In my last piece on a City league game, I asked the question whether League One is better than many City fans are prepared to give it credit for? Blackpool, a team that are still in the bottom four, beat us 3-1 and they had the chances to have doubled their score in a crazy second half.
Today, City travelled to face a Northampton side which, in some aspects of the game were better than Blackpool were a fortnight ago, and we were never really able to match some of the slick approach play that marked a dominant first half showing in which we could have put the match beyond Blackpool’s reach.
Once again, the score was 3-1, but the difference this time was that it was in our favour – a result which, for what it’s worth in such a congested division with two thirds of the season to play, takes us back to the top of the league.
Football is supposed to be a winter game and three and a half months into the season with continuous rain, strong winds and cold temperatures, we played in a match in what could be called bleak mid winter.
Back in August and September when we were winning everywhere, there was one of the presenters on a League One podcast I watched for a while who always said the same thing when the discussion switched to Cardiff City. It was along the lines of “Cardiff with their youngsters look impressive in the dry, sunny conditions of late summer/early autumn on pitches in perfect condition, but let’s see what they’re like in the rain, sleet and snow of the winter on heavier surfaces”.
Well, the sample size is way too small currently to come to any conclusions, but the first time they met with the sort of conditions described above, City were not found to be wanting in resolve, bottle and stamina.
Saying that if I were a Northampton fan, I’d be thinking we didn’t deserve to lose that game. They put us under much more concerted pressure, especially in the first half, than Blackpool ever did and City were especially grateful for another eight out of ten showing by Joel Bagan and Calum Chambers’ best display of the season so far.
On the right hand side of the defence, it was tougher going for Ronan Kpakio who was targeted aerially and positionally in the first half in particular, but coped pretty well and came out of the match with two more to add to his growing number of assists.
Inside Kpakio, Will Fish was given his toughest game of the season by Ethan Wheatley who he, apparently, played with in Manchester United’s Academy team. Wheatley is still contracted to the Old Trafford club and is at Northampton on loan. Today he looked too good for this level and the edge he had in the pace department always troubled Fish who picked up a booking very early on for grabbing Wheatley as he was getting away from him.
Ironically, Wheatley had City fans singing for him to do the Ayatollah after he followed up his equaliser by putting into his own goal three minutes later, but, on this evidence, he/s someone we should keep tabs on in the coming year or two.
City made three changes from the Blackpool defeat with Fish coming in for Dylan Lawlor, Ryan Wintle for Alex Robertson and Isaak Davies for Cian Ashford. Davies was prominent in the opening stages down the left as he combined effectively with Rubin Colwill who was getting on the ball a lot to good effect. However, when a goal came on seven minutes it was from the right hand side as Omari Kellyman found Kpakio who cut inside an opponent to pick out Joel Colwill whose shot from the edge of the penalty area was well enough placed to beat Ross Fitzsimmons despite him getting a hand to it.
The younger Colwill’s first ever league goal gave City a lead that they held on to precariously for the next half an hour or so as they faced a series of corners and free kicks as well as crosses from open play. Wheatley led the assault on the City goal, but it was his strike partner Tom Eaves (the one Northampton player I’d heard of before the game) who came closest to scoring with a shot on the turn which came back off an upright. Besides that, centreback Michael Forbes should have done better than head wide from six yards when he got his head to a corner.
City’s loss of control more or less coincided with the loss of Rubin Colwill who tried to play on with an injury, but had to accept defeat and was replaced by David Turnbull. Brian Barry-Murphy said after the game that Rubin’s injury looked serious and feared it was an ankle ligament problem – Ollie Tanner damaged ankle ligaments back in August and has only resumed training this week.
City recovered somewhat in the last few minutes of the first half, but there could be no denying that they were fortunate to still be ahead at the break. Encouragingly, City carried their improvement into the opening stages of the second half and, in truth, the Northampton pressure was never as sustained as it had been in the first half.
However, when Northampton knocked another ball into the inside right channel for Wheatley to chase and his edge in pace over Fish told this time as he got clear and then smashed in from twenty yards to net a fine equaliser that Nathan Trott got a hand to, but could not keep out.
Wheatley went from hero to villain within minutes though as he sliced what looked like a poor low corner from Bagan into his own net. That must have come as a body blow to the home side after they had fought so hard to get on terms and, although Trott had to make a couple of fine saves late on, we held onto our lead fairly comfortably after that.
BBM probably helped with three substitutions straight after Northampton’s goal which definitely worked as Robertson replaced Joel Colwill, who had suffered a cut knee while getting back to snuff out a dangerous situation, a fit again Chris Willock for Davies and Perry Ng for Kellyman who had a quiet afternoon.
Kpakio moved up into a right wing role to offer more defensive protection and City thought they had made the game safe when Yousef Salech headed in a fine Bagan cross at the far post only for referee Neil Hare, a complete homer in the first half, but more balanced in the second, to disallow the goal, probably correctly, for a push.
A far better corner delivery by Bagan was met at the far post by Wintle whose shot from point blank range was somehow kept out by a combination of Fitzsimmons and a defender.
Gabriel Osho replaced Fish as Northampton roused themselves for one last effort and when Wintle lost possession in our defensive third, a goal seemed inevitable as Wheatley rolled a pass to sub Elliott List who only had Trott to beat, but the keeper was able to turn his shot just wide as he added to his catalogue of important and inspired saves over the past few months.
Willock had looked to be in the mood from the moment he came on and he sealed the points three minutes into seven added on with a lovely placed effort into the roof of the net from twenty five yards with Fitzsimmons a spectator. Willock will be the first to admit though that he owed so much to Kpakio who beat three opponents in a thirty yard run before finding the scorer.
The potentially serious injury to Rubin Colwill aside, this was an encouraging afternoon as City showed something that any promotion winning side needs – the ability to win when not at their best and when the win comes away from home against a side playing well on a day when the weather is awful, then you can’t help but feel optimistic.
City’s under 18s slumped to a disappointing 4-1 home defeat against Swansea in the EPL Cup this lunchtime with Olly Reynold’s goal no more than a consolation in added time.
