were quickly back on the front foot, with substitutes Dakarai Mafico and Troy Perrett contributing well in possession.
City added their fifth and final goal of the afternoon with little over ten minutes remaining, as Nyakuhwa finished neatly for his second following some excellent buildup around the pitch, with all City players contributing.
FINAL SCORE: CARDIFF CITY 5-1 PETERBOROUGH UNITED
Following the final whistle, Darren Purse and Tanatswa Nyakuhwa spoke to Cardiff City TV.
“It was a good performance from the boys as a whole,” began Darren. “If you look at the week or even the last few weeks it’s been awesome, and I love watching it. You get attached to these younger lads and want to see them do well, and the last week or two has been fantastic to see them develop and grow. The next crop coming through are putting in performances; we’re four unbeaten, and that’s great, but it’s nice to have that mentality and have some real performers in there.
“We do it for those individuals to get into the First Team. Not every player is going to make it, and it’s about supporting the players who don’t but also celebrating when they do well. It’s good that we’ve got a Gaffer who is backing the young players, giving them the opportunity. No matter what you’re producing, if there’s not a manager above you willing to play the young players and give them a chance then the Academy isn’t succeeding. It’s been fantastic, and from that point of view it’s going really well, but the work doesn’t stop.”
Tanatswa shared his thoughts on the result, with City’s U21 side now unbeaten in four matches.
“I’m delighted with that performance,” said Tanatswa “We got plenty of goals and I’m happy to have helped out with two myself, which is always nice as a striker.
“We had to work hard as a team for the full 90. We were looking for that next goal to kill the game off and handle that pressure after we did. The boys worked really well, a lot of us have played together since we were really young, so we all know each other’s qualities. It’s all about bringing that about at U21 level and showing everyone what we’re about.”